Edition Coffee Roasters Haymarket offers one of Sydney’s finest cafe experiences. Now, it’s expanding its thoughtful Japanese-style dining into the evenings, transforming into an after-dark izakaya from Wednesday to Saturday.

“It’s been something we’ve wanted to do for a really, really long time,” says Edition Coffee Roasters group general manager Taku Kimura, explaining that Covid and staff shortages put the plan, which has been brewing since the Haymarket space opened nearly four years ago, on ice. “And we’ve finally got to it.”

Leaning into the venue’s existing Japanese farmhouse-inspired aesthetic of clean lines and dark timber, at night the space is warmed up with plenty of mood lighting and candles.

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The menu, which is designed to share, is similarly uncomplicated. Choices include a variety of skewers grilled over charcoal, such as chicken thigh, king brown mushroom and marinated quail egg. There are also snacky shareable dishes such as fried chicken with a teriyaki glaze and daikon pickles; soy-butter clams with crispy potato and chives; and kingfish sashimi.

The king prawn udon and black-garlic butter, and the miso-marinated grilled salmon ochazuke (green tea-based broth poured over rice) with charcoal-grilled onigiri, offer a heartier meal. Rounding out the food menu is a playful list of desserts, including miso-chocolate tiramisu with coffee crystal; citrus meringue with white chocolate and yuzu; and matcha mousse topped with strawberry and chocolate crumb.

All the dishes are great accompaniments to the venue’s small-but-sharp drinks list, made up of Japanese whisky, beer and sake. Highlights include a red rice sake from Mukai Shuzo in Kyoto, which has a rich, sweet body of jasmine and cherry jam. Or, if whisky is more your style, there’s a very smooth Akashi White Oak 10-year-old single-malt aged in sherry casks.

“We don’t have a massive list, but we’ve curated it in a way that we feel goes best with our food,” says Kimura. “It includes some sake that’s a bit funkier, it’s fruiter, so less traditional and a bit more unique. It’s the same direction that we want to take our coffee.”

Opening the izakaya hasn’t been the only project keeping the crew busy. Earlier this year, they opened an outpost in Brookfield Place in Wynyard and have also just swung open the doors to their newest outpost in World Square.

Edition Izakaya
60 Darling Drive, Haymarket

Hours:
Wed to Sat 5.30pm–11pm

editionroasters.com
@editionroasters