Etsu’s sibling spot SHŌTŌ is now open in Burleigh – and it’s already impossible to get a table
For years, Etsu Izakaya has been the quiet achiever of Mermaid Beach. No signage, just a single red lantern – yet those who step through the barn doors find a dining room that’s perpetually humming. Now, owner Nathan Horwood has brought that same energy south, with a smaller, more intimate sibling in Burleigh Heads. In traditional Japanese culture, shōtō means short sword – lesser in stature than the samurai blade, but no less deadly. It’s a fitting name.
SHŌTŌ has officially opened on the Gold Coast Highway (next door to Rosella’s), transforming the former Iku Yakitori Bar site in just four weeks into something that feels entirely its own. The result is a 64-seat restaurant and bar that shares Etsu’s Japanese DNA, but is clearly carving out a different kind of identity.
The fit-out took some sweat. Nathan was on the tools himself through most of the build, arriving early and leaving well after dark. “My wife, she didn’t know who I was when I went home,” he laughs. What emerged is a darker, more refined space — new lighting (the pendants made by Nathan’s mum), reworked finishes and a completely rebuilt front facade that nods to Etsu’s minimalist entry.
The concept has evolved since early conversations, and Nathan is refreshingly unbothered about what to call it. “Japanese tapas bar has been thrown around, Japanese snack bar, that kind of thing,” he says. Unlike Etsu, which leans on the izakaya model of shared plates, SHŌTŌ’s menu is built largely around two-to-three-bite dishes, designed to stack up rather than sit heavy. “Instead of ordering three or four plates, people are ordering eight,” Nathan says. “You’re not rolling out feeling like a food coma, but you still get that experience of trying lots of different things.”
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The menu moves fluidly between robata skewers, hand rolls, tacos, sashimi and snacks, and the early runaway hits have been telling. The kingfish taco (avocado mousse, jalapeno salsa) has reportedly outsold the much-loved wagyu sando. The wagyu tartare topped with bone marrow and caviar is a labour of love in the most literal sense – the team hand-scrapes each bone to get it presentable, which Nathan describes as “a pain in the arse” with genuine affection. Other standouts include wagyu cigars with black garlic and truffle mayo, lobster katsu sandos, crispy rice with spicy tuna, bluefin tuna tartare and robata skewers.
The drinks program leans into Japanese cocktails, whisky and sake, with a format that mirrors the food’s approachability. Leading the charge are the ‘shōtōs’ – half-sized signature cocktails inspired by the samurai’s short blade. Expect sharp, balanced pours like the Yuzucello Spritz with prosecco and passionfruit, or the Miso Fashionable with Japanese whisky and coconut. The full cocktail list takes its cues from Japan itself, each of the six drinks named after a city or region and inspired by its character. The Tokyo leads with vodka, cold-brew coffee by Miami’s That’s Whyld and miso caramel foam – a nod to the city’s specialty drink obsession, just with a boozy twist. While the Ginza channels the indulgence of Tokyo’s most expensive dining district with Hibiki Harmony, A5 wagyu fat, black truffle and honey.
For Nathan, opening SHŌTŌ carried a different kind of pressure to anything he’d faced with Etsu. This was the first venue he’d built from the ground up, and with Etsu’s near-mythic reputation on the Gold Coast, the bar was high. “It really needed to perform,” he says. The response from regulars and a flood of DMs suggests it has.
For now, SHŌTŌ is open Thursday to Monday, with plans to extend to seven nights a week soon. Reservations are strongly recommended – and currently, not easy to come by.
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