Katsu Yachiyo

Katsu Yachiyo is one of the newbies on the scene. From the owners of Sushi Yachiyo in Darlinghurst (near the coke sign), Katsu Yachiyo is as the name suggests i.e. a katsu specialist!

It is tucked away on Devonshire St, Surry Hills and if you walk any faster you will miss it as they dont have a big flashy sign outfront. Instead they humbly wrote the restaurant name on the glass panel:



They only opened in December 2011 and its a shame its not packed on a friday night. They do not waste effort on the decor but ajourn the walls with blackboards that lists the specials and the array of imported sake on offer.



My sister being the japanese foodie that she is, ordered the Umeshu Shouchu without hesitation and of course i happily followed suit =) They only had 2 remaining so we shared it amongst 3 people. It is a very sweet plum shochu (japanese distilled spirit) which does not kill you on impact like sake does. Also ordered a fuji sparkling apple juice for my dearest.


Umeshu $9.50, apple sparking

There were some interesting dishes on the menu which i really wanted to try out. One of them was the prawn avocado with walnut and miso reduction. The walnut pieces were piled in the middle of the dish surrounded by sushi pieces so i had to scoop some every time I ate a sushi. As the avocado and prawn are quite textureless by themselves, the walnut brought the dish alive. Similarly with the miso reduction and mayo, omg i love the miso reduction! It was rich and sweet and oh so yummy. If only there was more sauce!



Prawn miso walnut roll $14.60

On a side note, they somehow have this amazing dipping soy sauce. I cannot describe it, but the soy sauce is thick and very tasty. So tasty i dipped everything that night in soy =)

I have a loving relationship with eggplant. The spongy eggplant soaked up the generous amounts of red and white miso reduction sauce and was divine, but definitely not enough to share around if you are an eggplant lover like me.


Nasudengaku $13.30

We also ordered two tuna shiso cigars where creamy tuna is wrapped in shiso herb served with miso and chipotle sauce. One bite wonders, the herb was crisp and the tuna chunky.


Tuna shiso cigars $3.50 each

The wagyu beef cheek which had been soy braised for 24hrs before being deep fried in fresh bread crumbs came out in balls that resembled deep fried takoyaki balls. A light super crunchy outershell encassed the delicate beef cheeks which melted in the mouth.


Wagyu cheek $16.50

Another interesting find was the edamame risotto croquette which also looked like deep friend takoyaki! haha. These were fried risotto rice balls with edamame beans and corn pieces. To compensate for the blandness it was unfortunately over peppered.


Edamame risotto croquette $14.50



Grilled salmon with soy caramelised vegetables with yuzu sauce was quite a refreshing dish. After all that katsu it was good to eat some chunky vegetables and also little cubed pieces of carrots and potatoes soaked in yuzu sauce. The salmon was lovely and the yuzu sauce simply irresistable. Can't go wrong with yuzu!


Salmon yuzu gomoku $20.50

What was funny was the table next to us. The guy ordered a plate of karaage chicken to eat by himself and when it arrived, there was a shocked expression on his face...what the? the dish is HUMUNGOUS!! Hence we ordered one ourselves hahhaha

The batter was light and the pieces were not oil at all. AND they used only chicken thigh fillet!! yummmm, no rough breast meat =) There were 8 very big pieces of chicken marinated in homemade soy miso sauce, so if you love your chicken karaage this is the ultimate indulgence.



Yachiyo chicken karaage $17.80

This place seriously knows their Katsu!


Katsu Yachiyo
208 Devonshire St
Surry Hills
Tel- 02 9690 2424
http://www.yachiyo.com.au/katsu/

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/

Menya Mappen Noodle Bar

A new japanese eatery has popped up! Hiding in the arcade next to 85 degrees cake on George Street, this humble little joint is Sydney's first self serve udon/ramen/soba bar. The decor and dark wooden seating is inviting and the smell of soy simply mouthwatering. There is a great buzz to the place as people line up at the bar waiting to chose their noodles.

Be warned there will be a queue!




You can either order udon, soba or ramen, chose either hot or cold and then select your own accompaniments at the self serve counter, or order dishes e.g. curry chicken rice upfront. I reckon the fun part is mix n matching your own tempura and other battered veges at the self serve counter - the sense of accomplishment at the end!

As you get ur noodles, scoop a spoonful of finely sliced shallots and tempura crumbs before shifting to the right and be greeted by an array of tempura!





i ordered the udon with onsen egg. the udon was authentically chewy served in a dashi base soup however the udon is the frozen prepackaged type. I quite enjoyed it as it was freshly boiled, hence the long queues.

My tempura vegetable was massive and tasted like the ones in japan - super crunchy and battery. The onsen egg was just devine! poached eggs at its max

This is a great place for a quick 5 minute eat-and-run meal and also great for your wallet. A udon (small) with onsen egg sets you back at $4.90, the tempura tofu only $0.90 and tempura veges $2.80.

Dont forget to pick up your tempura sauce!




Menya Mappen Noodle Bar
Shop 11, 537-551 George St
Sydney NSW 2000
Tel - 02 9283 5525
www.menya.com.au/mappen/index.html