Aizome Bar, the 10-seat venue on Montague Road in West End named Gourmet Traveller Bar of the Year 2025, has introduced new tasting and à la carte menus as part of an updated food offering at the bar.
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The menus are designed to provide a more flexible entry point into the +81 dining philosophy, the concept that underpins both Aizome Bar and its adjoining omakase restaurant, Sushi Kappo. The bar format allows guests to engage at their own pace, whether through drinks only or a fuller dining experience.
The food program is overseen by Chef Ikuo Kobayashi, who also leads the kitchen at Sushi Kappo next door. Kobayashi’s background includes time at some of Japan’s most prestigious Michelin-starred restaurants. At Aizome Bar, the venue says his approach adapts the discipline of kappo-style dining into a format suited to a bar setting.
Across both menus, dishes are prepared without gluten, dairy or nuts. The venue describes this as a deliberate philosophy, one it says reinforces purity, balance and precision rather than functioning as a dietary restriction.
What’s on the New Menus
The tasting menu is priced at $90 per person and runs across six courses: three starters, two mains and a dessert.
Starters include seared beef tataki with broccoli, tomato and soy milk cream cheese; sashimi of the day; and chawanmushi, a Japanese savoury egg custard made with Canadian snow crab. Mains are a Marble King Wagyu Sirloin MS9+ sukiyaki with seasonal vegetables and free-range egg yolk, and a salmon avocado roll. The meal closes with a sweet finale dessert.
The à la carte menu includes bar snacks and dishes the venue says are designed to pair with its drinks offering, across a range of price points. Options include:
- Edamame $8
- Tomato Caprese with soy cream cheese $18
- Sashimi of the Day $12
- Chicken Karaage $20
- Diced Marble King Wagyu Fillet MS9+ $20
- Uramaki rolls (6pc) with Tasmanian ocean trout and avocado, or ebi and avocado $12 each
- Inarizushi (2pc) $8
- Wagyu Curry Rice $19
- Sake-lees and Chocolate Soy Ice Cream $8
The Drinks Program
The bar’s drinks program defines the Aizome Bar experience. The venue is known for its Neo cocktails, developed by Tony Huang and Tim Pope, which are prepared over multiple days using freeze-integration techniques and served in a wine-style format.
A Cocktail Experience option is also available, offering a curated flight of six 60ml cocktails, each aged over five days. The broader drinks list includes wine, sake and spirits.
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Aizome Bar sits under the +81 brand, named after Japan’s international dialling code, alongside Sushi Kappo. Reservations are available through the +81 website.
Aizome Bar is at 259 Montague Road, West End.
Published 30-April-2026
