Oborozuki, a fine-dining restaurant at Circular Quay, combines French and Japanese cuisine

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It might be hard to pass for a fancy fine-dining restaurant these days; especially one that is designed to fuse Japanese and French cuisine. (Haven’t we done that before, and already fused it?) But if it is, Oborozuki doesn’t show it.

Instead, it’s about showing off. There are sommeliers specializing in sake and wine, and I’ve just received a giant leather Louis Vuitton suitcase. Inside are 40 glasses from Japan’s famous Kagami Crystal, backlit and gleaming like cut emeralds and rubies.

I selected a bottle, and a white-gloved sommelier poured in Hananomai Abysse ($23 for 100 ml), an unpasteurized sparkling sake made with a Champagne-like process that gives it a crisp, rich mouthfeel.

It was a magnificent ceremony, an almost sacred one. As far as I could tell, that was Long Yue’s style.

Tong Sheng Group (parent company of Panda Yum Cha and 678 Korean BBQ) has gone all out with its first high-end restaurant in Australia. The restaurant is perfectly situated overlooking the ferry terminal at Circular Quay. A grand spiral staircase (an influencer magnet) leads to a golden, double-height cathedral-like room. Upstairs, there are three private rooms on the second floor, which is the specialty of teppanyaki chef Felix Zheng.

Oborozuki started out as a high-end chef-run restaurant, but made some changes by appointing à la carte chef Daeun Kang (who worked at Aria for seven years) in late 2023. Her dishes are sophisticated, refined and technically sophisticated.

The menu is expensive ($180/$220 per person), but it’s made more affordable by the abundance of dishes, as the table is presented with not one but three appetizers, followed by Sonoma bread and seaweed butter. Maki rolls have the texture of mustard greens, topped with avocado and saltbush. Impossibly thin pies (made with dumpling wrappers) are filled with oyster cream, diced mahi mahi and crisp apple, topped with a bunch of sea grapes like seals. Smoked mussels are served on a soft doughnut with a bright ceviche mayonnaise.

Oh, my goodness, the food. Raw coral trout fillets stacked with sour shredded radish, dollops of Kaviari Kristal sturgeon caviar and tiny white flowers, white on white, like a bride’s wedding dress.

The chawanmushi is soaked in scallop broth and comes with crispy seared scallops, sea urchin and Jerusalem artichoke chips, paired with the umami-rich Gassan Special Junmai sake ($36 for 120 ml).

Each course reflected a fusion of French and Japanese influences, and my beverage pairing ($95) went from wine to sake to wine, with Donggeon Kim guiding us on the sake and Harold Clouet and Romain Bouquet on the wine (what an excellent last name for a sommelier).

O’Connor’s beef tartare was rich, with a warm flavor from fermented chilies, and was topped with a slice of toasted brioche sprinkled with air-dried egg yolk.

Some dishes are inspired by Kang’s years at Aria. Maremma duck is one; dry-aged for seven days, brushed with red wine and maltose, roasted, rested, carved and chargrilled. The garnish is precise and sharp; served with blackberries and a swirl of macadamia cream, it’s delicious. The duck is the star; ruby-red and as plump as the high-marbled beef, it’s paired with a velvety 2019 E. Guigal Crozes Hermitage.

The feeling is a bit otherworldly, like being in a Japanese restaurant in Paris or a French fine-dining restaurant in Tokyo.

Bottom line: agree on the same number of dishes between you, otherwise you might end up being out of sync with one person serving the fish and the other serving the dessert; it’s best to avoid this.

Sake played the role of rum, creating a delicious baba cake topped with tart curd, citrus cells and citrus sorbet, and freeze-dried oranges were sprinkled over the table.

The dramatic performances and rituals of Longyue are reminiscent of high-end Worldview in Melbourne, but here it’s generous and all about the diners, not the kitchen.

It’s a bit otherworldly, like being in a Japanese restaurant in Paris or a French fine-dining restaurant in Tokyo. But instead, we’re in Sydney, and here, bringing it all together, it feels like a glimpse into the future.