Mr FPJ and I had a staycation at Hotel Realm and booked in to the Chairman & Yip across the road for dinner. We were shown to our table and menus and water provided. There is a choice of 2 banquets – 6 courses or 8 courses and we went for the latter at $88 per person. We had made our reservation online and I wrote in my pregnancy dietary requirements in the notes field so that the restaurant could prepare. Our waiter informed us that the non-pregnancy friendly dishes would be swapped out with mainly vegetarian dishes which is fine with me.
Course 1 – sushi trio with yellowfin tuna, seafood sushi roll and seared Hokkaido scallop for Mr FPJ.
I received a plate of seared mushroom, capsicum and a well-done (but still brilliant and soft) wagyu nigiri. Beautiful presentation and I didn’t feel left out.
When our plates were being cleared and our thoughts about the dish requested by our waiter, Mr FPJ asked to send his compliments to the chef particularly for the yellowfin tuna. Our waiter advised they actually had some tuna otoro (belly) that day, which is quite rare as there’s only a few months each year that you can get it but it has a melt-in-your-mouth buttery texture and flavour. Did he want to try it? The answer was yes, and for an extra $10 or so added to the bill. Mr FPJ preferred the regular tuna as he found the otoro too fatty for his liking, but the waiter was right it is really buttery and creamy.
Course 2 – wagyu beef tataki (marbling 8+), with sichuan green pepper infused leek and burnt soy for Mr FPJ.
I received a bowl of thick almost translucent noodles with a very soft and chewy texture in salad form with thin slices of tomato, radish, seaweed and sesame seeds. It was a much bigger and generous portion than expected and I soon started to fill up knowing there were 6 more dishes coming.
Course 3 – steamed chawanmushi with scampi, spanner crab, black fungus and asparagus. A dainty light and jiggly appetiser turned into a fine dining dish with scampi and crab. No complaints.
Course 4 – twice cooked crispy duck pancake. The duck breast and leg came on a plate served with a fresh cucumber salad. The house made hot pancakes arrived on a separate plate and there were 4 pancakes ( 2 pancakes each). Our waiter advised to please let him know if we wanted more pancakes and he’d bring them out for us. After letting me take photos, he proceeded to cut up the duck breast and leg for ease of making our pancakes. Really succulent duck and there was a lot of it. We only asked for one extra pancake as there was so much duck left over, and we were already getting full.
Course 5 – Hiramasa kingfish with miso marinated mushroom and pickled turnip. This was a delicate dish with a small piece of kingfish each but it had lots of flavour from the light seasoning and mushrooms.
Course 6 – wok-tossed pork fillet with chilli plum jam and green pea. The portion for this main was a lot bigger than expected, especially in comparison to the kingfish. It tasted similar to a Chinese sweet and sour pork but with better quality pork. Very tasty.
Course 7 – pan-fried mapo tofu with beef, broad beans and shiitake mushrooms. I grew up with mapo tofu so I love this dish. Mr FPJ is not so much in love with tofu. This was mixed with eggplant and chilli, and again was another generous portion. I found it a tad oily but I still could have devoured this on its own with steamed rice.
Course 8 – purple sticky rice pudding with coconut ice cream. This is another well-loved dish from childhood and the addition of toasted shredded coconut on top made it extra special. Mr FPJ wasn’t the biggest fan but it’s a great Asian dessert.
The restaurant was informed and well-prepared with dietary requirements and I felt well taken care of from ordering until the very end of the dining experience. Faultless service, great food, and we both found it was great value for money at $88 compared to other restaurants when looking at quality of food, portion size, and service. We would happily go back to Chairman & Yip for more.
You may have noticed why a Chinese-Malaysian restaurant has sushi on the menu. We’re told that Chairman & Yip have hired a Japanese chef who will be working at a new Japanese restaurant somewhere in Canberra as part of the restaurant group’s new food venture. I wonder where it will be..
Chairman & Yip
1 Burbury Cl, Barton ACT
Opening hours:
Friday lunch: 12.00 – 2.30pm,
Tuesday – Saturday: From 6.00pm.
Foodgasm 9/10
Service 9/10
Value for money 9/10
FPJ score 27/30
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