Bar Bstardo Pop Up Jangling Jacks

With an eclectic music selection and a little bit of a Halloween atmosphere, the Bar Bstardo pop up at Jangling Jacks also serves up Italian Japanese cuisine. Chefs Enrico Tomelleri of 10WilliamSt and Gaspar Tse of Jangling Jacks collaborate in the second in a series of pop ups.

It's been quite a week for me and Japanese Italian food. First there was LuMi and now Bar Bstardo. The pop up is located at Jangling Jacks on Victoria Street in Potts Point. Diners need to book ahead of time and there's a menu of 10 savoury dishes and 2 desserts.

Service at Jangling Jacks is incredibly friendly and lovely and we take a seat at one of the tables. There is also bar seating available too. The food is also a collaboration between the two chefs, Jangling Jacks and Lofi wines.

Lofi are normally wine importers but have tried their hand at making their own wine under the brand Das Juice. I have a glass of Prosecco Pet Net and it's light and dry. It's made using Glera grapes from the Alpine Valleys in Victoria.

Sophia is not naturally an adventurous eater-she hasn't tried ox tongue before but is willing to give it a go. The ox tongue katsu is thick and luscious and comes on white sandwich bread with a big serve of super herby green tomato salsa verde. I love the idea of ox tongue katsu but I think katsu sandos really come together with the addition of mayonnaise and the salsa verde tends to overtake the flavour here.

Lately, I haven't loved a lot of kingfish crudo because I've had a few that haven't really excited me much. This is nice when you get some muntries (small native cranberries). It's sharp, fresh and pleasant enough.

The farinata is a chickpea pancake which is slightly spongey in texture. It is filled with kimchi and a soft yolked egg which you can break up to dress the crepe. The kim chi is really dominant here and you can't taste the crab at all with the kimchi.

The three mains arrive together and we're never waiting very long for our food. Tsukumen is usually a dipping ramen where the noodles are dipped into the sauce. I'm not sure how that applies here as it comes already sauced with a pork and anchovy sauce, egg yolk sauce and pancetta. We ask for a spoon so we can get some sauce with this along with the pasta.

The filling inside the tortellini is a flavoursome mix of veal tongue, mortadella, prosciutto and parmesan that gives it a lot of flavour. The tortellini are quite firm in texture (which is how I usually find tortellini). The sage is quite light in this and the sansho butter gives the rich butter a nice lift.

By far my favourite main is the bbq wagyu intercostals with mustard greens and gochujang. The flavours were well balanced and the intercostals (always a favourite cut of mine for its fatty and luscious texture) are very tender.

There are two desserts on the menu. The first is a ricotta cannoli with chopped pistachio on one end and cacao nibs on the other. The shell is crunchy and the filling smooth and creamy and I prefer the pistachio side and the cacao nibs aren't overly sweet. There's also a yuzushu sgroppino with the yuzu flavoured liqueur made as a slushie for a bit of fun too.