Just off Oxford Street, hidden amonst residential apartments is Uchi Lounge. A bar downstairs, we bypassed this and head up to the restaurant – a long narrow room divided by hanging silk material. Nothing’s changed too much since my last visit, about six years back, it’s still complete, or is it incomplete with its minimalist fit-out that’s as far away from your standard aluminium and white marble bistro as can be.

Cutting straight to the food, we selected the tasting menu - rare beef with wasabi mash wasn’t overly rare, but the mash had enough wasabi to fend off my wasabi-hating partner and allow me to enjoy. Prawn and fish balls with green sea salt were served ridiculously hot, but the green tea salt was a smart twist on the salt, but either due to the fact I was searing my tongue on these super-heated fried balls I inhaled the very fine green tea powder and gave myself an eye-watering experience with two causes. The simple kingfish sashimi and mushrooms with basil pesto were easily the highlights – the latter, a large serving of earthy mushrooms with a wonderfully sweet pesto sauce.

Unfortunately, the service was something to be reckoned with on the night. The food came fast – too fast in fact, there was no recognition of how quickly we were eating and food started piling up on the table. I requested that they slow down the service and they did to a small extent, but certainly not enough. At one time there were three dishes on the table – not good enough.

We chose the green tea crème brulee and the black sesame tart for dessert.  The brulee had great flavour but the sugar on top had been blackened far too much and left a sharp, bitter taste. On the other hand, the slate grey tart was lacking in flavour.

Back to that service – whilst it was chipper, it really did lacki in knowledge of the kitchen and some serving basics. With no wine coolers available, we asked for our wine to be stored in the fridge, and this was done without issue. However, when we requested another glass, our bottle returned and was emptied into two bucket-sized glasses. To say I was gobsmacked was an understatement.

This restaurant could be so much more – some decent service for starters would go along way in bringing this restaurant up a notch. In fact, it is the service that is so greatly detrimental to this establishment – until it was improved, I’d avoid, which is a shame as the food is priced decently.

Returnability: Perhaps - did I mention the service? Priced well, it’s cheap and cheerful without being daggy.
Score: 12/20

Degustation - Two courses $35. Three courses $45.
Entrees $5.50 to $12.50. Mains $14.5 to $19.5. Dessert $7.50 - $8.50
BYO ($3 corkage per person) and licensed with a short, yet quirky wine list.
15 Brisbane Street, Surry Hills, NSW.