At first glance, Con Christopoulos opening a sushi train restaurant might seem something of an anomaly. The restaurateur behind a string of highly influential and much-emulated Melbourne gems (City Wine Shop, Siglo, Kirk’s Wine Bar, French Saloon, The European), is more readily associated with a specific brand of excellent, unpretentious Euro-channelling food, wine and style. So, with his latest project being a sushi train (imported from Taiwan) inspired by the Japanese diaspora in Brazil with chef Victor Liong (Lee Ho Fook) as partner in a space that formerly housed his Greek diner Kafeneion, you’d be well within your rights to ask what the hell is going on here?
Primarily what’s going on at Bossa Nova is good times, ably assisted by an excellent soundtrack that’s fond of the type of Brazilian samba that gives the restaurant its name. Secondly, no surprise given Liong’s participation, there’s some excellent food on those colour-coded plates (indicating price) trundling out of the semi-open kitchen and doing circuits of the neon-splashed, minimalist chic room under clear plastic domes.
The quality of the sushi and sashimi is impressive, whether you’re talking tiny, sweet school prawns, magenta-coloured slivers of skipjack tuna or excellent freshwater eel. But, unsurprisingly given the almost pathological levels of fusion at Bossa Nova, the selection never sticks to a specifically Japanese script.
There might be fried eggplant or calamari with a fragrant Sichuan-style chilli or udon noodles tossed with pipis and clams and flavoured with a seaweed butter. The noodles are from the specials board that lists options not on the train, like miso soup, superbly fatty and tender grilled ox tongue or grilled slivers of A5 wagyu.
The drinks list here taps into the eclectic approach too. There are very good, appropriately chilled Martinis alongside Brazil’s signature cocktail, the Caipirinha, a list of wines by the half bottle,
a brief, solid list of sake and an excellent selection of Japanese beer.
The closer you peer at Bossa Nova, the more it becomes clear it’s less an anomaly in the Christopoulos stable and more variation on a theme. It’s a good-looking, user-friendly space that offers flexibility, a sense of humour, great tunes, excellent things to drink and quick, delicious food made with a firm eye on ingredient quality.
Probably most importantly, Christopoulos has, as always, gone into the business with an excellent and talented partner in Victor Liong. So the twist in the tale here is actually more about the similarity than the difference. All aboard.