ShoSho food review: A genteel Japanese newcomer
A succession of small snacks and state-of-the-art tempura make this suburban Japanese eatery a lot of fun, writes Simon Wilkinson.
Food & Wine
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Early in the evening at Japanese newcomer ShoSho, as we settle down with a yuzu-spiked gin and take in the whole shebang, the Boomer-friendly playlist swings to The Jam.
That’s Entertainment is one of the Brit band’s finer moments but also could work as the theme for this instantly likeable, suburban sibling of Shobosho in the city.
You want entertainment? How about a fit-out that can meld the tea room grace of wooden panels and canvas noren screens with the cutesy-pie cartoon branding of a baby girl whose activities include splashing about in a bowl of ramen?
Then there’s the succession of snacks and other small delights, particularly tempura, that snap and crackle, slip and slurp, each holding your undivided attention until the next one arrives.
Throw in smart, sassy service people, more singalongs from the 70s and 80s, and it’s the kind of complete package that has come to be expected of restaurants overseen by Simon Kardachi and associates.
A quick (if complicated) history lesson. Shobosho opened on Leigh Street three years ago and reunited Kardachi with chef Adam Liston, who has long been fascinated with the food and culture of Japan. The pair then teamed to create Joybird, a jazzed-up charcoal chicken shop on a prominent corner of King William Road, Hyde Park.
When that wasn’t the success that was hoped for, change came quickly and ShoSho was born. Liston says it was originally meant to be “a little sister” (hence the logo?) to the original but is right in now viewing it as an equal partner with its own appeal.
Those familiar with both places will notice plenty of cross-fertilisation in philosophy and technique. But where Shobosho cooks mostly over fire, ShoSho’s focus is frying, in huge copper cauldrons of oil made specially for tempura. Where the former is hot, smoky, often raucous, the newcomer is more genteel.
Enough chat. The first snacks have arrived. From the half-dozen choices we have reluctantly passed over the crab cracker and a shallot pancake with “Laughing Cow” cheese. Instead there is a crisp fried wonton wrapper spread with a dollop of pale green edamame puree spiked with wasabi and topped with a lid of flame grilled nori (seaweed). That’s the dip I’ll be having on my Jatz from now on.
Superb oysters are drizzled with “tosazu”, a light dressing of rice vinegar, soy and dashi, a dried fish stock that adds an extra dimension to the briny juices.
Likewise the slick of potent crustacean oil that amplifies the seafood in house-made dumplings, which are filled with chopped prawn pieces and citrus zest, then finished with julienne of Chinese celery and young ginger. A few seconds longer in the steamer might have made the wrapper seams more tender.
Liston and development chef Yumi Nagaya spent countless hours perfecting the tempura, experimenting with different batters, combinations of oils, temperatures and cooking times. The result is a pale, straw-coloured, gossamer coating that, like the best quality couture, ensures what lies underneath remains the real star.
That might be as simple as okra (aka ladies’ fingers), sliced lengthways to show flesh and seeds – the oft-maligned pods crisp and clean as the best green bean but way more interesting, without a hint of the slime they can produce if not handled carefully. A healthy sprinkle of nori salt really brings them to life. Spencer Gulf prawns are at their sweet, springy best, as you would hope for at $8 a pop, and come with Japanese chilli pepper seasoning and a wedge of lemon.
Shiitake mushroom caps have their cavities filled with a wagyu mince mixture before being battered and fried. The genius here is the soupy dipping sauce of karashi mustard, dashi stock and a hint of yuzu.
Chargrilled porterhouse is larger in size (350g to be precise) and packs a wallop of flavour, both from excellent grass-fed beef that is grilled to medium-rare and finished with a spray of sake, and the accompanying miso bearnaise, onions marinated in rice wine and a soy sauce that has been infused for days with shiitake, burnt onions and garlic. The dressing on a side salad of shredded cabbage and mustard leaf is one miso too many.
A cleansing coconut sorbet sundae is the best way to finish, with a dusting of dried shiso powder and slices of crimson freeze-dried plum that look like a new variety of candy but are so tangy we both pucker up. That’s entertainment, all right.
SHOSHO
164 King William Road, Hyde Park
8349 0891; shosho.com.au
OWNERS Adam Liston, Yumi Nagaya,
L.C. Ngyuen, Simon Kardachi
CHEFS Adam Liston, Yumi Nagaya
FOOD Japanese
SMALL $5-$25; MAIN $28-$42; DESSERT $12-15
DRINKS Short but broad-minded wine list.
Sake also a feature.
OPEN LUNCH and DINNER Wed-Mon
IF YOU LIKE THIS, TRY... Yakitori Takumi, North Adelaide; Bai Long Store, Adelaide.
SCORE: 16/20
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