Category: Japanese

Japanese combines the best of raw and cooked food. Its Sushi and Sashimi are known worldwide for its distinct way to present food.

Ippuku

Ippuku Review:

We went to Ippuku just before our new year holidays. Ippuku is a brand new cafe in Rosebery that serves Japanese-style food and drinks. Back then, they were only open for breakfast and lunch. However, they have since expanded their opening hours to dinner service as well.

They don’t have many food options, however I think it could already cater for most of their customers’ need. They also have a selection of dishes from their display cabinet.

Karaage – $8 – Japanese Fried Chicken with Kewpie Mayo

One of the tests of a good Japanese restaurant is their Karaage. The karaage here was pretty decent.

Nippon Poke Bowl – $18 – Atlantic Salmon, Seasoned Sushi Rice, Toasted Sesame Seeds, Kale, Cucumber, Edamame, Pickled Vegetables. Served with Miso Soup

I was quite surprised to see this menu… or at least why it was called this way. The poke bowl was very fresh and the plating was pretty lively.

Tofu Balls – $18 – Poached Egg, Organic Red Quinoa, Crispy Kale, Smashed Avocado, BBQ Grilled Broccolini + Harissa Yoghurt Dressing

One thing on the menu that we were very interested about was the tofu balls. The description that they had was very intriguing.

The tofu balls ended up being the dish that we liked the most. It was a complete dish with crunchy, sweet, savoury elements. It was also pretty filling.

Latte

The final verdict for Ippuku

Ippuku is a decent little cafe at the heart of Rosebery. They are also reasonably priced

Do you think I should go?

There are quite a few cafes at Rosebery. However, this cafe was the only one dedicated to a Japanese cafe menu.

Rating for Ippuku:

7.0 / 10

Taste: 7.0 / 10

Price: $10 – $18 per dish

Place: 7.0 / 10

Details:

1/1-3 Dunning Avenue, Rosebery 2018

[email protected]

https://www.ippuku.com.au

Jan 30, 2019
Ginza Japanese Yakiniku

Ginza Japanese Yakiniku Review:

This week we were excited to try one of the newer Japanese Yakiniku restaurants in one of the newer buildings in Sydney: Ginza Japanese Yakiniku at the Emerald Square in Burwood. Everything in the area looked and smelled new. Parking can be quite troublesome in the weekend, but fortunately, we came in quite early.

Ginza Japanese Yakiniku has 2 set menu to choose from: the standard menu at $56.8 and the premium menu that would cost you $68.8. The main differences between the two menus are ox tongue, mixed tempura, oyster, scallop, and one more dessert. We decided that the premium menu didn’t really add that much more value… and went with the standard menu.

Ginza Japanese Yakiniku

Being in a yakiniku, the first question you might want to ask is: how many types of meat do they have?

The answer is 4 for standard and 6 (plus ox tongue) for the premium set. The good thing about Ginza was that they cut the meat to a bite size. That means you can cook it faster and you can enjoy it sooner!

Sashimi and Sushi

Despite only have two kinds of sashimi, the standard menu had a few other sushi to choose from, including our favourite: seared salmon nigiri. It is also pleasing to see that they use different plates for different order sizes.

Seafood

Outside the sushi and sashimi dishes, the standard menu only has a handful other seafood dishes. Whereas the premium menu has scallops, fishes and prawns that you can order.

Side dish

They have a whole bunch of side dishes available for both standard and premium menu.

Desserts

They have two ice cream flavours: taro and vanilla. Ginza Japanese Yakiniku is probably the only Japanese restaurant that serves taro but not green tea ice cream.

The final verdict for Ginza Japanese Yakiniku

We feel that Ginza Japanese Yakiniku is sitting on the more expensive side for a bbq restaurant in Burwood. Their standard set has quite a lot of vegetables. The premium set wasn’t too different and the selection didn’t really wow us.

Do you think I should go?
Ginza Japanese Yakiniku is still a pretty restaurant that is probably perfect if you want to impress someone. However, you could get similar quality dishes for cheaper price around the area.

Rating for Ginza Japanese Yakiniku:

6.5 / 10

Taste: 6.0 / 10

Price: $56.8 for standard and $68.8 for the premium set

Place: 8.5 / 10

Details:

Emerald Square Level 2, 27-31 Belmore Street Burwood NSW 2134

+61 2 9715 1456

https://www.ginzayakiniku.com.au/

Oct 23, 2018
Kokoroya Japanese Sushi Dining

Kokoroya Japanese Sushi Dining Review:

I have been to Kokoroya a few times since my days living in Maroubra. However, I only got to write about it based on my recent visit to this Japanese restaurant.

Just like any high-end Japanese restaurants, Kokoroya utilises a touch screen menu where you can just click and order. You can also check how much you have spent so far. So far, I have always enjoyed restaurants that adopted this kind of menu system.

Crispy Zucchini – $9.8

Fried zucchini was the perfect start to our dinner.

Aburi Salmon Sushi 5pc – $16 and Tobiko Ship – $6.5

Being a ‘sushi dining’, obviously, one of your main orders were its sushi dishes. Their sushi was slightly bigger than the average sushi served in restaurants. They were also well-presented.

Large Sashimi Mix – $36

I always consider having a scampi in the sashimi platter to be a plus. Kokoroya gave two scampi and a handful of scallops for their sashimi platter!

Fisherman Hot Pot – $17.8 – Udon noodles with assorted seafood

Fisherman hot pot in Kokoroya is probably one of the most elaborate udon dishes in Sydney. They put a lot of seafood into the big bowl of udon.

Crispy Chicken Namban – $20.5 – Sauteed chicken served with sweet & sour sauce

Chicken namban is a sauteed chicken with special Japanese ‘namban’ sauce – a yellow sauce that’s quite sweet with a hint of sour taste. I’ve had a few different chicken namban in Sydney. I thought the chicken namban in Kokoroya was excellent. Just be mindful that they don’t serve rice with this dish.

Unagi Kabayaki – $24.8 – Grilled eel

Unlike chicken namban, their unagi kabayaki does come with rice. The unagi poriton was massive!

Mochi Ice Cream – $9.5 and Kids Vanilla Ice Cream – $3.5

Nothing is quite filling and satisfying than a cool ice-cream-filled mochi!

The final verdict for Kokoroya Japanese Sushi Dining

Kokoroya might be one of the more expensive restaurants in Maroubra. However, they backed it up with great service and nice food quality.

Do you think I should go?
There is one other thing that I haven’t mentioned in the review above: Kokoroya has a playground! If you have kids, this restaurant is awesome!

Rating for Kokoroya Japanese Sushi Dining:

8.0 / 10

Taste: 8.0 / 10

Price: $155 for 3 adults + 1 child

Place: 8.5 / 10

Details:

Shops 1-2, 665-667 Anzac Parade, Maroubra 2035

+61 2 8347 2226

http://kokoroya.com.au/

Aug 20, 2018
Ishiyama Japanese Dining

Ishiyama Japanese Dining Review:

There is a curious little Japanese restaurant above the Campsie Station called Ishiyama Japanese Dining. I was always interested in trying but if we were ever in Campsie, it was usually quite early in the morning and the restaurant wasn’t even opened yet.

One day we were around Campsie a bit later in the afternoon, so I took the chance to try going to the restaurant. The restaurant was pretty small and heavily decorated with Japanese ornaments.

Edamame – $6.80 – Boiled soybeans

Edamame is our little one’s favourite starter. Nothing can go wrong by ordering this dish.

Takowasa – $7.80 – Pieces of octopus dressed in wasabi

Takowasa might not be for everyone. It is a combination of raw octopus and wasabi, the spicy green thingy in a Japanese restaurant. So, yeah, some of us (including myself) might enjoy the strange heat and slimy texture of octopus.

Chirashi Don – $17.80 – Assorted sliced sashimi on sushi rice

The chirashi don at Ishiyama is probably one of the more complete dishes in Sydney. In addition to the usual fish, you also get prawns, scallops and a slice of unagi (Japanese-style grilled eel). It is such a great value at $17.80.

Soft shell crab

You know you are in for a treat when you receive two soft shell crabs in a dish. The spicy sauce for the soft shell crab was also pretty nice and not too spicy.

Salmon sashimi and sushi platter

This was the main dish for the little. Didn’t even need a long time to finish the whole dish!

The final verdict for Ishiyama Japanese Dining

Ishiyama is a decent little restaurant atop the Campsie Station.

Do you think I should go?
Ishiyama Japanese Dining is probably not a restaurant where you purposely go there to enjoy dinner. However, it’s quite an enjoyable little restaurant.

Rating for Ishiyama Japanese Dining:

7.5 / 10

Taste: 7.5 / 10

Price: $15 – $20 per main dish

Place: 7.5 / 10

Details:

Shop 8, 184 -186 Beamish Street, Campsie 2194

+61 2 9789 3031

Aug 13, 2018
Daijobu Japanese BBQ

Daijobu Japanese BBQ Review:

Daijobu is a new-ish restaurant on the frontcourt of Ashfield shopping centre. Their menu offering is somewhat a mixture of Korean and Japanese dishes with mainly BBQ dishes. Later on, they added sushi to the menu.

Daijobu DoMoDaChi Set menu – $65 – Special Wagyu Karubi Plate (14.9), Premium Wagyu Rib Finger(12.9), Pork Toro (9.9), Hot Pot Bibimbap (13.5), Assorted Kimchi (9.9), Edamame (6), Corn with Butter Foil (4.9)

The set menu is quite a nice option to have if you don’t know what to order. They have three different kinds of meat and three different kinds of vegetables. Interestingly, the set menu also comes with a hot pot bibimbap.

The set menu can probably be enjoyed by two or three people.

Hot Pot Bibimbap bowl – $13.5 – Assorted veggies and teriyaki beef on top of rice in a hot stone pot

Special Yukke – $9.9 – Fresh Raw Beef sashimi served with homemade soy sauce and egg yolk

Since I first started tasting it, I have always been in love with yukke. I usually will try to order them whenever I get the chance. Unfortunately, the yukke served at Daijobu was frozen.

Bento Box – $13.90

If BBQ is not your thing, they also offer the bento box menu. The teriyaki chicken bento box has quite a lot of variety on it.

Lobster Sushi Roll

This menu was not available when we were there the first time. It is actually quite a nice addition to the menu. However, it’s not technically in the spirit of ‘Japanese BBQ’ theme.

The final verdict for Daijobu Japanese BBQ

Daijobu Japanese BBQ offers a decent Japanese BBQ option to the suburb of Ashfield. However, they have a long way to go if they want to compete with top BBQ restaurants in Sydney.

Do you think I should go?
You probably wouldn’t choose to specifically go to Daijobu to try their food.

Rating for Daijobu Japanese BBQ:

6.5 / 10

Taste: 7.0 / 10

Price: $25 – $35 per person

Place: 7.0 / 10

Details:

Shop F2 Ashfield Mall 260A Liverpool Rd, Ashfield 2131

+61 450 873 898

Daijobu Japanese BBQ on facebook

Jun 13, 2018
Gojima

Gojima Review:

Gojima is a Japanese ‘fast food’ burger joint located at The Star in Sydney. It was created by Chef Chase Kojima from Sokyo. The unique selling point for this restaurant is that they use rice instead of the usual burger bun!

Their menu is predominantly rice burger, made from Japanese sushi rice and nori… in other words: a gigantic sushi! The difference is that the rice would not fall apart like a normal sushi.

Gojima Stack – $16.90 – cheeseburger and Crispy Katsu Mushroom with tomato, pickles, onions, lettuce and special sauce

When I read the description, cheeseburger and crispy mushroom, I instantly knew I had to try it!

This burger is actually quite big and probably bigger than your usual portion for lunch.

Salmon Miso – 14.90 – Tasmanian Salmon, cheese, lettuce, cucumber, radish, pickles, scallions and Gojima Miso sauce

The second rice burger is more like a ‘normal’ sushi: salmon with miso sauce, except for the crunchy rice and cheese on it.

Size-wise, it is also quite a normal portion for lunch.

Small – 2 Pieces – $8.90 – Japanese-style Southern Fried Chicken

As part of the ‘side’ menu, Gojima offers Japanese fried chicken. You could easily have that for your main if you are not a big fan of sushi. Their chicken was super crunchy and pretty tasty.

Miso Soup – $3.90

Their miso soup was very good and pretty cheap for what they put in it!

Large Fries – $6.90 – Shoestring fries with Umami salt.
+ Japanese Mayo $0.9

If you want the complete experience, you should also order their shoestring fries and Japanese mayo.

Thick Shake – $7.90 – Strawberries & Cream

To close out a nice lunch, strawberries and cream milkshake is the obvious choice.

The final verdict for Gojima

Quite a lot of top chefs open up a burger joint these days with Gojima being one of them. However, their rice burger offering is very nice and exciting.

Do you think I should go?
If burgers and Japanese food are your things, then you must visit this restaurant!

Rating for Gojima:

7.5 / 10

Taste: 7.5 / 10

Price: $11.90 – $16.90 per burger

Place: 7.5 / 10

Details:

Level G, The Star, 80 Pyrmont Street, Pyrmont 2009

https://www.gojima.com/

May 22, 2018