Merivale Winter Feast: Teppanyaki

First course at Teppanyaki (for two people)

Teppanyaki finally! After glowing about Chef Akira Urata's canapés at both launches of March Into Merivale and the subsequent Merivale Winter Feasts festivals, I can't believe it's taken me this long to give his restaurant Teppanyaki a try! Granted I would've tried sooner had The Captain not made me promise that I'll only go with him as he has become quite an Akira fan himself.

First lesson learnt - a short noticed booking for a Merivale Winter Feast dinner isn't a good idea so we had to resort to a lunch date on a cold and overcast Thursday. Seems like we're not the only ones lured by its $35 three-course deal! First thing I noticed were Merivale's trademark interiors. I'm in love with its interior design - the colour schemes, the eclectic collection of accessories, the mix-mash of vintage furnishings with more modern pieces - I want the designers' numbers so they could renovate my lounge room now!

Merivale Winter Feast menus tend to change it up weekly so I was disappointed to see that the pork belly dish and the lauded black sesame panna cotta had been removed. Nevertheless this was lunch and we were starving.

Wagyu Penny Burgers with cucumber, tomato and house sauce (2 pieces)

We fell in love with the Wagyu Penny Burgers at both Merivale Festival launches and the joy of consuming these with their cute-as-buttons ultra glossy burger buns has not been forgotten this time. Much fun to be had eating miniature sized morsels! The only flaw was that two isn't enough!

Balmain Bug Wonton fried and served with a sweet chilli and cucumber sauce (2 pieces)

I loved their crispy fried wonton wrappers even though the balmain bug filling wasn't really noticed. Even so, I loved it with the sweet chilli dipping sauce that was reminiscent of Thai flavours.

Crispy skinned Ocean Trout with pickled cucumber, black fungus and chilli salad with sesame dressing

True to form I had to order the seafood main seeing as the pork belly was absent. The Ocean Trout was perfectly cooked: tender and it flaked beautifully under my not-so-sophisticated stabbings of my fork. The accompanying salad was a bit too tangy for my liking but that's just my personal aversion to anything pickled. The skin was so crisp that I could've seriously ate a whole plate of it and died a happy woman. Just for indulgence sake, let's take another look at that crispy skin!

No question that it was going to be a beef kind of meal for The Captain as out came the Wagyu strip loin on a fabulous plate. I must confessed I was ooh-ing over the plate more than the meal itself but all was forgiven once I took a bite. It must've been a good day today as the meat we received was incredibly soft and tender and none too chewy. I loved the shitake mushrooms and the whole dish exuded a smoky wok flavour that I crave and love.

Wagyu Strip Loin - Oakleigh Ranch Marble Score 5+ served with wok-tossed shitake, buckwheat and soybean

Second look! The plate, the plate!

All the desserts on Teppanyaki's Winter Feast menu were made for two to share. Not being in the mood for cheesecake or ice cream we opted for the Banana Tempura with a sake chocolate fondue. We both adore banana fritters so we enjoyed this immensely. Especially when the batter was light and crisp as tempura should be rather than the greasy stodginess of "western style" fritters.

Not being a sake afficionado, I couldn't tell if it was strongy present in the chocolate fondue however the citrus-lover in me did detect a hint of orange zing to the silky chocolate.

Banana tempura with a sake chocolate fondue

For lunch the serving sizes were comfortable but I imagined that I would've been left wanting more had this been dinner. I've heard many criticisms about the japanese authencity of Teppanyaki's menu and I have to confess they were right. Not so much Japanese fare in this Merivale establishment but more like a general all-round Asian cuisine. The wonton entree were more reminiscient of Thai flavours and the fried wagyu main actually brought me nostagically home to Malaysia! I don't think I ever thought 'japanese food' once when I was dining. That aside I'm still singing the praises of Chef Akira Urata who is severely underrated and he has never failed to impress The Captain and I.

Simple fact is what he does, he does very well and that's enough to bring me back to Teppanyaki...and not just to steal Merivale's design ideas.


Teppanyaki
330 George Street
Sydney, NSW 2000
(02) 9240 3000

Merivale Winter Feasts is available Mon-Fri 12-2pm and 6-8pm (Teppanyaki is closed Mondays). $35 for three courses plus a glass of wine or James Squire beer.

Open Tues to Fri lunch and dinner
Saturday - dinner only