Sokyo's Chase Kojima Set to Open Rice Burger Bar Gojima

One of the biggest names in Japanese cuisine right now, Chase Kojima, is set to open a casual dining and takeaway restaurant in The Star Sydney (yes, that place but stay with us).

Kojima's new deluxe burger venture (and first ever casual dining restaurant) has set up shop opposite Momofuku Seiobo, set to open Thursday, December 15. The new restaurant is called Gojima — a play on the chef's last name, and the Japanese word for rice, gohan — and will serve up gourmet bun-less rice burgers and sides as well as Japanese beer, wine and thickshakes (weird addition but we're always down).

What can you expect on your rice burger? The menu features nine different varieties of burg made with Gojima's signature Japanese sushi rice and nori bun. There's the classic Gojima Cheeseburger, or alternatives like sustainably sourced Tasmanian salmon, yellowfin tuna, Hiramasa kingfish or crispy mushroom katsu. Pair that with a side of Japanese-style southern fried chicken served with Gojima special sauce. Sweet tooths can also enjoy a spot of frozen custard and those thickshakes, with flavours like chocolate miso, green tea and strawberries and cream.

Having led kitchens for the iconic Nobu restaurant group for years, Kojima then nailed it with his Sokyo Ramen pop-up in the Star Cafe Court last year which ran over by five months thanks to popular demand. The San Francisco-raised dynamo has spent the last few years at the helm of some of Australia's most high profile Japanese restaurants: Sydney's Soyko and the Gold Coast's Kiyomi.

For fans of Sydney's casual fine dining trend, this is great news. Don't we all deserve to try a gourmet, bun-less rice burger made by one of the world's most celebrated Japanese cuisine chefs? Kojima thinks so.

Gojima will open December 15 at The Star, in the space opposite Momofuku Seiobo.