Scott Hallsworth opens Kurochan at the Mandarin Oriental, Bodrum, Turkey

On the 15th June acclaimed Australian chef Scott Hallsworth will be opening his new restaurant Kurochan at the Mandarin oriental in Bodrum, Turkey. This creation is a marker of Hallsworth’s second year partnership with the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group. Hallsworth has previously become renowned in London for his Kurobuta restaurant in the Chelsea and Marylebone areas.

Kurochan is situated overlooking the resort’s main beach, and has an open kitchen which offers many different flavours of modern Asian cuisine. The menu for the new restaurant features tapas style sharing plates that include everything from sushi and sashimi to fresh fish and steaks. The menu also offers robata barbequed-style grills and options for vegetarian guests.

Scott Hallsworth’s Kurochan menu is inspired by the traditional Izakayas of Japan. Starters include flamed Edamame with sake, lemon, butter and sea salt and crunchy rice bites topped with king crab and spicy salmon. Kurochan’s cold/raw/salad menu offers beef tataki, salmon tartar and Hijiki seaweed salad. Crispy tempura, Kurochan’s signature hot wings, fried kara-age chicken sliders and salmon sashimi pizza feature in Hallsworth’s hugely popular Junk Food Japan menu. Vegetables marinated with special sauces and cooked on robata bbq grills, fried duck, black cod, scallops and sea bass, aubergine Dengaku and Shitake mushrooms are among the choices alongside signature Scott Hallsworth poultry and meat dishes.

Grain and Greens and Nigiri from the @scotthallsworth menu at Kurochan at the @MO_BOD. pic.twitter.com/tHdhBAZEX6

— kurochan (@kurochanbodrum) June 12, 2015

Acclaimed contemporary and classic cocktails from the Kurochan bar enhance a drinks menu which includes a choice of Japanese sake, local and international wines and draught beers.

Scott Hallsworth lists himself on his website as a contemporary Japanese specialist, but has a long history of working with a variety of different kinds of Asian foods. At the age of 16 he left school to take up an apprenticeship with esteemed ex- Gavroche sous chef Alain Doisneau. In 2001 he joined Nobu London as a chef de partie. He later went on to spend six years as head chef at the Michelin-starred restaurant, before moving to Dubai a year later to start his Mirai restaurant. He began piecing together ideas for his new Kurobota restaurant in 2013 with former Nobu financial controller Andrew Stafford, and currently has Kurobota restaurants in Chelsea and Marble Arch. In 2014 The Times rated the restaurant 9/10 for food. He also set up Joe’s Oriental Diner at the site of the original Kurobota restaurant in Chelsea in March 2015.

By Jack Mckeever