Overview
Fresh from opening a pop-up restaurant on top of a Sydney Harbour Bridge pylon (and suggesting something similar for Brisbane), celebrity chef Luke Mangan is back with a new Sydney opening, combining two of his favourite cuisines. Luc-San pairs flavours of France and Japan in what Mangan is calling a "French izakaya".
"It was a meal at Joël Robuchon that triggered me to explore the union of French and Japanese," said Mangan. "I designed the menu to pay homage to my classic French training under Michel Roux, coupled with my affinity for Japanese cuisine developed during my time owning and operating Salt in Tokyo."
Located in Potts Point, the 90-seat neighbourhood restaurant welcomes you in with moody lighting, a red terrazzo bar and a soft neutral colour palette running through the dining room.
The menu features highlights like prawns paired with a French butter-based sauce, seaweed and shiso; tuna croissants served with Hokkaido scallop salad; and panko-crumbed pork topped with pickled mustard leaf and sauce choron.
The robata grill will be firing, with pork, yuzu chicken, mushroom and wagyu beef skewers all on offer. And for dessert, the pick of the sweets is either the white chocolate pudding partnered with green team and lime chantilly, or the soft meringue, yuzu curd and brandy cumquats.
If you want to sample your way through everything that's on offer, there are two set menus. The six-course option features pickles, market fish sashimi, pork skewers, confit duck and soba noodles with peanut, sesame and dojon rayu — plus the soft meringue dessert — all for $75 per person.
Alternatively, you can opt for eight courses, which adds the signature prawns as well as fragrant ginger and garlic mushrooms to the mix for an extra $20 a head.
Then there's the drinks. Pair your prawns and panko pork with your choice from the extensive wine and sake list — or, take your pick from the cocktail menu. The Luc-San martini is described as "a warming ginger pash laced with electric shochu", combining Summum Vodka, shochu, massenez lychee, pineapple and ginger; while the Provincial Daiquiri is pitched as "the unofficial Barbie cocktail" and features white rum, Dolin Dry vermouth, watermelon, seasonal berries, lemon and lavender tincture.
Luc-San is now open on the corner of Pennys Lane and Kings Cross Road, Potts Point — operating from 4pm–late Tuesday–Saturday.