Moku is a Japanese inspired restaurant on Riley Street in Darlinghurst with an a la carte and omakase menu depending on the day and time. The menu has a mixture of Japanese dishes with playful Western accents and we were drawn in by the promise of a standout sandwich. Come and see what Moku is like and if it's worth a visit!
Monica and I are on a countdown until she moves back to Italy and we've got a list of places that we wanted to go. The thing that lured us towards Moku was a sandwich (what's new right?). Moku is the Japanese word for timber and this sandstone building has noren curtains lazily undulating with the slight breeze.
It's an unseasonably hot and sticky Autumn Saturday when we arrive for lunch at Moku. The restaurant is spread over two levels and as we are the only patrons when I arrive we have our pick of table. I gravitate towards the top level with more light although I wish I had chosen a position under the air conditioning unit. Monica arrives a few minutes later.
The menu during the weekend day is a la carte and on and on certain evenings there is a sushi omakase option. The steamy temps sap our strength and our usual gusto so we decide on a few things to share.
The potato gem snack is literally a single potato gem topped with hojicha smoked cream, pepperberry and tonburi which are seeds from the summer Cyprus plant that resemble caviar and is often called vegan caviar. We both like the rich smoked cream and the tonburi although I was hoping that they'd make their own potato gems.
We are both fans of a meatball and these grilled chicken and leek tsukune meatballs are brushed in tare and sit in a pool of truffle ponzu sauce with an egg yolk. You are supposed to mix the yolk around so that it becomes a creamy, luscious sauce. The meatball itself is delicious especially swirled around in that sauce although the truffle is quite indiscernible in this.
The bacon katsu sando is the item that we both honed in one when we saw their Instagram page. It's a thick golden crumbed bacon rasher with pickled red cabbage and mustard seed miso on soft white bread. The crunch doesn't come from the bacon but from the crumbing and this is both of our favourite item. It's also perfect to share as it comes in two halves.
Whenever I see chicken karaage on the menu I want to order it but sometimes bypass it in favour of other more interesting options but they actually recommended it here. The chicken comes as piping hot and juicy boneless pieces of chicken with a lemon myrtle salt and a pot of Sriracha mayonnaise. I really like how juicy the chicken is and the lemon myrtle salt gives it a nice, light lemon flavour.
We were trying to decide whether we wanted a salad or a cooked vegetable but they recommended the cauliflower to us. The roasted cauliflower comes on a bed of lightly spicy chilli miso with shaved macadamia "snow" on top and nori seasoning. It's a good side salad although I think adding parmesan instead of macadamia snow would tip it more into umami territory. I definitely have plans to try and recreate chilli miso as a seasoning at home.
The wagyu don is a rice bowl topped with wagyu beef scattered with wattleseed, chives and an onsen egg. We are instructed to mix it all up before eating. The wagyu is very cooked through and some bites are a bit tough which is not what you expect with wagyu. While the rest is fine, we just didn't really enjoy the wagyu which is supposed to be the star of the dish.
There are three desserts: a cheesecake, mochi and matcha tiramisu. We woujld have normally gone for the mochi but these are brought in so we order the matcha tiramisu served in a hinoki masu or a wooden sake glass box. It's layered with sponge and a cream cheese cream filling with a layer of matcha powder dusted on top. It's not overly sweet but it is a very creamy tiramisu so try as we might, we can't really finish it.
So tell me Dear Reader, does the weather affect your appetite? What do you think of the food here?
This meal was independently paid for.
Moku
163 Crown St, Darlinghurst NSW 2010
Phone: (02) 8246 6138
Tuesday to Thurday 5:30–10 pm
Friday & Saturday12–3 pm, 5:30–10 pm
Closed Sunday and Monday
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