Japanese business lunch favourite Azuma returns to Sydney CBD in former Continental site

Azuma is back. All those legal, property and financial people who have been aimlessly wandering the streets at lunchtime since the long-established Japanese all-rounder was forced to move from Chifley Square in December 2023 can return to their corporate canteen.

Even better, it has popped up only half a block away and is a much nicer room to be in than the old one. Kimitako and Yuki Azuma have turned the light, open, contemporary home of the Continental CBD into a dark, corporate space, warmed by carpet and made cosy with upholstered chairs.

Cutting edge it isn’t. Comfortable it is. Truly lovely screens and artworks by artist Shumei Kobayashi shield windows and give life to dark walls. Azuma’s commitment to wine is evident in the broad temperature-controlled display of bottles that showcase part of its collection (let’s just say I counted 20 bottles of the sought-after Rockford Basket Press Shiraz).

I thought Azuma might be quiet for lunch on a Tuesday, but silly me, it’s chockers.

In further good news, a long bar culminates in an exclusive, seven-seat omakase dining bar run by sushi master Takashi Sano, long one of the big attractions of Sokyo at The Star. The bad news is that reservations for his $300-a-head omakase can only be booked on the first Monday of each month for the following month, and there’s a waiting list until October.

So it’s back to the good news – the bento lunch. This being Azuma, it’s no quick food-court commodity. For $88, you get a large, elegant lacquered tray, holding a pretty bowl of sashimi, a bamboo basket of excellent tempura, a bowl of soup or udon noodles, dipping sauces and a main dish such as teriyaki chicken or a slightly lacklustre pork tonkatsu. For another $22, you can switch to eight pieces of nigiri sushi instead, which I heartily recommend.

There is also an eight-course seasonal set menu at $188 a head, and a regular a la carte menu.

Sushi chefs Masao Kitamura and Hiroshi Takagi turn a tempura prawn roll ($26) into something rather magical, the prawns freshly fried and still warm, the rice crunchy with bright orange tobiko roe. It’s a Proustian moment, whisking me back to the Unkai sushi bar at what is now the Shangri-La hotel in The Rocks, my tempura prawn roll benchmark.

There’s fancy stuff, too. A precisely constructed stack of salmon tartare topped with equally finely diced Hokkaido scallop ($26), topped with oscietra caviar is definitely on the cards when you’ve won your litigation case/property deal/merger negotiation.

A nine-piece special sushi set ($80) is a big order, day and night. The seared salmon belly, prawn, kingfish, scallop, salmon, white fish such as imperador, eel, tuna and salmon roe nigiri gleam with freshness.

Agedashi tofu ($27) is genuinely fun to eat. The tofu is like fluffy marshmallow due to the oil-and-water Japanese frying technique. It’s topped with an impressively fine chiffonade of nori and chilli-infused grated daikon, served with a jug of dashi broth.

I thought Azuma might be quiet for lunch on a Tuesday, but silly me, it’s chockers. Jackets are off, Shaw and Smith’s unwooded chardonnay is poured, Asahi draught is drained. Evenings are equally busy with tables of post-work colleagues and pre-theatre goers.

My tip: fish and shellfish dishes are consistently superior to the rest of the menu I try. A Rangers Valley wagyu sirloin steak ($80) could do with more char and sizzle and isn’t saved by being sent out on a cold plate with a lot of boring salad.

The Japanese dining scene has shed several skins since Azuma opened in Crows Nest in 1996, and while Sano-san’s omakase will raise the bar, there’s more exciting food elsewhere.

But will you get the extraordinary wine list built on long-term relationships with favoured winemakers overseen by Yuki Azuma and Japan-based master sommelier Toru Takamatsu? The charming porcelain, right down to the sweetest little broad bean chopstick rests? The freedom to order nigiri sushi and udon noodles at both lunch and dinner? Sometimes old school is the best school.