Project Team

Design: Giant Designs

Suppliers

Tables: custom made by contractor
Stools:
Sounds Like Home
Pendant Light Fittings:
clients own

Photography: Andrew Worssam

Yebisu, Sydney’s funkiest new izakaya bar and restaurant, has opened in Regent Place, George Street, just opposite Sydney Town Hall. Dubbed Sydney’s ‘J-Village’, the revitalised Regent Place and surrounding neighbourhood is home to a number of Sydney’s best Japanese food and drink destinations including authentic ramen soup shop Tenkomori and Sydney’s first specialist matcha teahouse Chanoma Café.

Leading the way in new-age restaurant technology, Yebisu also offers diners a fully integrated iPad ordering system with each table featuring its own iPad menu for customers to browse and order from. This state-of-the-art system and one of the first in Sydney allows diners to see what stage their order is at, from ‘order placed’ to ‘cooking currently’ to ‘on its way to the table’. Diners also have constant access to a running list of what food and drink has been ordered and a total cost of the bill. Interaction with waitstaff is up to you.

Yebisu’s funky fit-out is boldly ‘east meets west’, reflecting the old and the new face of Japan. Traditional and obviously Japanese in its detail, the modern street art, courtesy of Coffs Harbour-based graffiti artist Ash Johnston, adds a truly urban edge. The exterior of the restaurant features brightly lit neon signage running alongside glowing paper lanterns traditionally found outside izakaya bars in Japan.

The radical transformation of Regents Place has brought new life to a space that was always waiting to reach it’s full potential. The area dubbed ‘Little Japan’, on the George Street level, has three new Japanese concepts, all designed by Giant.

‘Tenkomori Ramen House’ and ‘Chanoma Café’ opened in January and ‘Yebisu’, an Isakaya Sake Bar opened the end of May.

Yebisu continues the streetscape theme of Tenkomori and Chanoma with a its own aesthetic & personality.

The concept for the Sake bar was to create a space that is quite traditional in its detail and obviously Japanese, but the intervention of modern street art adds an urban and contemporary edge. The stark contrast between the old and the new face of Japan works well in context with the adjacent food tenancies.

Positioned in what used to be a tight walkway to the bathrooms, the shopfront was removed and pulled right back to the existing bar, opening up the space and making it inviting and generous. A new timber and raw brick façade has been created in a traditional Japanese style incorporating a timber pergola overhead with hanging Japanese branded sign boxes suspended beneath.

Recycled bricks have been used to the perimeter walls and columns, dark stained timber with dimpled textured glass to joinery and textured OSB timber used on the ceiling.

Japanese textured tiles are used along the bar and inset into the communal tables, sake bottles are on display, and an eclectic mix of light pendants give an authentic look and feel. Technology is integrated into the tables with the self-serve Ipad ordering system.

The graffiti artwork over the bricks and timber (by artist, Ash Johnston) draws on traditional Japanese themes and imagery, whilst mixing with contemporary urban street art.