Now Open: Marrickville’s Kin Dining & Bar Delivers a Fresh Take on Nikkei
Words by Aimee Chanthadavong · Published on 26 Mar 2024
Marrickville might still be one of Sydney’s go-to suburbs for a Vietnamese meal, but over the last decade, the variety of cuisines to choose from has decidedly expanded. Just ask chef Peter Wu (ex- Sunset Sabi), whose mum owned one of those Vietnamese eateries in Marrickville when he was growing up. Wu has now returned to the suburb to open Kin Bar & Dining, a restaurant celebrating nikkei cuisine.
“Marrickville has changed so much,” Wu tells Broadsheet. “Don’t get me wrong, the banh mi and pho restaurants are always going to be institutions, but I think people living here are yearning for a bit of a nightlife and something a little bit different.”
Kin dives into nikkei, a cuisine that originated in the Japanese migrant communities of Peru, and the star at recent Sydney openings like Lima Bar and Callao. “I love Japanese cuisine, and I love the flavours and the spices of South American food. From there, I developed my skills in those cuisines and tried figuring out how to marry the flavours,” he says. “When I decided to open in Marrickville, [nikkei] was a no-brainer.”
Wu is not averse to his rendition being labelled fusion. “I’m not old-school, and I’m not very traditional. I think food needs to evolve and be progressive. We have to be more open-minded, have different cuisines, different flavours, different ingredients, and be able to incorporate that into something we want to eat.”
At Kin – meaning “gold” in Japanese – Wu is using produce from hyperlocal suppliers, such as Marrickville’s Paesanella and Whole Beast Butchery , to create dishes like burrata with red chimichurri and star-anise-poached plum, Jervis Bay mussels doused in a buttery salsa-verde cream sauce, and a dry-aged Erindale Jersey rib eye with ’nduja butter and roasted bone marrow.
And of course, there’s ceviche: a fixture of nikkei cuisine, where it’s commonplace to see plates of raw fish dressed in Japanese flavours like shoyu and ponzu. At Kin, hiramasa kingfish is doused in a punchy yuzu-wasabi ponzu, with pomegranate beads and jalapeno salsa too.
These flavour pairings carry through into the cocktail list. The signature mix is The Kin, where salted-caramel vodka meets pineapple juice and agave. There’s also the Miss Margo, with tequila, coconut and yuzu, and the spicy tropical number Papi Chill.
Sitting at the bottom of an apartment building, the 75-seater – designed by Splendour Interiors – is dark and moody, with gold accents throughout nodding to the restaurant’s namesake.
Come 5pm, Kin’s all about adults – no kids allowed. The intention is to create an escape, for both parents and non-parents. “People have asked [if I’m just] anti-children. My partner is currently pregnant and we’re expecting – I can't wait to be a first-time father. But I also love to go out and dine at nice venues, to escape and just enjoy a nice dinner.”
Kin Dining & Bar
Shop 5, 359 Illawarra Road, Marrickville
Hours:
Tue to Fri 5pm–10pm
Sat & Sun midday–3pm, 5pm–10pm
