Sushi Room, Brisbane review: You may scoff when I say 21 courses simply wasn’t enough

The 21-course, $330-a-head omakase experience at Brisbane’s Sushi Room is something else. Four and a half stars out of five.

The Sushi Room at Fortitude Valley.

The woman on meet-and-greet smiles warmly and looks at her screen. For here I am, with a reservation: that of retired, couldabeen, fictitious Spanish grand prix racer Joan Manuel. “We’ve been expecting you Mr Lethlean,” she says. I feel like an under-dressed James Bond and make a mental note: Time for a new nom de reservation.

And so I’m ushered straight to a seat at the gorgeous blond timber bar at Sushi Room where the only option is omakase; you know, sit in front of the itamae – literally, the man in front of the cutting board – and eat whatever he makes for you until the meter runs out. A juncture, it soon transpires, you hope never comes.

The decision about how and where I will eat has, apparently, already been made, although given a choice this is exactly what one should opt for, regardless of the $330-a-head ticket. (And that’s without slaking your thirst.) Bond himself would feel right at home – Sushi Room, the latest collaboration between the effortlessly cool Calile Hotel and restaurateur Simon Gloftis (Hellenika upstairs, SK Steak and Oyster out the back) is a sophisticated, elegant space.

Head chef Shimpei Raikuni

Just don’t ask me to describe it. I sat with my back to the room for the next two hours, watching the chef, chatting to the gregarious lads next to me having a proper hit-out, and generally loving life. Which isn’t hard when the food’s this good, the Corymbia chenin blanc so delicious, and the mood so relentlessly positive.

But is it a Japanese restaurant? Sure, the food is unreservedly focused on the craft of the sushi chefs, all of whom are Japanese. The menu, if you see one, is full of words like “uni” and “osuimono”, and there is plenty of Japanese booze. But in reality, with its multinational mix of personnel, a proper sommelier, its Boomer soundtrack, sharp interior design and clever wine list, this is more smart new restaurant with obsessive focus on a particular type of food than what might typically be called a “Japanese restaurant”.

Wagyu with black truffle

What does it take to do this properly? Outstanding raw materials, obviously. Chefs with the skills to put it all together – who know the texture, taste and temperature of the rice is almost everything; who can pick the freshness of a piece of fish, know what it will be like in the mouth, simply by looking at it. Someone with a bit of imagination to create a menu that occasionally strays from the path of tradition – intelligently – but at the same time preserves the continuum of this most revered culinary tradition.

No need to fake it here; the baseline is brilliant. Things like a piece of nigiri with Hiramasa kingfish, a subtle background of fresh wasabi, a little dressing of something soy-based and a beauty-spot of chive and ginger purée that delivers just a hint of piquancy. You may scoff when I say 21 courses simply wasn’t enough.

Regularly, it strays beyond to a moment of close-your-eyes culinary apotheosis. Picture: Jeff Camden

And then, regularly, it strays beyond to a moment of close-your-eyes culinary apotheosis. I’m thinking diced, raw lobster in a light ponzu dressing dusted with toasted sesame. A leaf of heavily marbled Japanese Wagyu, torched and painted with sweet soy and slices of black truffle, draped over a little mound of warm sushi rice. A raw scallop with a stuffing of urchin, deep-fried in a seaweed tempura shell. The knife skills that go into creating a piece of cuttlefish like a Japanese lantern that envelops both urchin and rice. Or watching the chef create more pieces of sushi by boning a vinegared mackerel fillet, wrapping it around a baguette of rice and then slicing to individual pieces. I haven’t mentioned half of it. This is a very special experience. Book. Use “Joan Manuel” if you think it may help. It’s available.

Sushi Room

ADDRESS: 48 James St, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane

CONTACT: [phone]; sushiroom.com.au

HOURS: Lunch Wed-Sun; dinner daily

TYPICAL PRICES: À la carte from $10 per piece; set sushi and sashimi menus from $130; omakase $330 per person

LIKE THIS? TRY…Kisume, Melbourne; Sushi Oe, Sydney

SUMMARY: Shaken. And stirred

STARS: 4.5 out of 5