Ainoya – Kirribilli, Sydney.
Kirribilli is known for its proximity and allure of the Harbour Bridge and its surrounding scenery; when you explore the side-streets, you will find a variety of restaurants and cafés that bustle lively with patrons. Ainoya is just one of these restaurants, but it’s the pick of the bunch tonight because of my tendency to favour Japanese cuisine out of restaurants that I have not heard anything about in an area.
Cosy, intimate and a very subdued atmosphere is what best describes the experience as you sit down. There is also a traditional Horikotatsu seating area for larger groups, which sure looked chill. Influenced by NQN’s post on Ainoya, I decided to go with the dishes that she favoured and steered away from those that weren’t.
Here Comes The Food
Ocean Trout Sashimi with Caviar ($18): The presentation of the ocean trout floating on the bed of basil and pine nut sauce was colourful on the eyes. After generously soaking the sashimi with the sauce, it certainly accentuated the deep flavour of ocean trout and its plumpness. However, I was a bit disappointed in the sauce because it was too tangy and a bit on the oily side, perhaps due to an excess amount of unnecessary soaking on my part? Overall, I enjoyed this dish for the originality of fusing together two very opposite flavours that resulted in a contrast of flavours that well-complemented each other.
Aburi Sushi Platter ($19): Hmmm the picture which I’ve uploaded could easily be captioned as ‘Warning: Objects may appear smaller than what they appear’; the portion of each piece dwarfs even the unacceptable size you receive in the sushi boxes in food courts. Each piece has a difference piece of fish on top – salmon, tuna, kingfish, etc. But sadly it has been drenched and drowned in a thickening sweet teriyaki sauce that causes the rice to fall apart as soon as it’s lifted from plate. Not happy with how this dish turned out.
Grilled Salmon (I think lol): It appears that a reoccurring part of Ainoya’s dishes which I have aforementioned is the abundance of sauce to unnecessary amounts. This is present in this dish, where the salmon rests on a watery bed of radish, tangy soy and mayonnaise. I do adore the crispy skin that gives a sharp texture to the soft and flakiness of salmon underneath. However, sadly the flavour is a bit too salty for me from the excess sauce.
Ice cream Terrine ($9): A generously-sized ripe strawberry is sliced and placed on top of a perfectly formed slab of ice cream. How is the green tea and red bean ice cream encrusted by the black sesame? I don’t know. Maybe they carve out a hole and then carefully insert it? It sort of reminds me of the toy-blocks where you have to put the 3D shape into the 2D hole. The black sesame is rich and have a pleasant fragrance. The red bean’s flavour is wholesome and has a hint of sweetness. The green tea is creamy and so-sooooo good.
Shiratama ($9): The green tea which you find in the Ice cream terrine is the same you are given in this dish. Once again a ripened strawberry coupled with a dollop of red beans and several gluttonous balls. It’s a perfect combination and it does not fail. It appears what Ainoya does best out of my experience here are the desserts.
Dinner
Tuesday – Sunday from 6:00pm
AINOYA Japanese Restaurant
Shop 3, 34 Burton St
Kirribilli NSW 2061
Two minutes walk from Milsons Point Station, many street parking
Phone: 02 9922 1512
Email: info@ainoya.com.au
D
April 30th, 2009 at 4:41 pm
I never knew there was any Japanese restaurants in Kirribilli. Food looks pretty good!
I recently found out that sesame ice cream tastes so much nicer with anything coconuts – coconut cream or coconut ice cream. give it a try!
April 30th, 2009 at 11:39 pm
Either that last dessert contained one ginormous strawberry or the scoop of icecream was pretty small haha! Must be the angle of the photo!
May 1st, 2009 at 12:50 am
Did you tell them that you thought there was an excess of sauce? The owner seems very nice and would probably love to hear it.
May 2nd, 2009 at 1:16 am
aww you can’t tell about the sauce from the photos, the food looks beautiful
especially the icecream terrine mm! according to my chef friend you can use a ‘terrine mold’ to layer your icecreams on top (and around) each other
So it’s like a box
with black sesame icecream on the bottom and the sides
then you lower in a square of red bean and green tea (!)
and then smooth over the top with more black sesame! haha sounds tricky eh
May 2nd, 2009 at 11:40 am
I fully endorse a yummy dessert section! Meanwhile, sorry to hear about the the gimped portion sizing and sauce overload. It’s a shame because it’s not like you can just push the sauce away, unwanted salad style either…
May 3rd, 2009 at 9:42 am
What a shame! I was hoping there’d be good things said about this restaurant. Wouldn’t have minded trying it out.
May 4th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
Yas: I’ll give it a go
I have some sesame ice cream sitting in the fridge right now hmmm …
Moya: The strawberry wasssssss ginormous, but the scoop of ice cream was just a little bigger.
Lorraine: I should have >< Grace: diy terrine imminent…
Miss Honey: great dessert makes you forget the not-so-good mains
Y: Give the dessert a go – it’s sooooo yummy