Nikkei, the latest bar and restaurant from the team behind Tokyo Bird, Bancho Bar and Osaka Trading Company in Sydney brings a unique combination of Peruvian-Japanese flavours in a glass.
Nikkei Bar & Restaurant – Photo Supplied
Nikkei Bar and Restaurant is located along Commonwealth Street in Surry Hills around the corner from sister bar Tokyo Bird. The 55-seat venue is comprised of a bar entry on one side with a feature wine cabinet wall adjoining the dining room with an open kitchen and a 12-seat communal table made from a slab of camphor.
Nikkei refers to Japanese immigrants living in foreign countries, explains venue manager Marco Oshiro Giron ex Tokyo Bird, Lucky Suzie, BLACK Bar. In Peru, it also refers to the food of their Japanese immigrants. For the cocktail list, he has drawn on his own Peruvian-Japanese background to create flavours that may be unfamiliar yet approachable, tasty and easy to drink.
The Nikkei Concept in Cocktails
What do you get when you combine Peruvian-Japanese influences to a drinks menu? “Applying the Nikkei concept in cocktails means being able to take flavours such as Pisco and Peruvian ingredients such as ‘chicha morada’, and using lot more spice”.
Many of the cocktail ingredients are made in-house by Marco Oshiro Giron, whose previous experience includes Tokyo Bird, Lucky Suzie and BLACK Bar. Anisado is a Peruvian version of an anise drink which he makes by combining organic aniseed with Pisco Acholado and cooking it sous vide. The spirit has the characteristic anise aroma and flavour punch with Pisco grapes as the backbone. He also makes a house ginger soda for the Chilcano, cumin and cinnamon spice quinoa milk and uses ingredients such as chicha morada, or purple corn, Japanese rice vinegar and shichimi spices.
If the drinks list seems heavy on the prep, Marco Oshiro Giron says, “In this day of cocktail bars, it’s just the norm. I believe that is what is required now for a good drink”.
Nikkei Bar & Restaurant Cocktails
The eight strong cocktail list at Nikkei is characterised by the following flavour profiles: light aperitif, fruity, sweet and sour, tart (no extra sugar), spicy and refreshing, savoury, bitter and after dinner coffee.
Sherry, a light and elegant aperitif has a soft anise entry followed by fino sherry notes, highlighting the delicate synergy between the two ingredients alongside vermut blanco and dandelion and burdock bitters. With its striking purple hue, Morada brings unfamiliar flavours into a slightly tart and sour style of drink, along with a tinge of sweetness with the brandy notes of Pisco, while yuzu gives depth of sourness.
Chilcano, a popular Pisco drink gets the Nikkei touch from a house-made Peruvian ginger soda to give a punchy version with pineapple, banana and tropical notes of Amargo Chuncho bitters. On the savoury spectrum, Oregano is essentially a Japanese whisky highball, herbaceous and aromatic with a touch of ginger root and ginseng spice from Aphrodite bitters.
Amargo may be a distant Peruvian cousin of the Negroni style but again, it brings unfamiliar flavours that pop in the mouth. Atxa Rojo Red Vermouth adds notes of cola to the Pisco-based drink, along with the richness of Amaro Okar, honey water for balance and lemon for brightness.
Paying homage to café au lait, Cafe brings together spiced rum, bourbon, coffee, carob, and the house-made cinnamon and cumin spiced quinoa milk in a most satisfying after dinner cocktail that’s big on flavour without being overly sweet.
If there’s one thing to be said about Nikkei, the execution and uniqueness of flavours will leave the first time visitor wanting to come back just to try every drink on the menu.
Click through the following pages to view a selection of the cocktails at Nikkei Bar & Restaurant.
