PaperPlanes Bondi

Bar Food Booze Cocktails Dessert Eat & Drink Japanese

Alex Harmon
May 9, 2012

Image: Skateboards on the roof, a DJ beside the sushi chef, purple mood lighting: if Bondi and Tokyo were Street Fighter characters, they’d end up on the same team. Co-owner Phil Capaldi, in his Scottish accent teaches us Sake 101, matching it with food like a sommelier; and dazzling us with “Christmas cake tasting” sake, which shatters my Japanese businessmen cliché.

Skateboards on the roof, a DJ beside the sushi chef, purple mood lighting: if Bondi and Tokyo were Street Fighter characters, they’d end up on the same team. Co-owner Phil Capaldi, in his Scottish accent teaches us Sake 101, matching it with food like a sommelier; and dazzling us with “Christmas cake tasting” sake, which shatters my Japanese businessmen cliché. The theme here is fun, like Salmon Tartare Nachos ($16), sprinkled with salmon roe and scooped up with prawn crackers, or Shitake Mushroom Skewers ($8.50) that glisten like adult Paddlepops. Cocktails are sheepishly girly; the Tokyo Pop ($14) has a rim of pop rock candy and a fruity Pimms body – it’s like a party in your mouth. Standout dish is PaperPlanes Prawn Gyoza ($18), with wasabi peas and lemon wasabi foam – it’s got more high notes than drunken karaoke. Spicy Tuna Sushi ($12) tastes as pretty as it looks and, like a cowboy, Phil sidles up to us with fresh wasabi root that he grates with shark skin. If you’re not already swooning, try the Tokyo Pot Plant Lemon Cheesecake ($13), served in a terracotta pot. I love it when kitsch actually tastes delicious. Let’s hope, like their aluminium origami, PaperPlanes stands the test of time.