King Clarence

Sydney’s food scene is oversaturated with contemporary Asian restaurants. Asian fusion is a buzzword used prevalently for many new restaurant openings - so what makes the Bentley Group’s new opening King Clarence stand out? Let’s find out together in today’s blog.

King Clarence is a pan-Asian restaurant from the Bentley Group that serves elevated Japanese, Korean, and Chinese food. The restaurant name is quite original… referencing the restaurant’s location on the corner of King and Clarence Street in Sydney, let’s hope the food is a tad more exciting and creative!

Drinks

Every good meal starts with drinks and King Clarence has pages on pages of wine/cocktail options for your viewing and sipping pleasure - I tried the very basic but very refreshing yuzu highball which is as you’d expect, a mix of citrus tang with Japanese whiskey. My friend ordered the Kuro Ume which was a mix of apricot whiskey, Fino, and Oloroso Sherry with Black Cardamom: light, fresh, and crowd-pleasing flavours with a whisky base and a hint of sweetness, it’s hard to fault King Clarence’s play on Asian flavours in it’s cocktail creations.

A La Carte

Hiramasa Kingfish

Kingfish is a naturally light, clean, and sweet-flavoured fish that is perfect for sashimi and King Clarence’s version is served with sweet miso to complement the sweet flesh of the kingfish. The wasabi was quite mild but served its purpose of undercutting some of the sweetness of this dish - overall I thought it was delicious with delicately balanced flavours. If you are a fan of kingfish then this is the dish for you.

Fish finger bao

These fish finger baos have been affectionately termed the fancier version of Macca’s filet o’fish, its TikTok famous, and the signature dish that’s drawing the crowds through the door. These baos are filled with a thick fish filet set in dashi jelly before being coated in crumbs, fried then served with mustard greens for a peppery sting to the tartare sauce, cheese, pickled chilli, and salmon caviar. I loved this wonderfully delicious creation - the combination of crispy fried fish with the umami sauce and pop of the salmon caviar works beautifully, if only this wasn’t $15 a pop I’d have five in one sitting.

Potato Okonomiyaki

This was an interesting fusion dish, the best way to describe it is “hash brown with okonomiyaki sauce” - the toppings of bulldog hot sauce, seaweed ranch, and cured yolk were unlike anything I’ve tasted before. My friend and I couldn’t place our finger on what this dish is reminiscent of but it was ridiculously yummy. The hint of spice and savoury aftertaste of the seaweed ranch complimented the crunchy potato base quite well, however, if you are not feeling adventurous maybe give this a miss as it’s a bit of a weird intersection of hash brown/tater tots and okonomiyaki.

Claypot rice

Claypot rice is a staple of traditional Chinese cuisine and it’s widely consumed in Guandong/Southern China and Hong Kong. It’s no surprise that King Clarence features clay pot rice on the menu - short grain Japanese koshihikari rice is fried in duck and pork fat with fatty pork jowl char sui and lap cheong mixed throughout. the rice is then caramelized to get that crispy rice bits at the bottom and topped with crispy fried onions, fried garlic, pork floss, coriander, spring onion, and garlic chives with a raw egg yolk. The depth of flavour and texture of the meat, rice, and condiments was a pleasant surprise. The price point may be a little steep at $38 but in the current hyper-inflationary economy I’m pretty sure even the traditional HK restaurants are charging at least $25 for claypot rice so it’s not that much of a price hike.

Mango pudding

My family only has one rule for yum cha - always order the mango pancake (芒果班戟) to finish the meal on a sweet note. This mango pudding was reminiscent of the mango pancake which is whipped cream and fresh mango chunks wrapped in thin crepes; King Clarence’s mango pudding pairs mango with complimentary flavours of coconut, cultured cream, vanilla bean, and passionfruit for a well-rounded and refreshingly light dessert. If you are a fan of mango pancakes or mango sticky rice then please order this dessert (although the other options including the fried peanut butter ice cream and pineapple/yuzu granita also sound too good to pass up… what’s a girl who loves her sweet treats to do, guess I have to revisit in future).

Overall rating: 8/10

King Clarence has dispelled some of my cynicism around fancy Asian/Chinese fusion food, what I loved about the dishes is the creativity, quality of ingredients, and thoughtfulness that went into the flavour pairings for each dish. My favourites are kingfish sashimi and fish finger bao as the claypot rice and potato okonomiyaki left me a little wanting of a bit more oomph in execution and creativity (note you can probably have better claypot rice elsewhere there wasn’t much fusion of flavours in this main). Overall, I enjoyed the ambiance and dining experience at King Clarence so it’s definitely worth a visit but maybe save the repeat visit for when the team updates its menu or for a special occasion.

Address: 171 Clarence St, Sydney NSW 2000

Instagram: @kingclarence_sydney

Menu: https://www.bentleyrestaurantgroup.com.au/kingclarence

Drinks

A La Carte

Penelope’s

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