Sake and serious tunes from a banging vinyl collection meet at Rekodo in harbourside Barangaroo House, backed up by creative cocktails and Japanese-channelling snacks.
Three-level Barangaroo House originally opened with Bea, a semi-formal, semi-casual, not-too-sure-what-it-was restaurant sandwiched between the casual House Bar on the ground floor and Smoke on the rooftop. Bea’s quiet exit made way for Rekodo, the Solotel Group’s take on a Japanese record bar (“rekodo” means record in Japanese) in mid-2022. What hasn’t changed is the user-friendly space – it’s wide and well laid-out, with sunshine-streaked views over yacht masts in the marina from the outdoor terraces if you rock up during the day. What has changed is the format – it’s now focused firmly on hi-fi good times thanks to its all-vinyl playlists (everything from Bootsy Collins to Rodriguez) and rotating “guest selector” DJ residencies from Thursdays to Sundays.
Drinks are wrangled by Pauric Kennedy (formerly of the CBD’s Palmer & Co among other smart bars), slinging tangy cocktails and a good sake selection, while the food is chef Paddy McDermott’s take on Japanese snackery.
From the moment you enter, you realise the music isn’t mere background noise at Rekodo. The vinyl collection is shelved in rows behind the reception desk and the volume is turned up to a level that makes you want to pay attention (though the sound system is so finely tuned it never gets intrusive). On the nights that DJs are spinning actual records there’s more of a party vibe, but even when they’re not physically present, the DJ of the month has hand-picked every tune.
That’s not to say the drinks or food take a backseat. The cocktails hold their own – juicy and sexy and peppered with Japanese ingredients such as yuzu citrus, matcha green tea and umeshu plum wine – and you can grab snacks from the menu as the whim strikes you or plunge into a full omakase “chef’s choice” menu. The seating situation caters to everyone – choose the kitchen bar if you want to deep-dive into the food, plonk yourself in front of Pauric at the drinks bar if you want to know what he’s put in his cocktails that week, get a booth or a table if you need more room to spread out and chat, or go for a terrace table if the sun’s out.
Food is loosely grouped into “cold/raw”, “smaller” and “larger” dishes, and you can mix and match them at will or choose from two omakase “chef’s choice” menus – a bite-size line-up or one that includes weightier dishes such as kingfish collar with the Japanese herb shiso and pickles, or miso eggplant that’s served smouldering in a clay pot.
Servings are generous – the chirashi don of diced tuna, salmon roe and avocado on a bed of rice could easily be a meal on its own – so if you’re choosing your own adventure, don’t go overboard. Another reason to practise early restraint? The desserts are a highlight, especially the mango and sticky rice shaped like sushi.
Rekodo gives Barangaroo House much more of a flow than it had before – casual drinks at the bottom, tunes and snacks in the middle, and party vibes on the top. Drifting between all three now makes much more sense. Barangaroo as a whole suffered from the tragedy of timing – it really only began to find its feet just before the pandemic shutdowns – but you can feel the energy returning now, and Rekodo is doing a good job playing its part in the reboot.
