New restaurant, ShoSho, opens in former Joybird site in Hyde Park
The owners of the failed Joybird chicken shop in Hyde Park are back, this time with a new version of their hugely popular Shobosho restaurant. They say there’s a big point of difference.
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The fate of a prime corner spot on King William Rd lies in an elegant Asian restaurant believed to be unlike anything else in Australia.
Adelaide restaurateur Simon Kardachi and chef Adam Liston this week officially open the doors to ShoSho, an incarnation of the hugely successful Shobosho in the city, in the space formerly occupied by their Joybird.
Joybird, an up-market chicken shop, closed in March after just six months.
But ShoSho isn’t a “Band-Aid fix”, says Liston. Far from it.
COVID-19 closures have allowed the team time to carefully develop the concept and menu into something they think will win over locals and draw in diners from further afield.
“There is nothing like this in Adelaide and probably Australia,” says Liston.
The point of difference? Tempura.
“I have lived in Melbourne and Sydney but I can’t think of any place that specialises in tempura at that level,” says Liston. “It’s a tricky kind of thing. Even though it’s simple, there are a lot of elements that need to be in place.”
It’s not all deep-fried veg. “We have a crab head that’s been filled with tapioca that’s been cooked in crab stock, steamed hand-picked crabmeat, white pepper sauce and tempura batter,” says Liston. “It’s not a traditional dish at all, but our take on using tempura in a modern way.”
Another “modern white guy twist” marries Laughing Cow cheese with truffle in one crispy fried snack.
Other, non-battered dishes will be familiar to Shobosho fans, from sashimi to dumplings, noodles and rice.
And it’s all approached with Liston’s contemporary, yet refined flair, which helped elevate Shobosho to third on the current delicious.100 list. That along with the expert input of development chef, Yumi Nagaya, who is part owner of both restaurants.
But while Shobosho remains a high-energy firehouse, in the bustling Leigh St small bar precinct, ShoSho is a calmer, more luxurious suburban destination, Liston describes.
“It’s very Zen,” he says. “It’s a bit more grand and... the tables are further apart. Even though the fit-out was designed for the chicken shop, once we took that out the core of it was Japanese, and a lot more feminine (than Shobosho) I would say.”
Early response has been positive – sittings are already booking out.
“We thought ShoSho would be a little sister to Shobosho, but... now that the space is finished and the menu completed, it doesn’t feel like a little sister,” Liston says. “It’s a completely different restaurant.”
Opens July 15, 164 King William Rd, Hyde Park, shosho.com.au