Rise

Beautiful food in one of my favorite parts of Sydney. Love it. I make the trek there every time i am in Sydney.

Want an incredibly amazing Japanese degustation for a pineapple (that’s $ 50 to you foreigners)? Well, then come to Rise. Yum! Not only was the food great, the staff were also lovely.
Only disappointment was the wine list, which sucked beyond belief. Well, I believed it but I didn’t like it. Still worth 5 stars though. Yep, it’s that good.

WOW!
Possibly one of Sydney’s best kept secrets. Rise has a $ 49 degustation that gives any fine dining establishment a run for their money. It is a Japanese restaurant but don’t expect a spider roll and katsu don. This place is all about the skill and creativity of their head chef. There are complex flavours, cooking finesse and the most amazing presentation. Stand out’s on this season’s menu are the braised wagu cheek with ontama (dies a little) and the confit salmon.
On the down side (which I am still not removing stars for: p) are the wine list… meh… and disposable wooden chopsticks… what the?
Also worth mentioning are the amazing staff — not phased at all by a group of 10. They were helpful, patient and made sure our glasses were full ;)

Tucked away a few blocks east of the busy intersection of Darlinghurst and Victoria, you’ll find Rise, a modern Japanese/​fusion restaurant that may very well blow your mind. It certainly blew mine.
A colleague recommended a few different restaurants for me to indulge a bit for my last Sydney dinner on my most recent trip, and the five course omakase dinner looked too good to pass up.
I arrived about 30 minutes early for my 8:30 booking and was immediately a little worried. There was only one other table seated in the whole place. The waiter assured me all was well, and that business has been on and off lately. Friday night was very lean, but Saturday was completely booked. All the better for me as it turned out, as I had ample time to chat with the waiter and chef over the course of my meal.
The restaurant is classy without straying into formal. You’d be right at home in jeans or a suit, although that seems to be pretty standard in Sydney. Definitely a good candidate for a date with someone you’re more than passingly fond of.
Onto the meal! There are five courses on the omakase menu, plus supplemental oyster and cheese courses. Each dish is creatively presented, and the portions are large enough to let you fully enjoy each course while leaving enough room for the subsequent one.
I opted for two oysters at $ 3.50 each to kick off the meal, which were large Pacific oysters with a soy/​citrus ponzu. They were a little briny for my taste, but the ponzu helped balance the flavors, and the texture was quite nice — meaty yet tender; not too chewy. So far so good.
The first course was a trio of small bites: a miso grilled chicken skewer (tender and delicate), tempura oyster (enjoyed this more than the raw oysters), and ceviche taco (I thought the fried shell didn’t do the fish any favors, but it was still delightful).
Course two was an ocean trout confit with a dijon, vinegar, and miso sauce. I would swear to you this was a piece of sashimi, but the waiter assured me it had been lightly cooked in oil to accentuate the flavors. The trout was rich and flavorful, but not at all fishy. The texture was so buttery and smooth I bet you wouldn’t need to chew it. Instead, it would just dissolve on your tongue, assuming you could wait that long.
Course three was pan seared scallops with fois gras, sweet potato purée, and an umeshu reduction, accompanied by delicate puff pastries. The scallops were done perfectly, seared just enough to seal in the tender flavor without making the shellfish tough at all. Scoop a little purée, wine sauce, and foie gras onto a scallop, pop it in your mouth, then close your eyes and try to control yourself from immediately firing down the next one.
Each course had been better than the last, so the bar was very high indeed for number four, a braised Wagyu beef cheek with soft boiled egg. The beef was so tender, it rendered the knife unnecessary, and it simply fell apart when you stuck your fork into it. You could almost get away with eating this course with a spoon. It was that tender. And the flavor was rich and intense, but not so much so that it overpowered the previous dishes.
I took a pass on the cheese supplement, and moved right on to the dessert, three portions of cold dishes including a crème brûlée and fruit sorbet. By the time dessert arrived I wasn’t thinking clearly and failed to take note of the specifics but they were the perfect end to a perfect meal. For good measure I added a glass of umeshu to round out the meal.
If this doesn’t prompt you put Rise on your agenda as soon as possible, maybe this will:
The whole meal was just under $ 85. That’s the oysters, five course meal, carafe of sake, glass of plum wine, and tip. I defy you to find a comparable meal for less. And if you do, let me know so I can find out for myself next time I’m in town.