Experience Modern Japanese Cuisine with Art and Theatre
Few restaurants make the connection between food and performance as apparent as Kazan Dining. Set above the Theatre Royal at 25 Martin Place, the restaurant takes inspiration from the traditional Japanese Noh stage, with an open-plan design that keeps the kitchen closely connected to the dining room.
That theatrical concept is carried through the space, where preserved architectural elements meet contemporary details across the main dining room and 10-seat private dining area. Its position above the Theatre Royal also makes Kazan particularly suited to a meal before or after a show, adding another dimension to the overall experience.
The menu follows a similarly contemporary direction. Concrete Playground highlights a selection of sashimi, sushi, robatayaki and share plates, alongside desserts such as yuzu pavlova and Kazan fondant with coffee ice cream and miso caramel. The menu also introduces subtle Nikkei influences, with dishes such as confit duck breast with mustard soy, orange and sansho pepper, Glacier 51 Patagonian toothfish with corn purée and umeshu tomato, and robata-grilled lamb cutlets with aji amarillo and cucumber yoghurt.
Leading the kitchen is head chef Shinya Nakano, whose experience at Melbourne’s Kisume and Nobu informs Kazan’s interpretation of modern Japanese cuisine. His approach combines established Japanese techniques with ingredients and flavours that extend beyond more traditional preparations.
For Concrete Playground, the appeal of Kazan lies in how naturally its different elements come together. Rather than treating the food, architecture and theatrical setting as separate features, the restaurant brings them into a single contemporary Japanese dining experience in Sydney CBD.
