Sugar Hit @ Azuma Kushiyaki Bar and Grill

Azuma Kushiyaki was one of the SIFF Sugar Hits I most wanted to go to last year, but by the time I got around to booking they were already full up! I was quite disappointed but this made me want to go even more this year and I made sure I booked nice and early to avoid missing out again.

Azuma Kushiyaki Bar and Grill 2010 Sugar Hit - $20 (including dessert wine, cognac or green tea)

The SIFF Sugar Hits are available througout October from 9pm onwards for $20 which includes a dsesert as well as a glass of Brown Brothers dessert wine or Hennessy cognac. The dessert offered at Azuma arrived in two cute little black boxes. The container on the left had a matcha green tea ganache tart, a wasabi chocolate ganache tart, a petit almond financier and a macaron. The macaron had a face piped onto it which was a very cute touch, and the flavour and texture were spot on as well. I wasn't a big fan of the financier or the wasabi chocolate tart. The wasabi and chocolate combination just didn't do it for me, but it did leave my tongue tingling! The green tea ganache tart had a nice strong green tea flavour and the ganache was super smooth as well - this was my favourite out of all the parts of the Sugar Hit.


The box on the right contained what was supposed to be a Belgian chocolate mouuse cake with raspberry coulis centre and freeze-dried raspberry flakes in the background, and a vanilla pannacotta with strawberry coulis in the foreground. I enjoyed both of these although the chocolate mousse didn't quite add up to its description (I didn't find any raspberry coulis centre). However the mousse itself was great and there was also a surprise bit of sponge cake sitting at the bottom of the glass. The pannacotta was silky smooth and barely set, and the strawberry coulis added just the right amount of tartness to the sweet vanilla pannacotta.  

Hennessy VS (included with Sugar Hit)

We chose to pair the dessert boxes with Hennessy VS and oh my how it burned! Sir D who usually enjoys his cognac didn't like this one bit and we left most of it behind. Perhaps next time we will stick with the boring yet safe Brown Brothers Orange Muscat and Flora.

Cream Anmitsu: 'mochi' glutinous rice dumplings, served with seasonal fruits, sweet bean paste and vanilla ice cream, with a side of home-made Japanese brown sugar syrup - $13.00

I spotted on their regular dessert menu that they had the Cream Anmitsu, one of the components of their 2009 Sugar Hit. Since I never got a chance to try it I decided that I would order the Cream Anmitsu dessert and share with Sir D. This took a little longer to come out that the Sugar Hit but I was enamoured by it as soon as I saw it - ice cream, mochi and berries with a brown sugar syrup to pour into the bowl! The mochi was gummy and chewy and when eaten with some ice cream, red bean paste and the distinctive taste of the brown sugar syrup it was so good! I really enjoy all things chewy so this mochi was perfect for me, and I think I may have enjoyed it more than the Sugar Hit dessert!

Petit fours with tea or coffee - $7.80

So apparently there is a minimum spend of $20pp (though we were only told this after we had ordered) so we had to pick something else off the menu to make up the price. We decided to just get something small, and ordered the petit fours with green tea. More cakes arrived and we were well and truly stuffed after polishing everything off. The petit fours included a coffee macaron, another almond financier and what tasted like a flourless chocolate cake which was fudgey yet surprisingly light at the same time.

Azuma Kushiyaki definitely offers something different to your usual desserts with their Japanese inspired flavours and small components almost like a bento box. The Sugar Hit at Azuma Kushiyaki is available Monday to Saturday from 9pm until the end of October - be sure to book because it does fill up fast!

Azuma Kushiyaki
Ground floor, Regent Place
501 George St
Sydney NSW 2000
Ph: +61 2 9257 7775


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