Wasabi Bar and Bistro

Stardeals - 7-Course Japanese Banquet for 2 People

Im a sucker for those cheap food deals that bombard my email everyday =) The stardeal for Wasabi Bar & Bistro offered a 7 course Japanese banquet for $49 for 2 people?! Surely not.

So we purchased the voucher and hiked from Wynyard to Kings Cross on a weeknight to avoid the crowd, which was a great decision (the weeknight booking i mean, not the hike~ haha). It was quiet and a little eerie around 6.30pm but the numbers quickly multiplied by 7pm.

We were offered a laminated copy of the banquet menu, featuring:

Choice of red/wine wine or warm sake (110ml pp)
1. Agedashi tofu
2. Fried or steamed gyoza
3. Choice of spicy sashi salad, tofu wake salad, salmon avocado salad or green seaweed salad
4. Tempura prawns
5. Assorted sushi 6 pieces
6. Choice of main - teriyaki chicken, chicken katsu, chilli chicken or pork, teriyaki salmon or grilled salmon
7. Choice of dessert - green tea ice cream, black sesame ice cream, vanilla ice cream or sweet potato soup.



Warm Sake for one

I've now learnt that sake (and warm for that matter) is not my thing. A bit too pungent, despite its innocent appearance. My companion adored the sake and kindly drunk my share to avoid it going to waste =)


Agedashi Tofu

Very generous servings of light agedashi tofu was served. The batter was kept crisp and thin and slight chewy for the ones soaked in sauce. The tofu itself was silky and smoothilicious.


Steamed gyoza


Fried gyoza


Tofu wake salad

The chef was a bit heavy handed with the ponzu sauce for the tofu wake salad. The slightly weak peanut dressing was not very well balanced either. It would have been nice to have some sesame sprinkled on top for more crunch or drizzle the salad with a more robust peanut dressing.


Tempura prawns

In comparison, the ginormous tempura prawns were absolutely divine! Big chunky prawns covered in light tempura batter served with tentsuyu (tempura dipping sauce).


Assorted sushi

By this stage we were already quite full but we couldnt resist the visually appealing sushi assortment that came to our table. The sushi comprised of a small handful of rice with a sizeable piece of fish/squid. I've had better sushi elsewhere but this was quite acceptable.


Miso soup


Teriyaki Salmon


Chicken Katsu

Funnily enough, considering the size of the entrees, the mains were much smaller servings than expected. Chicken Katsu was a thin slice of fillet deep fried and smothered with tonkatsu sauce and mayo. It lacked meatiness and the overpowering sauce blanketed the remnants of chicken.

The teriyaki salmon on the other hand, was scrumptious. Chunky pieces of salmon in teriyaki sauce with an assortment of onions, carrots and capsicum to compliment. The serving was small, but i guess i was full anyway!


Black Sesame ice cream

Have to say, the black sesame ice cream was the biggest let down. It seemed to be more of a vanilla ice cream with sesame pieces, rather than black sesame flavoured ice cream.

Overall it was a great deal to pay $49 for a dinner for 2 but without a voucher, i doubt i would make the trek again. However, i have to admit it would be a great eat out after a big night out at the Cross =)

Wasabi Bistro and Bar
Shop 1,1-3 Kings Cross Road
Darlinghurst 2010
tel - 02 9360 6220
www.wasabibistro.com.au/