First Look: There Are No Bad Seats at Aenza, Amuro’s New Japanese Wine Bar

Every one of Aenza’s 50 seats offers a good view of the action. The best, though, are along the bar that hugs the open kitchen. It’s where about half of Aenza’s diners sit, underneath an impressive tiered light fixture held aloft by wooden posts, like the roof of a pagoda.

The name of the new Japanese wine bar is a portmanteau. “‘En’ means performance or connection, or to bring people together,” says chef-owner Joy Liu, “and then ‘za’ means theatre seats.” The capital A links Aenza to Amuro, Liu’s saké bar around the corner.

“I want to put the team on the stage,” she says, “so for guests it’s like they’re watching a show. We really want to focus on the experience. It’s not just good food and wine – you’ve got all this action in front of you, too.”

While Amuro focuses on saké, Aenza dives deep into wine, with 40 by the glass and more than 100 by the bottle. The selection leans towards burgundy and other French varietals, but Liu is most excited for people to try the six Japanese wines available by the glass at an entry-level pricepoint.

She sees Japanese wine – paired with Japanese-inspired snacks – as Aenza’s chief selling point.

“Sydney has plenty of bistros and wine bars,” she says, “but I just don’t see any wine bars serving Asian food. It’s all tapas or Italian or French. I really want to see how Japanese-influenced Asian flavours pair with this wine. We see our market as in-between high-end omakases and very local izakayas.”

The kitchen is split into hot and cold sections: one end is packed with woks, hibachis and burners, the other is dedicated to preparing desserts and slicing sashimi.

The menu starts snacky, with paradise prawns in pickled chilli and shiso; eggplant agebitashi (fried and soaked in dashi) with garlic stem and ginger; and sashimi including bluefin tuna with light, umami tosa soy, nannygai with mandarin ponzu, and Hokkaido scallop with crème fraÎche and herb oil. Slightly more substantial dishes include a Japanese potato salad with ramen egg, chicken-and-corn chawanmushi (steamed egg custard), crisp royal red prawns and lightly battered karaage chicken.

The menu and fit-out are geared towards date nights and solo diners, but there are a handful of larger dishes – and larger tables – catering to groups.

Hapuka comes poached in bonito butter crowned with crispy soybean. Sweet-and-sour lamb ribs are cooked twice – first, slow cooked for eight hours, and then fried and topped with sobacha (buckwheat tea). There’s also a beef curry udon dish, and a serious steak: Kiwami Wagyu with a 9+ marbling score.

Desserts are the domain of sous-chef and pastry chef Ping Lee. “She makes the best cheesecake,” says Liu, “so we’ll always have cheesecake on the menu.” You could also end the meal with a chiffon-cake roll lined with miso caramel and candied walnut. “It’s very light,” says Liu. “Not too heavy, not too sweet.”

Liu is excited to see Aenza’s 50 seats full when she draws back the curtain on Friday, putting the spotlight on the Japanese wine bar experience for curious Sydney diners.

Aenza opens on Friday July 24.

Aenza

7/90 Oxford Street, Darlinghurst

No phone

Hours:

Wed to Mon 5pm–late

@aenza.au