Category: Japanese

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Japanese

Dopa by Devon – Darling Square Haymarket NSW Restaurant Review

Dopa Toothfish Don Set (July 2020)

I met with my friend for lunch at Darling Square a couple of months ago. I had wanted to try Dopa by Devon for a while, and the weekend provided the perfect opportunity as parking was more readily available. I parked at Novotel Sydney Central, which was $9.20 for weekend parking.

I had the Grilled Glacier 51 Toothfish Don, which was $38 for the est with miso soup and some salad and pickles, plus an exorbitant Sunday surcharge. Toothfish is one of the rare and somewhat unknown treasures of the sea, and until quite recently a forbidden animal, owing to a lack of a sustainable way to capture it. It was only recently that an Australian fishery out of Heard Island has been able to apply sustainable fishing techniques to bring the joy of this fish to the table.

The toothfish serving in Dopa’s toothfish don was huge and the texture just so delicate. It really melted right into my mouth, and the taste of the marinade complemented rather than overwhelmed the fish. It was only my second time eating toothfish, and I thought it was equal to the toothfish I had at Sokyo for a much higher price. It was much better than the toothfish I had at Zushi Barangaroo.

While expensive and with a nonsensical weekend surcharge, I really enjoyed the toothfish don at Dopa. I want to bring my girlfriend here soon.

SEPTEMBER 2020 UPDATE #1

Dopa Toothfish Don (September 2020)

I brought my girlfriend here. We had the toothfish don (again) and she loved it. There definitely wasn’t as much toothfish this time, which was a bit disappointing, and I have the photographic evidence to prove it. I also thought the toothfish wasn’t cooked as well, but was still better than Zushi Barnagaroo.

Dopa Scrambled Egg and Furikake Don (September 2020)

We also had the Scrambled Egg and Furikake Don ($8). Wow. This dish really went far to show just how good and wholesome a simple meal can be. The eggs were perfectly soft and fluffy, and made for a great topping for the warm rice, and the furikake provided a great tasty addition. To use a now overused phrase, the scrambled egg furikake don really warmed me up from the inside. It was just so wholesome, and cheap!

Dopa Yuzu Green Tea (September 2020)

My partner enjoyed the yuzu green tea more than me.

SEPTEMBER 2020 UPDATE #2

Damn it, we went back. This time we were a bit too full already, having had a light meal at A1 Canteen in the morning.

Dopa Mentai Salmon Don (September 2020)

The Mentai Salmon Don I didn’t really enjoy. It was a far cry from the other light, fresh, unami dishes that Dopa serves. The spicy mentai mayo was too thick and overpowering. I liked that it helped to cook the salmon a bit, and I did really enjoy the salmon component. It was overall too tasty and I wouldn’t recommend.

Dopa Wagyu Don A5+ Shallot and Ginger Don (September 2020)

We also had the A5-7 Wagyu Don with shallot and ginger. I thought the thinly sliced beef was quite tender, however I thought that the ginger and shallot, a mainstay of Chinese BBQ cooking, did not work well with the beef. It split the meal into two components in my mind – the light Japanese taste of the beef, seaweed, and egg, and the salty and strong taste of the ginger and shallot to be eaten with rice. My girlfriend did not get to enjoy this dish as she was moving the car and by the time she got back it was cold.

Overall Dopa is one of our new favourite places. It offers well priced, homely Japanese fare. They never have any uni available when I go but I hope one day they will and I will be able to update this post. Yum.

Dopa Donburi and Milkbar
Shop 5/6, 2 Little Hay St, Haymarket NSW 2000
(02) 8060 4861

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Japanese

Ramen Kaio – Crows Nest NSW Japanese Restaurant Review

Ramen Kaio is a new ramen restaurant that has opened up this month in Crow’s Nest. I was put onto Ramen Kaio by a guy who was previously big in the NSW HSC online forum space in 2010-11. He now works at PwC and I don’t know if he’d appreciate me putting his name on here.

The long and short of it is that Ramen Kaio has some of the best chashu I’ve ever had, and definitely the best that I’ve had in Australia. The chashu absolutely melts in your mouth, and according to their Facebook page they flame sear their meat just before serving.

I had the spicy ramen with level 3 spiciness and extra chashu. The level 3 was not as spicy as I would have liked, but I had to accommodate my partner who is less spice tolerant. The soup flavours were good, and I also enjoyed the included bamboo and bean sprouts which I thought I would have to pay extra for. I can definitely recommend getting extra chashu. It’s not that there’s not enough in the standard dish (indeed there is, they purposely cover half the bowl with it), it’s just that it’s so good.

Ramen Kiao Black Garlic Ramen

The black garlic ramen was my partner’s pick, and one that we were less enthused by. The flavour was good, with a rich cooked garlic taste, but unfortunately we found the ramen as a whole to be too oily. I suspect that’s part and parcel of getting a black garlic ramen, and if it had been less oily it wouldn’t have been so garlicky. I would not get this particular dish again, but understand that others may like it.

I found the gyoza at Ramen Kaio to be underwhelming. There were only 4 for $7 or $8, and the flavour was quite mild and unexciting.

We also had the karaage chicken at Ramen Kiao. I liked that it wasn’t as battered as most, and the large chunks of chicken, but otherwise it was not special. My partner liked it less than me.

Overall I think Ramen Kaio does one thing well, and that’s their great cha-shu. None of the other stuff we tried really stood out. I’d recommend giving the place a visit, just for their cha-shu ramen alone. Save your money and skip the sides and the $9 beer.

Ramen Kaio
98 Falcon St, Crows Nest NSW 2065

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Japanese

Taisho Japanese Restaurant – Mascot NSW Restaurant Review

This is a quick review about Taisho, a Japanese restaurant in Mascot.

Chirashi don (L), Taisho Donkotsu ramen (R)

Taisho Donkotsu ramen ($16.80) was good.

Chirashi don ($16.80) was disappointing (am I the only one who finds it difficult to eat salad and sashimi and rice in one? Leave out the salad!).

Green tea was $5 for a tea bag and hot water. Why?

I think overall Taisho Japanese Restaurant is a bit overpriced for what it is. There were quite a few items that we could have had that we didn’t because it was $6.80 for a tuna hand roll and that’s just ridiculous.

Would I go back? Probably not. I’m a sucker for Japanese food, but if there’s better for cheaper then why bother?

Taisho Japanese Restaurant Mascot
6/8 Bourke St, Mascot NSW 2020
(02) 8317 6382

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Japanese

Izakaya Goma – Maroubra NSW Restaurant Review

Izakaya Goma in Maroubra is one of my go-to restaurants for delivered sushi and Japanese food before a night shift. They have a good price to product ratio, and have yet to fail to hit the spot.

The Kaisen Chirashi Don ($19.80) was excellent. A good serving of all our favourite sea animals on top of top notch sushi rice. The salmon roe was yum.

The Wafu Mentaiko Cream Pasta ($14.80) tasted as you would expect and was priced well for what it was. I know I’ve definitely paid more for mentaiko pasta in the past.

Abura Soba

The Abura Soba $14.80 was delicious and made my colleagues jealous when reheated in the tea room microwave. Don’t be fooled like I was though, it already comes with more than enough Chashu – no need to add more!

Sushi Moriawase Shiro Goma

I rarely get assorted sushi packs but took a leap with the Sushi Moriawase Shiro Goma ($13.20) and was rewarded. The serves of fish were thick and generous, and even though I don’t normally like tamago I enjoyed this one.

Pork Katsu Curry

The Pork Katsu Curry ($17.80) was not memorable for me. My girlfriend enjoyed the potatoes.

I enjoy Izakaya Goma and can recommend for some quick and well priced Japanese food. It’s down the road from and perhaps overshadowed by Kokoroya, but ends up being a better value proposition., while making no sacrifices.

Izakaya Goma
693 Anzac Parade, Maroubra NSW 2035

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Japanese

Sushi Rio – Haymarket NSW Restaurant Review

We went to Ho Jiak in Haymarket last night, and happened to see Sushi Rio next to it. The promise of $3.50 sushi drew us in and made us unfaithful to Sushi Hotaru.

Overall Sushi Rio was great. I’m not going to do a detailed review of 14 different items so I will instead review the vibe. It was a very cosy restaurant with a small train around a central sushi preparation area. There was only one sushi chef, who was very responsive to us and the 3 other parties who were dining at the same time. It felt very intimate, like in Japan, to have the one sushi chef catering to us individually.

The fish was fresh and the servings were generous. There was definitely more fish per piece of nigiri than at Sushi Hotaru and at numerous other similarly priced restaurants, and the price was very good for what you get. The two hand rolls we got were both great, and of good size and value too.

All of the nigiri and sushi we had we enjoyed. We also had the kingfish and salmon mixed sashimi (not pictured) which was good too. While the quality of fish was good, the range was slightly limited. It was odd to have kingfish, scallop and oyster and not have tuna, so I suspect that they may have just run out for the day.

The ikura gunkan was saltier and less creamy than I would have hoped. Still, there was a very generous quantity of roe for the $3.50 price for a plate of 2. The taste was probably a function of their supplier rather than a fault with the restaurant themselves.

Sushi Rio did not have uni (sea urchin), however this is commonly missed on Sydney sushi menus.

The green tea is a must have, and if you’re in the mood for alcohol BYO is only $2 per person. This is a sharp contrast to Ho Jiak next door, where BYO is $10 per bottle.

Overall comment: I really like Sushi Rio. It feels like the staff really care about their restaurant, and it comes across in their service and their food. The food is well priced and high quality, and there are a number of other lunch options (for example aburi salmon don, chirashi don) for under $ 10 which would be great if you work in the CBD. I would strongly recommend Sushi Rio to anyone looking for a sushi train in the Sydney CBD.

Sushi Rio
90 Hay St, Haymarket NSW 2000
0411 047 996