Restaurant - Kazu Yakitori & Sake Bar

Anna Tait - Jamieson delves into Japanese- style tapas and sake.
Kazu Yakitori & Sake Bar is hidden away in a world of its own. Behind a nondescript door and one floor removed from the brash boozy strip that is Courtenay Place, the dimly lit bar has become a regular hangout and grazing spot for a hip clientele that is more Cuba than Courtenay, more street than chic.

The interior is basic - concrete floor, long black bar, paper lampshades and posters - but it creates a friendly vibe that’s authentically Japanese and unintentionally cool. Not to be confused with Kazu the restaurant that’s owned by the same group, this establishment offers sake, beer and a selection of small plates and skewers. It is the Japanese equivalent of a Spanish tapas bar and the perfect place to meet friends after work.

But you have to get here early, especially if you want to sit at the bar and watch the chef dip, grill and blowtorch a fast-moving selection of skewered meats. By definition, yakitori is restricted to chicken, which means flesh, offal, skin, even cartilage. Here you get thigh, heart or gizzards and the selection extends to beef fillet, pork belly and fish.

While perusing the menu, we ordered a starter: a dish of warm salted soybeans, steamed in the pod, and a premium junmai sake that was chilled, smooth and dry. It was poured into a glass that sat inside a small wooden box designed to take the spillage when the glass is (literally) filled to overflowing. According to our waitress, this is done as a traditional gesture of generosity.

The range of sake is well worth exploring. The grading system is complex but the drinks menu gives basic descriptions and the friendly staff are on hand to advise. If rice wine doesn’t appeal, you can go with the grape, or drink Japanese beer. Sapporo and Asahi are available on tap; the latter also comes in a 2-litre keg.

The meat and fish skewers, which arrived in good time, came two to a plate. Perfectly cooked, tender and juicy, they were variously dressed with sauces based on soy, miso or karashi, a delicious japanese mustard. Order too many and the flavours start to repeat so best stop at two or three before moving on to the back page of the menu where you’ll find sushi, sashimi and some interesting extras.

We enjoyed soft-shelled crab in tempura, deep fried squid with a piquant sauce, and takowasabi: small pieces of slippery raw octopus, dressed with wasabi. The only discordant note was a chicken salad that came with (browned) avocado, mesclun leaves and a yazu and miso dressing. It was cafe food dressed for Japan and didn’t merit inclusion on a menu that was otherwise true to its roots.

What should have been listed, however, were the colourful pickles that were set down in front of our neighbouring barflies, a group of young Japanese who were friends of the chef. Noting my interest, they generously insisted we share their selection of crunchy red daikon, shredded green cabbage and sour pickled plums.

Our new friends had ordered them to accompany their beer; we found they went well with just about everything, adding crunch to the rice cakes and providing a flavoursome contrast to the sweet soy-based sauces. The manager says they are not on the menu because kiwis don’t like them, but he is happy to serve them - you just have to ask.





Digested.


Address: Level 1, 43 Courtenay Place

Phone: 04 802 4868

Cost: Plates from $5.00.

Open: Tuesday to Saturday 5pm - late

Food: Japanese. Yakitori and other small plates.

Drink: Otokoyama, junmai sake

Rating: 3 ½ Fishheads