I love teppankayi with a passion.
Mike and I went to The Rocks Teppanyaki for the first time and had the 11-course Lobster Tail and Wagyu Banquet using Groupon vouchers. It was $69 for the AA6+ wagyu, and $88 for the AA9+ wagyu. I bought one each, so Mike and I could try the different grades of wagyu and decide which one we like better. The food was superb, and we were thoroughly impressed by the lobster and wagyu. However, our overall experience of the atmosphere was a hit-and-miss.
—–HER{curio}MAJESTY SCORE SHEET—–
Visited: 21 December 2014
Food: 7.5/10 || Ambiance: 5/10 || Service: 8/10
What I loved: Kobe Jones’ No.1 Special. Lobster. Wagyu.
Will I come back: With a Groupon voucher, yes.
The Rocks Teppanyaki is situated in a heritage listed building built in 1880s. As soon as I walked in, I felt more like visiting an old grandma’s house than going to a restaurant. The interior and decoration felt dated, yet not prestigious.
After a few minutes’ wait, we were seated in the dining room together with other guests. I didn’t feel too comfortable with the seating arrangement as the seats were placed too close to one another.
Carpaccio scallop (scallop sashimi, sizzled with heated extra virgin olive oil and drizzled with wasabi pepper sauce).
Our chef was Yumi Maeyama. She is the head chef and her profile is on The Rocks Teppanyaki’s website.
Flaming No 1 Special (crab salad with avocado wrapped in Hiramasa kingfish and flamed on the teppan with secret sauce, served with a glass of Miyamizu sake). One of my favourites.
Seafood poke. I didn’t quite like this one.
Garlic prawn and calamari salad (fresh greens topped with prawn and calamari with garlic soy). Yum.
Cauliflower soup (full bodied demitasse of soup made in house from roasted cauliflower blended by hand with a selection of cheeses, fresh vegetables stock and cream). Chowder type soup is always a must at teppanyaki.
Here comes the star of the day: lobster tails!
Sizzling lobster tails…
Voila. Sizzling hot lobster tail freshly off the grill – it doesn’t get better than this.
Yuzushu glace palate cleanser (made from extract of yuzu lemon).
I really didn’t like their choice of plates. The lack of presentation of most of their food was disappointing.
White miso soup. Unfortunately mediocre.
By the time our wagyu got presented to our chef, I was already quite full. Come to think of it, I don’t think I have ever been to a teppanyaki restaurant without over-eating.
The juicy-looking steaks on the left were AA6+ grade wagyu. The flat and dry-looking ones on the right were AA9+ wagyu. I was second guessing my choice of spending the extra $20 in getting the AA9+ wagyu, because it really didn’t look very appetising.
Master Kobe pure wagyu AA6+ (with asparagus, beansprouts and spinach). Juicy and cooked to perfection.
Master Kobe pure wagyu AA9+ (with asparagus, beansprouts and spinach). I couldn’t believe how this steak could look unappealing yet having such a tender and robust taste. Even though it looked worse than the AA6+ wagyu, this AA9+ wagyu lived up to its higher standard.
Even though my tummy was about to explode after the massive amount of food that we already had, I was happy when the chef started cooking fried rice – a teppanyaki tradition.
Fried rice and rice crisps – it was very thoughtful of the chef to scrap out the crispy rice, I love crispy rice!
Last but not least, our chef did the firey magic again for us one last time for the dessert.
Ta-da, Crepe Suzette (teppanyaki style, freshly made Sapporo beer crepe, flambeed with Grand Marnier, then glazed with orange caramel sauce and served with French vanilla gelato).
We finished our 11-course banquet within 1.5 hour – it felt somewhat rushed and ruined the elegance of teppanyaki. Over all, I am glad that I finally visited The Rocks Teppanyaki, but I am even more glad that we came on Groupon.
{The Rocks Teppanyaki} Address: 176 Cumberland St, Sydney NSW Website: http://www.kobejones.com.au/