In search of a fine but not too fine dining experience, I decided to try the tasting menu at Chaco Bar to see how good their yakitori offerings were. I’d previously been to their ramen joint in Darlinghurst and it was delicious, so was pretty excited to try the tasting menu alongside the much Instagrammed wagyu niku sushi.

Location: 186-188 Victoria Street, Potts Point
Chaco Tasting Menu: $85pp, additional $18 for the Niku-Sushi dish (A5 Wagyu with caviar)
Website: http://chacobar.com.au

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Melissa: 6.5/10, come back a different day for hopefully a different menu

The opening dish was a series of four snacks dubbed ‘Chaco classics’. These dishes were made to be eaten in an anti-clockwise rotation, starting from the bottom right dish (fig with cheese). There were unique pairings here and the snacks definitely improved, peaking at the third dish (top left) called ‘Warayaki’. It was a bite of white fish that had been roasted over straw (I googled it), topped with roasted or fried garlic and breadcrumbs. It made to be a yummy mouthful. The final snack was wagyu tartare with salty, deep-fried nori, which was nice but not as good as the warayaki dish. Overall a solid, interesting start although only the warayaki dish really caught my attention.

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Next up were the entrees for the night, the crab chawanmushi and kingfish sashimi. The chawanmushi was much more solid in texture than I’ve had in the past, resembling creme caramel, but very delicious nonetheless. The brown butter sauce complemented the saltiness of the crab and balanced the dish out.

The kingfish sashimi was not very memorable, there was a spicy chilli oil and shallot served on top but I quickly forgot about this dish after I ate it.

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I don’t see this next dish on the menu right now, but we were served a lovely lamb dish. It was cooked perfectly, medium rare, with hints of rosemary and served with rocket and parmesan. One of the highlight dishes of the night, although I found it a surprising serving for a yakitori restaurant.

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The supplementary dish we ordered for the night: A5 wagyu niku sushi (meat sushi), topped with caviar and a light soy sauce. It was gone in one short mouthful and delicious, especially with the salty pop from the caviar. Definitely another highlight of the menu, however if you asked if I thought it was worth $18? Probably not.

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A selection of the Chef’s favourite yakitori was next on the menu, a range of some okay and some better skewers. The spicy prawn skewers were good but nothing amazing but the pork belly was lovely with a hint of acidity from the pickled onion (my guess) on top.

The chicken thigh skewers were tender and had a lovely smokey char, but the chicken meatball was a huge letdown. A close comparable would be at Yurippi, where this is executed perfectly. Unfortunately, the yolk in this dish had overcooked and hardened on top of the meatball, which I’m not sure was the intention. The meatball was not tender and in fact contained hardened pieces of chicken vein that gave the meatball a bitty texture and threw the whole dish off. Combined with the hardened yolk and the excessive pool of ultra salty soy/teriyaki sauce at the bottom of the bowl, it was an overall unpleasing textural and flavour experience. Definitely a dish I struggled to finish.

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The meal was drawing to a close with the final savoury dish, cold somen noodles (similar to soba). The noodles were soft but overall flavourless. It was slightly salty, likely from the kombu, but there was a distinct lack of discernible flavours. The cracker layered on top was dotted with a sour red sauce but again it did not save the dish or add anything to it except become a soggy remnant at the bottom of the bowl. Definitely another dish I struggled to finish.

The dessert was a white chocolate mousse and was a pleasing relief from the previous dish.

I had high expectations going into the tasting menu, having had a good experience with their ramen selection. Overall, whilst the service was great and there were some true gems served throughout the night, the two dishes definitely marred the entire experience. I left with strong opinions about cold noodles and a longing for the chicken meatball served at Yurippi. My recommendation would be to try Chaco Bar with a different tasting menu (I’ve seen them switch up some dishes) and ideally avoiding the ume somen they served us. 6.5/10.