Tsukiyo Is Darling Square's New Neon-Lit Japanese Restaurant Inspired by Osaka's Dotonbori District

Find golden-brown takoyaki balls and fish-shaped taiyaki waffles at this new Haymarket eatery.
Ben Hansen
June 30, 2022

Darling Harbour's ever-expanding dining precinct Darling Square has added another exciting new restaurant to its list of eateries with a neon-lit Japanese street food spot opening its doors on Monday, June 27.

Tsukiyo presents fun and vibrant Japanese street food dishes, with the menu split between two primary dishes.

The first is takoyaki, crispy golden fried balls of batter topped with bonito flakes and takoyaki sauce. The original flavour is also topped with kewpie mayo, but you can also order it spicy with mentaiko mayo and katsuobushi, or rotating special varieties like the Barcelona takoyaki featuring LP's chorizo, smoked paprika, aioli, tomato, fried parsley and lemon.

The second style of dish is the cute fish-shaped taiyaki. These waffles come made in the shape of Japanese tai fish and are packed with a variety of fillings. The flavours include red bean, vanilla bean custard and chesnut, with each taiyaki coming with your prefered flavour of gelato and toppings. There's also a far less traditional croque monsieur taiyaiki on the menu that is filled with ham and gruyere.

The final element of the menu is fruit sandos, made with fluffy slices of white bread, locally sourced Australian fruit and Calpis whipped cream.

The restaurant has been developed by Zach Tan's Devon Hospitality Group and Hidetoshi Tsuboi (Hakatamon Ramen) with the help of former Zumbo pastry chef Markus Andrew.

"Meaning 'moonlit night' in Japanese, Tsukiyo is the culmination of our innate yearning to recreate the nostalgic feeling of walking through the side street food stalls of Osaka's neon-laden Dotonbori district," Tan said. "I have always been a huge fan of Japanese food and culture, having opened both Devon Cafe and Japanese donburi restaurant, Dopa, so I'm excited to expand our offering with Tsukiyo."

Tsukiyo is located at 17–19 Little Hay Street, Haymarket. It's open midday–9pm Monday–Sunday.

Published on June 30, 2022 by Ben Hansen
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