Paper Planes was opened last year by the Barge8 Hospitality Group, bringing another modern Japanese restaurant to the Sydney eatery scene. Of course, I'm not complaining! There's an immediate mix of Japanese culture and western culture as soon as you enter the restaurant. Deep house music and a carefully curated sake, wine and cocktail list to match it's fine food - sounds like the place for me.
Outside dining area
10 metre "Rock, Paper or Scissors" Bar - focal of the restaurant/bar.
Scissors, paper or rock?
We're suckers for awesome interior, and being Asian and all, we immediately pull out our iPhone and start taking photos of the paper cranes and skate boards that hang on the ceiling. The lighting is dim inside, creating that cool, calm and relaxed atmosphere.
Menu folded like a plane
[L to R]: Orion Draft (Japan) $9.50, Sapporo (Japan) $8.50, Tokyo Pop $16, Scorpius (NZ) $9.
The Tokyo Pop was a group favourite, made with Pimms and St Germain with garden fruits (vague) and lemonade with a pop rocks rim, garnished with a chopstick, mint leaves and a lychee. This sweet cocktail brings back childhood memories with the pop rocks, and is good for someone who dislikes the strong taste of alcohol. If you've ever tried other Japanese beers such Asahi, then the taste of Orion and Sapporo will be familiar to you, which would be easily downable with some lotus chips.
Char grilled sea scallops with kushiyaki glaze, served with apple, preserved lemon & miso sauce, on a bed of sushi rice cake $24
Twee and I were talking about scallops on ride up, and we made a note to order their scallop dish if any. The scallops were cooked beautifully, and the miso and lemon sauce of sweet and tangy made a great combination. The sushi rice was a nice touch to break up textures, but would of been fine without.
Handmade pork & cabbage gyoza with chives, chilli oil & ponzu dipping sauce $16
Regardless of how many times we've had it, gyoza is one of those staple dishes we have to order. However, these gyoza (for the price) was a let down. There was too much pork to cabbage ratio, and was over seasoned and very salty at first bite. We were also let down by the "chilli oil" that we couldn't find in the dipping sauce.
Chef's 5 selection 20 pc sashimi - salmon, kingfish, tuna, snapper & scallops $46
Fresher than the Prince of Bel Air, there was no "fishy" smell and the thick cut slices were eaten the only way they should be - raw.
Yellow fin tuna tataki with fried garlic, French onion, light citrus sauce & fresh herbs $20
Tataki is a Japanese way of preparing fish or meat by searing the meat and dressing it with an acidic sauce like vinegar or something citrus based. The sauce accompanied the fish very nice and we continually dipped our chopsticks in just to lick it up. The fried garlic was a bit too strong and could of done with less because we're not fighting from vampires.
Spider tempura soft shell crab with avocado, shallot & wasabi mayonnaise (6 pcs) $15
One of my favourite - soft shell crab. I had one of the rolls with the legs hanging out and it was so delish! The crunchy tempura with the mush avocado is a perfect match. The wasabi mayo was subtle and I thought it complimented the flavours well, but Kiki and Po (who dislike wasabi) thought it was a bit strong.
Spicy tuna with green apple, togarashi chilli, mayonnaise, chives & tobiko $14
Definitely my favourite out of the two sushi roll dishes we ordered, and Kiki quickly agreed. Didn't really taste the apple but there was a great kick from the togarashi chilli. Popped the whole thing in my mouth (the way we should eat sushi) and felt the sweetness of the tobiko pop - fun was had.
Sweet corn on the cob with butter & red miso sauce (2 per serve) $6
After once trying corn from either Ms G's or Barrio Chino, I vowed to always order corn (daily serving of veggie, teehee). The red miso was subtly sweet in contrast with the salty butter. The char grill also gave a nice smoky flavour to it as well. The only pain of eating corn on cob? Kernels stuck between your teeth!
Chicken thigh fillet with shallot & truffle glaze (2 per serve) $9
Chicken meatball with white sesame (2 per serve) $9
Tender and juicy chicken bite sized chicken thigh pieces, this takes me back to the Japanese street eats with their "any-type-of-meat-BBQ-on-a-skewer." This was hit with everyone on the table. The chicken meatball on the other hand... Is chicken even allowed to be in a meatball? The mince was very salty and reminded us of a overly seasoned Vietnamese Nam Neuong. One bite to try was enough for me, however Kiki and Juicy enjoyed it and picked up the remaining pieces for the rest of us.
Char grilled lamb ribs with PaperPlanes basting sauce, thyme & balsamic marinade eggplant & mint salsa verde $28
A table favourite. It was tender, juicy and full of flavour from the sauce. The eggplant was also delish and full of flavour, and cooked the way so that the skin isn't chewy. Kiki and I adored it. I tried the mint salsa verde, and obviously you are not suppose to eat it on it's own because it was nastyyyyyy.
The Black Egg - coconut milk curd with macadamia oil & ristretto cocoa sauce $12
They had this honey spiced flavour ice-cream we were all eager to try, but our kind waitress informed us that there was no ice-cream or sorbet available that night. Hopes were killed :-(
That only left three other choices, including a "Toykyo Summer Trio" which was like a fancy chiffon cake. Pass. We decided to try the other two. Kiki and I were hesitant about The Black Egg dessert upon seeing it on foodboozeshoes, but it was actually amazing. It was custard-like in texture, very smooth and dissolved in your mouth. The coconut was evident but not strong enough to be sickening, with subtle hints of macadamia. The ristreeto (a short shot of coffee) cocoa sauce was intense and I didn't find it complimenting the curd very well.
Green Tea Rocher - layered of ricotta crust, dark chocolate ganache & hazelnut $14
Inside of Green Tea Rocher - Hazelnut and oozing melted chocolate
We were very excited at the idea of one of our favourite chocolate treats Japanese-ified! As soon as the dish was set on the table, we smelt the ricotta crust. Cheese and chocolate... interesting... While the ricotta was indistinguishable, there was no real green tea/macha flavour either. While the dessert was good, we were a bit disappointed.
All in all, a great night with great company. Food and service was good. Not my number one Japanese eatery but service was great. Our waitress occasionally checked up on us to ensure our night was going well, poured water for us when our glasses were empty and answered any questions we had about food or drinks with great knowledge.
Food: 3.5/5
Service: 4.5/5Atmosphere: 4/5
Interior: 4/5
Revisit: 3/5
Labels: food