Silver Sushi in Palmyra

Since we’re in Chinese NY weeks and I didn’t want to go to crowded Chinese restaurants last weekend, I decided to try a Japanese restaurant in Palmyra.  We found a coupon (scroll down↓↓) for free sushi rolls there so it was a bonus. 🙂

I know this place used to be many different restaurants in the past, but the inside seemed to be the same with just different wall decors.  This place is not fancy but good for casual dining and getting take away.

On their menu you could chose Donburi style or Bento Box style for some dishes.  They also had Izakaya type food that some other Japanese restaurants don’t have, such as grilled mackerel, grilled squid and some tsumami (something like tapas) menu.

We ordered Chicken Katsu Don, Teriyaki Fish Don and Teriyaki Chicken Don, and a free 5-pieces-sushi rolls. (bit boring, I know!)

The pricing was ok.  Oh my, the size of the donburi was biiiiggg.  And the taste, I must admit I really enjoyed it.  They tasted different to those you get from other Japanese restaurants.  The teriyaki chicken had flame-grilled flavour, and the teriyaki fish was so crispy and meaty! !

With that pricing, I will be definitely coming back!!

Oh, for a free 5-pieces sushi roll, open shopadocket website on your phone and show to the restaurant staff. 🙂

Remember, this offer is till 07 March 2017!

Silver Sushi
Unit 6, 369 canning highway, palmyra, Bicton, Perth, WA
0451 898 859

Open Wed – Mon for lunch and dinner

Pepper Lunch 🍴

As you may know, Pepper Lunch has been one of popular Japanese eat-out place across the world.  Its “DIY” concept makes this place unique, where you get served your rice and meat/seafood on a hot plate and you cook while you eat at the table.

Luckily, we also have 4 Pepper Lunch restaurants in Perth WA now, and this restaurant has been one of my favourite place to eat out.  Your clothes may get smelly after dining, so be prepared!

!

My favourite is sizzling Japanese curry with hamburg and chicken, and kimuchi pepper rice.  I normally order a meal that comes with drink and one side of your choice (I always go for a salad).  The food (especially the curry) on the hotplate (teppan) get little salty at the end as it keeps cooking on the hot plate, but it can be a fun part..

One down side is that there’s no kids menu.  Hope they make one someday!

Fresh whole tuna and All You Can Eat!

If you live in Perth you may know Jaws restaurant group in Perth.  This “Sushi/Japanese” restaurant group has 3 restaurants, 1 take-away shop and 1 catering shop across Perth.

Jaws Town Hall Restaurant, located in EQUUS ARCADE in the city, is celebrating its first anniversary on this Good Friday 18th of April by having an interesting event inside the store – cutting and filleting a whole fresh TUNA in front of customers, and making sushi & sashimi using them!  They also sell these freshly prepared tuna fillets at HALF price on the spot.

It’s quite rare to see a whole tuna getting prepared by a sushi chef.

And, usually you have pay $37.50 for All You Can Eat sushi at Jaws (only on Saturdays after 5:30PM), but on this day you just pay $30 (children under 17 pay $20 if seat is needed).  This includes All You Can Eat including the freshly prepared tuna, and drinks too.

You will need to obtain the ticket before 11th of April so HURRY!
Contact Jaws Office : ( 08 ) 9218 8973
[email protected]

1st Anniversary Event at Jaws Town Hall Restaurant
18th April (Good Frida)
1) 12:00 ~ 15:00
2) 17:00 ~ 20:00
580 Hay St, Perth

website
Jaws Town Hall Restaurant

* Be noted that extra order (rather than the food on the sushi lane) will be charged separately.  But usually they have many variety of food including takoyaki (octopus balls), teriyaki chicken, edamame and some desserts on the lane along with the choices of sushi and sashimi.

Wagamama Subiaco WA

For my son’s birthday we had a family lunch at Wagamama Subiaco.  I’ve been to Fremantle shop few years ago (which had been now closed for business) so I knew this restaurant is not a proper Japanese restaurant ; their menu is definitely a fusion of Asian cuisine.  But we went there anyway!

They do “kids eat free!” –  a child eats for free when an adult purchases a main meal.  This offer is available everyday!

Hiro chose “mini yakisoba” (stir-fried noodle), and his baby cousin chose “mini cha-han” (stir-fried rice).  These say “mini” but the dish was pretty big.  They both couldn’t finish their meal.  I thought they taste bit too salty, but I guess that’s how local people like it.

I ordered “chicken katsu curry bento”.

My party ordered “pork belly ramen noodle”, “yakisoba”, “teriyaki salmon with rice”, and “teriyaki beef bento”.

“Chicken katsu curry bento” – the curry is not Japanese curry – it contains coconut cream.  I didn’t like the rice too – too mushy 🙁  They probably don’t bother using expensive Japanese rice (short grain).    And, I was surprised the difference of meal size between “teriyaki salmon” and “bento”.  “Bento” contained just small amount of rice, but “teriyaki salmon” contained big mountain of rice on its plate.

Well. atmosphere is nice and the staff were friendly.  We had fun over all.

We ordered desserts as well.

We ordered “banana katsu”, “coconut creme brûlée”.

“Banana katsu” came with coconut ice cream on side, and  “creme brûlée” came with chocolate brownie spring roll on side.  Creme brûlée and brownie spring roll weren’t very sweet.  They were all ok, but next time I’d probably just order ice cream if I want some dessert.  Ice cream flavours include vanilla | coconut | lychee | green tea | black sesame seed |, and I think they are much better choice.

Wagamama Subiaco 

Buffet Dinner in Zushi Bento Ascot

The other day I had dinner at Zushi Bento in Ascot.  I sometimes go there because my sister-in-law lives around there and we get invited to have dinner together in this area.

Zushi Bento in Ascot is doing dinner buffet on Friday and Saturday nights.  I was excited because I hadn’t gone out for dinner for awhile, and was craving for something Japanese.  I was also delighted about the buffet because Hiro eats like a horse and it’d be free as he is under 2 yr old 😉

We arrived just before 6pm, and there’re not many customers yet.  As soon as we were taken to our table I went to the buffet counter to see what they have.

All the Japanese food were set in front, and Chinese dishes were at the back.  I saw sushi (roll sush, nigiri sushi & molded sushi), miso soup, porridge (this is Chinese dish, not Japanese), tempura, then some Chinese dishes such as fried-rice and chicken in black bean sauce.  Sashimi, salad and desserts looked nice.  I was hoping they’d have karaage, but they didn’t.

This is D’s plate –  I didn’t take any Chinese dishes on my plate.  I took loooots of sushi, tempura, miso soup and salad.  I don’t know how many times I traveled between buffet counter and our table. :p  Sushi is actually not my favourite food, but I ate so much this time as I hadn’t had it for awhile.

I had a bite of Chinese dish from D’s plate, and it wasn’t really nice…  I didn’t like dim sum dishes either.  It’s my opinion but you should stick with Japanese food there.

Desserts looked pretty.  I enjoyed panna cotta 🙂  I was so full to try cheese cake, muffins and cookies though.
I really wished they had included coffee to the buffet menu, haha.

The price is like other buffet places.  If you crave for sushi and sashimi then I recommend this dinner buffet.  Unlimited sashimi, sushi and tempura buffet 🙂

Look at Zushi Bento’s website for more details!

Buen 151 Japanese Restaurant

Have you been to Fuji Sushi Station in Victoria Park before?  Unfortunately they’ve been closed for business for a while, but if you are craving for their authentic Japanese food then head to Buen 151 in Victoria Park.

Owned by Fuji Sushi Station people, Buen 151 has already became popular among local and Japanese people who live around Perth.  Many of their customers are repeaters from Fuji Sushi Station.

Gyu-tataki (cold beef carpaccio) for entree.  It comes with side salad and dipping ponzu sauce.

Bento box.  Quite typical items – tempura prawn, katsu, teriyaki and sashimi.  If you are after bit of everything then this could be the one.

Chirashi-zushi.  My friend LOVED it!!  The price is about same as bento box (or less) – I would definitely chose this instead of bento box.

Su-udon (simple udon noodle in broth).

Overall I like this place.  Staff are friendly, the atmosphere is ok (very simple looking from outside – but they’ve got lots of eating space inside), and the prices are reasonable.  I read someone’s review saying that futomaki (rolled sushi) was too sweet, but it’s just what it is in Japan.  We season egg omelet and kanpyo for sushi quite sweet.

Above are photos of dinner.  For lunch time they may have different menu.

Open Wednesday – Sunday for lunch & dinner

Buen 151
08 9458 1512

Iku Sushi Perth City

Iku Sushi opened just few months ago and is conveniently located just few steps away from Perth under ground train station.  I don’t usually go to city anymore, but recently I had a chance to try their food.

The place is not huge, but I liked the theme they are doing – ninja!  All staff wear ninja-like uniform, and they say their service is as fast as ninja.

Interior of the shop is lovely.  Cute old-Japan-style wall paper, and Japanese snacks and zakka toys on the counter.

“Iku” means “to go” in Japanese.  They use eco-feindly packaging for some food items, and the variety of menu is wonderful.

They set a huge fridge for drinks and cold dishes (such as sushi) for busy people to just grab and go.  I like the idea.  People who want to get hot food (such as teriyaki) proceed to the counter and place an order.

D & I ordered chicken karaage bento (L) and unagi bento (L) to take home.  Plus 2 large miso soup.

Miso soup came in this cup.

D was really curious about cheeseburger sushi, but maybe next time.

You can chose the size of bento box menu, and our large bento box came with 2 kinds of salads, 2 mini spring rolls, 2 sushi rolls, and big portion of rice and meat/fish.  Very volumy and I could only manage to eat half of it.

Look at the fun website for more details ↓↓

website

Shop WG.07, 140 William St, Perth
(08) 9322 6008

Unique Menu at Sundays Everyday in Myaree

Every time I go to Sundays Everyday in Myaree I get amazed by their menu :))  They don’t only serve boring Japanese menu such as teriyaki and tempura.  They regularly create new menu so customers don’t get bored!

Last week I went there to get sushi rolls and sandwiches to takeaway, and saw interesting menu on the board that I may want to try out next time.

Chicken Ramen …  I don’t know if they mean ramen noodle soup with chicken, or that “chicken ramen” we have in Japan…  but I assume what they have is ramen noodle soup with chicken in it, because that “chicken ramen” we have in Japan is an instant noodle and I believe it’s impossible to import that noodle to Australia.  Hmmm I want to know whether I’m right or wrong.

Beef Mince Croquette Bento, Oyster Fry Bento, A Lunch, B Lunch, etc etc…  They all sound yummy.  Their food is volumy and I think their target marketing is men who works around Myaree area.  Or people who have huge appetite.  To me, I think they have lots of meat and deep-fried items in their menu, so I thought that’s who they are trying to sell their food to.

Okonomiyaki Bar sounds very interesting.  How they make it?  According to their illustration, it looks like a candy bar that you can hold and eat.  Haha, very unique.

Yuki Japanese Restaurant in Willetton

Yesterday early evening I took my family to Yuki Japanese restaurant to have dinner. It was a rainy day and I felt something hearty Japanese food. I thought I might have unagi because a Japanese cartoon I was watching with Hiro was an episode of unagi donburi.

It was Sunday night but I assumed the restaurant wouldn’t be so packed.   I was wrong… We arrived there around 6:30pm, and the place was already nearly full. The waitress said they’re fully booked but they can offer us a table if we’d be able to finish dining before 7:30pm. I’m pretty sure, I replied, because I knew Hiro wouldn’t be able to be here quiet and well-behaved for longer than 30 minutes.

D wanted chicken teriyaki, but teriyaki dish doesn’t come with rice and miso soup unless you pay extra for them. I think it’s ridiculous – who would eat teriyaki without rice? Is it Australian way?
Bento box comes with rice, miso soup, salad and sushi rolls, and the price is not much different with teriyaki dish if you add the extra fee for rice+miso soup, so we all ordered bento box.

I had Chicken Karaage bento box, D had Teriyaki Chicken bento box, and in-law had Fish Teriyaki bento box.  I didn’t see unagi on their menu.  Even if I did I probably wouldn’t order unagi because I know it’ll be expensive!

Karaage was quite small pieces.  I guess that’s how they do as smaller pieces are quicker they cook.  I loved the combination of dark sauce and Japanese mayonnaise.  I don’t know what the dark sauce was, but I think it’s something like teriyaki sauce….  The sushi rolls that came with bento box were three pieces, and they’re nice too.

I tasted D’s teriyaki, and I know now that they actually make the teriyaki sauce by themselves.  Some restaurants here use “teriyaki sauce” they buy from their supplier – they don’t make from scratch.

By the time we finished our meal, the restaurant was full and very busy.  It was just before 7:30pm so we could leave there in time.  I thought the price was bit expensive considering the food what’s in the bento box, but I guess it’s how they charge Japanese food in Perth.

Yuki Japanese Restaurant

7/113 Collins Road, Willetton 6155
(08) 9259 5544
Tuesday – Sunday
11:00am – 2:30pm
5:00pm – 9:30pm
Closed on Monday

Japanese Cafe ULARA

It’s been a month a so since this small shop called “ULARA” took over the business from Super Fuji in Victoria Park. It is located in the same address where Super Fuji used to be, at the end of Albany hwy.

The new shop ULARA has a big sign board at the front, and the logo on the windows outside looks good. But once you step inside, the place is more like a deli, I thought. Super Fuji was like this as well (plain white wall, small space). Urara continues the rental service for Japanese books and DVDs at the premise.

This place also sells Japanese foods, but not so many. The owner told me that he just sell what customers request. So, what is the main business of this shop? DVD rental service? Retail of Japanese groceries? Well, it’s actually takeaway of Japanese foods.

“It’s been just a preparation period to setup the kitchen and a whole process of takeaway business”, the owner says. Urara starts selling Japanese takeaway  food from today (24, Oct). The owner’s previous business, Banzai  Sushi & Noodle Bar in Leederville was such success and he had many fans. He sold the business to Matsu Sushi last year, and since then he’d been hunting for a new place to start new business. I’m not sure what Urara has on its takeaway menu, but I’m sure they will all taste good considering the foods he was serving at Banzai.  ULARA has few tables and chairs inside for dine-in too.  They are plastic ones, so it’s more like a place for busy working people who want quick lunch rather than for couples who seek for romantic dining experiences.

ULARA
245 Albany Hwy, Victoria Park 6100
Mon – Sat 9:00 ~ 18:00
08 9355 0882

Sushi at Royal, East Perth

There is a small Japanese take-away food shop on Royal street in East Perth.  I happened to go there the other day just past 12PM, and I was very surprised….  Not only to see that so many people keep coming in and making a long queue to grab take-away sushi and typical Japanese meals, but also the speed of their service.

I stayed there for about 15 minutes – until Hiro started crying loud and realising eating at home would be better for us and also other diners.  While the 15 minutes, the line of people didn’t break.

Most of the customers must be office workers around this area, wanting to grab fast and easy food to take-out during their limited lunch time.  These people must be this shop’s target as well – considering the opening hours of 11:00 to 16:30, Monday to Friday.

There are lots of drinks to chose from the fridge.

There is a counter full of packed sushi to go.  You can also order meals such as teriyaki, katsu, donburi, curry, udon and soba noodle, agedashi, burgers, etc.  The owner must be Indonesian or Malaysian because there is “beef rendang” on the menu :p

I was curious to try their teriyaki burger ($7.50), but decided to order Fish Katsu-Don ($10.50).D ordered Teriyaki Chicken ($10.50).

I was assuming that it would take at least 5 minutes to make our foods, but it showed up within 2 minutes.  Very very fast.  That’s why there’re not many people waiting for their food besides the number of people queueing. They get their ordered meal in a flash.  This must be one of the reason why this shop is so busy.

The katsu was not like Japanese katsu – it was more like Western-style (like those for parmigiana).  The meat of teriyaki chicken was chopped, and it was chicken breast (no skin).  I guess these “katsu” and “teriyaki chicken” are prepared for burgers and sushi rolls too. That’s why they are in funny shape.

The quality of the food is very average, but I am, again, very impressed by their fast service.  The staff are very friendly and kind too.  When I asked them if I could take-home our half-eaten food  (because of Hiro) they quickly brought me plastic lids and a carry bag with a smile.  I was surprised to see the speed of the staff’s movement as well.

Monday to Friday during lunch time only, serving variety of food, very fast service.  I like their concept.  Very good business.

(08) 9225 7911

May in Autumn

I just realised that it’s May already…!  It’s the middle of Golden Week (long weekend with public holidays) in Japan.  Sakura should be all gone by now (in the main island / south), and it should be getting warmer and warmer soon over there.  I haven’t heard from my family (dad and bro side) for a while so I emailed my bro to see what they are up to.  I thought bro would be enjoying this long weekend, but he said he and dad have been working all-day at their rice fields.  It’s that season already.

I haven’t been back to Japan during summer for almost 6 years now (because I don’t like hot & humid climate), but I remember I helped working in the rice fields a lot while I was there during my homecoming in 2005.  I helped weeding (using a machine), bringing lunch to them, harvesting the rice, and bringing all the crops to the mill.  The job is hard, but it’s very interesting.  I like doing that type of physical work.  Sometimes I took Mimi (our dog) to the rice field, and watched dad and bro working from the side of the rice field with her.

Ah, I miss eating our rice!

Back to Perth : It’s very cold at night and morning, but the temperature goes up to mid-20’s (or close to 30℃) during the day.  I need to dress Hiro twice.

One of D’s sister has been visiting here from Jakarta, and yesterday was her last day here.  She comes here quite often so we didn’t do anything special – besides she likes watching tv all the time at home.  But yesterday I had to buy some stuff from Fremantle so we all went out for a quick drive.

We picked up some sushi from Oceans in the Woolstores on the way back.  It was actually my first time to try their food.  I go to Fremantle quite often, but I’ve never had a chance to buy anything from there.  I believe the owner is Japanese (my friend used to work there before), and the location is good – close to the train station and car parks.  We bought some mixed sushi rolls which were already packed for take-away.  The sushi was not bad and I enjoyed it.  Much better than Sushi Sushi …

Sundays Everyday in Myaree

43 Hulme Court, Myaree WA 6154

(08) 9330 2911

Open
Mon-Sat 07:30am – 02:30pm

Located in Humle Court in Myaree, this small take-away Japanese food shop has been very popular -especially among the workers in Melville area.

They open from 7:30 in the morning, so customers go there to grab a cup of fresh brewed coffee and a pack of fresh made sandwiches before they go to work (or school).  I’d say their business style is great as they know what their target market is.  At first, it may sound strange to see a coffee machine next to the show case filled with takeaway teriyaki-chiken and katsu-curry.  But, it makes perfect sense – I’d want to have a cup of coffee after having lunch!

Their sandwiches are Japanese style – I mean, they use Japanese mayonnaise for the fillings (e.g. egg sandwiches), and there are teriyaki chicken sandwiches etc.  I’ve wrote about this place before saying that their serving portion is really big, and it can be said for the sandwiches –  the fillings are big too.  There are about 4~5 slices of ham in a ham sandwich!

When you go to Sundays Everyday, try to go there as early as possible – there may be a queue to order around lunch time, but if you go there late (around 2pm) the chances are you will be only getting the left-over takeaway food in the showcase.  The kitchen usually closes around 2:10PM (they said), but they may close around 1:50PM if the business is quiet.  That’s what happened to me this time…  I arrived there just before 2PM, and there’re about 6 people dining there.  I was browsing the menu board, and a waitstaff said “sorry, the kitchen is closed”.

That’s a shame!  I really wanted to try their ramen this time.  The daily lunch menu looked good too.  But, probably next time…  I could see from the counter the kitchen staff working hard cleaning the floor and the bench.  D and I picked a teriyaki-fish to share from the showcase.

All the donburi-styled takeaway food was $8.50 each.  To me, the rice was little too soft, but it may be because it was from the showcase.

There are some Japanese magazines (and Australian magazines and newspapers) to read inside the shop.  When I was eating and reading, I realised it’s actually a nice place to sit down and have lunch or even a cup of coffee.  I felt cozy.

People kept coming to order some food until we left the shop.  I wish they open little longer!  But, this is Australia, I’m sure the owner (a Japanese guy) enjoys his private life after 2:30PM – the busy business each day.  The reason he moved to Perth permanently could be to enjoy his life like it’s a Sunday every day.

Shige Sushi Bar in South Perth

**** This restaurant has moved to a new address.

Shige Restaurant
08 6161 0858
11:30am-2:00pm, 6:00pm-9:30pm 
East Perth
Opposite the FMG building
18 Plain Street East Perth, WA 6004

(Updated Nov 2014) ****

Shige Sushi Bar has been opened for quite awhile now, and this hidden small restaurant has been popular among locals and tourists.  Although the restaurant is very small – counter seats, and 3 tables (inside) and 2~3 tables (outside) -, people seem to be still enjoying going there for the food.  Because of the location, some tourists staying around South Perth also visit there.

I headed to this place with friends for dinner the other night.  When I called the restaurant to make a booking, they said the night was going to be very busy but they could squeeze us in between 6 to 7:30 pm.  When we arrived there, the restaurant was just opened and the owner chef (Mr Shige) was already working busy in the kitchen.

We can see the kitchen over the counter, and it seemed that he is the only chef who does all the cooking.

We ordered a large assorted sushi, gyoza, assorted tempura, lemon chicken and grilled beef fillet in teriyaki sauce to share.

The food came up really quick.  After ordering I went to the toilet, and when I came back to the table the sushi was already there. I think they had to push the food out as quickly as possible so that we could get out before 7:30 for the next bookings.

The gyoza was properly cooked – I mean, at some other restaurants, gyoza is deep-fried.  Gyoza is normally grilled like this unless it’s specified “deep-fried gyoza” on the menu.  The gyoza was very moist and soft.  My friend said that she prefers the skin to be crispier, but I liked it.  I thought the taste was bit thin, but I don’t really like too-much-garlicky-taste gyoza anyway, so I enjoyed it.

I must say, the tempura was very light and crispy.  The beef fillet was tender (even though I ordered very-well-done) and tasty.  Both Beef Teriyaki and Lemon Chicken came with some simmered vegetables on the side (edamame and root vegetables) and we all agreed that the taste reminds us of my grandma’s cooking. Very traditional Japanese flavour.  We loved it.

The lemon chicken was delicious too.  At first, I imagined it to be something similar to the Chinese version of lemon chicken, but it wasn’t.  The lemon chicken at Shige, the chicken was grilled (not deep-fried) and the sauce was teriyaki sauce based.  The tangy kick of lemon juice really matched with the juicy chicken meat.

Overall, the food was great and so was the service.  Around 7PM many customers started to show up (around 15~20 people at once!) and the restaurant started to be crowded and busy.  Thanks to the fast service we could finish our meal and get out the restaurant by 7:30.  If you are planning to go to this restaurant I recommend to make a booking first.  Again, this is a pretty small restaurant so you have to prepare yourself to be sitting and eating in a limited space.

Sushi Sushi, Garden City Perth

Sushi Sushi opened its very first WA store in Garden City shopping centre in Booragoon late last year.  Sushi Sushi has just below 50 stores in Australia and Singapore, and most of them are located in Eastern states (NSW & VIC).

Since the shop opened in Garden City I’ve seen many people dining-in and taking-away the sushi from there.  I think that the way they sell sushi is easier for customers to just grab and go.  They display whole sticks of sushi rolls with different fillings in the show case, and customers can just pick one (or more) and grab it – it’s just like you are ordering a hotdog.

They also sell other kinds of sushi, including nigiri (hand-molded sushi), gunkan (sushi rice wrapped in nori sheet, and topped with fillings) and inari (sushi rice in a pocket of sweetened fried bean-curd).

I tried tobikko roll (frying fish roe) the other day, and I thought it was ok – nothing special.  I think they are great takeaway food for local shoppers though.

I’m not a big fan of their website (http://www.sushisushi.com.au) – it looks bit messy and difficult to find out some information.  And, some of the information seems to be strange… for example, “nigiri sushi with egg omelet” is called TAMAGO, not TOMAGO (unless they know about it and misspelling it on purpose).  And, the menu on the website calls their roll sushi “futomaki” (太巻き).  I’m not sure if this menu is for the shops in Eastern states only, but the roll sushi sold in Garden City wasn’t futomaki (futo = oversized, wide, big, chubby…).  Futomaki is usually over 5cm in diametre and uses more than 1 piece of nori sheet (or special big nori sheet).  I thought their roll sushi was Chumaki (中巻き) size.

There are so many similar kind of take-away sushi shops across Perth now.  Few years ago, if you say sushi shop people would just think about Jaws Sushi or Taka’s Kitchen.  Now, there is at least one sushi takeaway shop in each major shopping centre across Perth.  The concept of having sushi in the casual style is the reason for being so popular?  I still miss sushi in Japan though.  I wish they have more interesting flavours of sushi here.

Oh, by the way, today (1/Feb ~ 3/Feb) is hatsubun in Japan.  Many people eat futomaki (ehoumaki) facing towards this year’s ehou (lucky direction) – 2011 it’s South-South-East.  This is to pray for happiness, health, business prosperity etc for this year, so you have to eat whole futomaki without talking.  Slicing the futomaki or talking while eating the futomaki is considered to lose the luck.

Japanese Restaurants in Perth <2>

<<Other Areas>>

Japanese Restaurants in Perth<1>

There are many Japanese restaurants/takeaway shops across Perth.  Some of them are operated by Japanese, and some of them are not.  I’m not saying that the Japanese restaurants owned by non-Japanese are not as good as the ones owned by Japanese.  With my experience, however, I personally think that some Japanese restaurants with a Japanese chef serve genuine Japanese food here.

Here is the list of Japanese restaurants owned by Japanese and/or operated by Japanese chef in Perth:

<<Around Perth City>> (Perth, Northbridge, West Perth, Subiaco)

Sapporo Japanese Restaurant

Yesterday I went to Sapporo Japanese restaurant in Carlisle for lunch with a friend.  It was my first time to go to this place, but I knew I was going to enjoy the food as I’d heard many nice reviews from my friends about the food and the owner of this restaurant.

The place was, as I was told before, pretty small.  That’s one of the thing I liked.  The inside looks like the eating place where I used to go with my family in Japan.  While I was dining there, I felt like I was in Japan!

When I arrived this place, my friend was already there.  She was talking to the owner lady at the counter, and told me “Ume, they are actually closed today”.

“Really?”  … I must have got the wrong info from a website.  But, the owner lady said “No, it’s ok, it’s ok.  I can cook for you.”  She insisted with a smile, so we decided to sit down at the table and order some food.

We ordered Hiyayakko and Agedashi Tofu to share.  I had tofu in the morning too, but still wanted to eat it.  Tofu is one of my favorite food ♪

I ordered oyako donburi.  My another favorite food.  I can eat oyako donburi and tamago udon even when I’m sick.

My friend ordered katsu don.  Both looks similar 🙂

Everything was delicious.  The home-style looking food was cooked behind the counter, and although there was only one owner lady cooking, we didn’t wait more than 15 minutes until all the foods were served.  She brought up all the food at the same time, which is an important thing when you are dining with someone.

Hiyayakko tofu was fresh.  The soup of agedashi tofu was mild and delicious.  And, also I wasn’t that hungry I finished the oyako donburi all up.  Seasoning was just perfect.

The owner lady brought us cups of hot green tea, and we talked for a quite long time.  She is a really good listener!  Very kind, friendly, and great food and pricing.  I definitely recommend this place, and come back sometime near future.  I loved the lemon tree near the toilet at the back too.  It felt like home.

A

Address: 186 Rutland Avenue, Carlisle 6101
Phone: (08) 9470 1473

Open Monday to Saturday for lunch and dinner until late

a

Matsu Sushi

What a beautiful day today!  Sun is out, the sky is blue…  I love driving the freeway to the city and looking at the Swan River…  It may be still bit too cold, but when it gets warmer you can see many people enjoying water sports, including canoeing, jet skiing, paragliding, swimming, etc.  I saw few canoes in the river today.

I felt like something Japanese today.  I asked my husband what he wanted to eat for lunch, then he replied to me with the usual answer…  ” Up to you.”  I hate the word!  (#_#)

I said “Ok…  Udon” coz I know he doesn’t like udon. After few minutes of discussion we decided not to eat udon, but ended up going to a food court and chose whatever we wanted.

I was actually thinking about teriyaki fish.  We went to a food court and I had teriyaki fish at Matsu Sushi.

Umm…. presentation-wise, it’s not really great.  The taste, it was ok, average. 🙂  I don’t actually like them using basa fish, but well, almost all Japanese restaurants/takeaway shops in Perth use basa fish for teriyaki fish, so I can’t complain!  I did enjoy it.

My husband had a mixed Chinese dish.  Umm.. fried stuff.

Matsu sushi has quite a few shops across Perth.  In Rockingham (Rockingham shopping centre), in Mandurah, in Morley (Galleria Morley), and in Leederville.  The Leederville shop used to be Banzai Sushi and Noodle before, and now it’s Matsu Sushi Leederville.

You can dine-in at Matsu Sushi Leederville (and probably in Mandurah), and Matsu Sushi Leederville has liquor license now.  I’m sure the food there are much better than Morley and Rockingham (in the food courts)

aa

Japanese Food to Try

Although there are not many Japanese restaurants that I go to in Perth, some of the restaurants are doing some campaign and serve interesting food.  Here are some of them :

< Jaws Sushi East Perth>

Jaws Sushi East Perth is doing a campaign for Nigiri Sushi tasting plate (with miso soup) for $15.00.  I don’t go to Jaws, but if you like sushi at Jaws it may be a deal.  This is only available at Jaws East Perth.  (vsit Jaws website for more info)

<Edo Shiki>

I found some interesting flavor of sushi at Edo Shiki (Perth CBD).  They occasionally serve rolled sushi with banana, strawberries and mango on their kaiten sushi train.  I tried the banana sushi.  At first I thought it was a really weird combination, but it did taste quite nice 😀  They fry the banana first (like banana fritters) and then roll in the sushi rice.  Personally, I like it without dipping in wasabi+soy sauce.

<Arigataya>

Arigataya gives customers extra noodle for free on their ramen menu (exclude udon and soba noodle) .  You can request for the free noodle once you finish with your ramen/tsuke-men.  You can browse their menu from their website.  Although they started as “ramen shop” they now serve Japanese curry, donburi, inari sushi and other side dishes (such as gyoza and takoyaki).  The location is good 🙂

Open 7 days

Mon – Sat 11:30〜14:30、17:30〜21:32
Sun   11:00 ~ 19:00

62 Roe Street Northbridge WA 6003
TEL : (08) 9227 7901

<Toraya Sushi>

Toraya Sushi in Subiaco is serving Wagyu Sukiyaki as their seasonal menu.  You will need to make a booking for this dish.  Why not try the delicious melty wagyu this winter?  It sounds yummy…  And their pudding is also quite popular.

Shop 8, Subiaco Square

29 Station St Subiaco WA 6008
TEL:  (08) 9382 4433

Lunch :  Mon – Sat 11am-3pm

Dinner :  Wed – Sun 6pm – 9:30pm

<Wasabi & Green Tea>

Wasabi & Green Tea is not a restaurant, but they do delivery service across Bunbury and Perth metropolitan area.  You can purchase rare wasabi stem and leaves, organic tea leaves and also some meal packages such as “Beef Teriyaki Dinner Pack”, “Organic Fruits and Vegetables Pack” and “Sushi Starter Pack”.  Online shopping is available from secured website mysouthwest.com.au (government owned).  You can also purchase from the shop directly.  

Shop 4, 9-12 Albany Hwy East Victoria Park WA  
TEL:  (08) 9470 5213

Open: 13:00 ~ 18:002   
Close on Sundays and public holidays

Zensaki in Barrack Street

Zensaki  in St Georges Tce opened its second shop in Barrack street, where  Mr Samurai  was before it closed its door.  This Zensaki offers some of Japanese typical menu such as donburi and sushi , and also some noodle menus.  

At Zensaki, they cook the soup broth for over 24 hours for deeper and developed flavor.  They promised to use no preservatives and msg on all the dishes.

At the moment Zensaki at Barrack is doing a special campaign – $6.00 for teriyaki chicken, teriyaki fish or teriyaki tofu for a limited time only.  Normal price for those dishes is $8.50.

I think their price range is pretty reasonable.  All the donburi menus such as katsu-don (deep-fried crumbed chicken on bed of rice) and ginger beef donburi are $8.50, except for three items : salmon donburi, unagi donburi and teriyaki salmon donburi which are all at $12.00.

This time I ordered teriyaki chicken and teriyaki fish to take advantage on their special campaign, but I would like to try their noodle menu on my next visit.  The pictures on the menu board looked delicious, especially “Zensaki Ultimate Ramen” .  This Zensaki ultimate ramen noodle contains charsiu, karaage, fish cake, boiled egg etc, and you can chose the flavor of the broth – shio, miso or shoyu (soy sauce).  Other ramen menu are also tempting such as shio butter corn ramen (ramen noodle in salted broth with butter-sauteed corn) and katsu chicken ramen.  The price is around $12.00, and the ultimate ramen noodle is around $15.00, if I remember it right.

<Zensaki Barrack>

83 Barrack Street, Perth WA 6000

(08) 9221 7577

Tenkadori Subiaco

While Tenkadori has 60 stores across Japan, the Subiaco store is the very first
overseas, and they use quality products produced in Australia including free-range chicken.  I took my friend to this place on Friday night for a drink and yakitori 😀

I made a booking just in case, but there were few empty tables inside.  The owner (whom I spoke on the phone to make a booking) prepared a window-side table for us 🙂  The place was little small, but enough to enjoy drinks and tapas!  The staff were very friendly.

Unfortunately I had a big lunch on the day, so I wasn’t really hungry.  So was my friend.  We started with edamame, assorted 7 kinds of yakitori plate, and tofu salad.  You can also order small dish of a la carte menu such as tsukune (skewered chicken meatball), mushroom, tebasaki (chicken wings) and ika no ichiyaboshi (semi-dried squid – a typical food to be eaten with sake, sho-chu and beer in Japan).  We weren’t sure if we could eat some of their main meal such as teriyaki plates and oyako-donburi, those 3 dishes we ordered seemed pretty enough for us.

Assorted 7 kinds of yakitori plate wasn’t all “yakitori”, as it contained sauteed mushroom and okura (not skewered), and the tebasaki (chicken wing) was deep-fried, not grilled.  Well, I thought the dish got good variety , and they’re delicious.  You can chose your yakitori to be grilled with either “sauce” or “shio (salt)”.  Although many people would go with “sauce” ( I assume), I prefer the following combination:

• Yakitori (skewered pieces of chicken thigh) = shio
• Tsukune (skewered chicken meatball) = sauce
• Kawa (chicken skin) = shio (not available at Tenkadori)
• Nankotsu (chicken cartilage)= shio (not available at Tenkadori)
• Negima (skewered pieces of chicken thigh and springonion)= sauce (not available at Tenkadori)
• Tebasaki (chicken wing) = shio

I thought it would be nice if they had some light meals on their menu such as “ocha-zuke” (a dish in which hot tea is poured over cooked white rice topped with a few simple ingredients. It is a deceptively simple yet extremely tasty), soba noodle (either cold or hot) and yaki-onigiri (grilled rice ball brushed with soy-based tasty sauce).

Their lunch menu seems to be different from the dinner menu, so I would like to come back here during the day next time 🙂

(browse here for the conversation between kind viewers and Ume about this place)

Yamashiro Onsen Trip 2

Dinner was crab full-course (>v<).

Started with beer, we had crab sashimi, crab steamed board, crab chawan-mushi, frame-grilled crab, crab sushi, crab tempura, crab salad, crab soup, and crab flavored rice with crab meat.  You gotta be crab-lover to eat this dinner…

Crab season is winter, and the areas near Japan Sea, like Ishikawa prefecture, is famous for crabbing.  My family used to come to Fukui prefecture (next to Ishikawa) every winter to enjoy crab when I was a kid.

The food was delish!  We were so full and couldn’t move our bodies after eating these crabs…

In the morning, we were woken up with these breakfast.

A typical Japanese breakfast – rice, miso soup, some condiments and grilled fish…

We grilled our fish on charcoals..  There was squid sashimi, some cooked vegetables with dashi broth, pickles and Onsen Tamago.  Onsen Tamago is half-cooked egg by been immersed in natural, hot Onsen water.  It’s eaten with soy sauce and mirin based sauce.  Those 6 condiments are mentaiko, nori (seaweed paste), grilled salmon flakes, chirimen-jako (seasoned tiny fishes), walnut miso, and seasoned dry shellfish meat.

My dad and I finished the meal with Onsen coffee (brewed with Onsen water).

You can imagine how full we were!  So many seafood in 2 days….  I wonder how come Australian people don’t eat seafood as much as we (Japanese) do, we both live in island county.

No Shopping Yet..

A photo from a room on the ground floor in my house.   All of those ornaments and furnitures (wood ornament, dolls byobu < a Japanese term for decorative screens that serve as folding room dividers> and shoji <sliding doors made of paper>) haven’t been changed.  My grandma is praying at the Buddhist alter.  (please ignore the IKEA’s heart toy near the cusion :p )

The wood makes me feel home 🙂

After breakfast at Biwako Cafe, I went home to do some cooking and shooting photos.  Then I had to leave home quickly as my appointment for a hair salon was at 12.  I was actually planning to go shopping afterward, but it took 4 hours to do my hair.  My bro picked me up at the hair salon then we headed home.

After finishing up cooking, I was about to go shopping to buy some cosmetics.    Then, someone called my name at the door.  It was my friend!  She and I are going out for shopping and eating tomorrow, and she came over to my house to discuss what time we go.

First, we were talking at the door, but ended up moving to kotatsu and eating sushi rolls that my dad bought from a sushi bar near my house.  It is toro tuna – Re: (read the toro section)  While my friend was watching her favorite tv show with my grandma and dad, I took a bath.  🙂

We’re going to Gifu prefecture to go to this new mall.  I’m going to bed now as I’m waking up early to make breakfast for my dad and bro!

Sakura Sushi

Sai Koh Sushi Japanese restaurant changed its owner few months ago, and now this place is called Sakura Sushi.  

The menu is quite similar to before, but there’re several new items listed on their current menu.  I haven’t got chance to go there and try the food yet, but I recently had a chance to have a little chat with the owner about the menu.

Some new items are Okonomiyaki as entree, which is savory Japanese pan cake, and Miso Katsu Don, which is chicken katsu served with tasty miso-dare sauce.  Miso Katsu is a kind of Nagoya food in Japan, and it’s very nice 🙂  I may want to try it on my first visit.

One thing I noticed on their menu is “Potato Cake”  I can’t imagine it as a Japanese food – well, we eat potato cakes in Japan, but I was curious to know why they put it on the menu as a Japanese food.  I asked the owner, and she said that it’s a kind of Japanese food which is a deep-fried dish with potato and vegetables.  …  croquette ??  Is it ??  I just noticed now :p

Sakura Roll Sushi ($7.00 for 5 pieces) contains raw salmon, tuna, crab stick, egg omelet and coated with tobiko (frying fish roe : they describe the frying fish roe as “caviar”).   It sounds nice 🙂  I wish they add avocado!  I love avocado.

The prices are fare, around $4.50 ~ $13.00 for entree and $9.50 ~ 24.00 for main.  The owner couple are very nice people and that’s one of my reason I would like to go there in near future 🙂

Shop 11, Ranford Shopping Centre

These days..

It’s been rainy days …   I found that the roads in Perth tend to have lots of small puddles when it rains.  These puddles really scare me off … when I drive in the rain my car floats on the water, and I think “aah, this is the end of my life ..” :p  Never had such experience before I came to Perth..  I think the road condition or drain system is not really good here.

By the way Matsuri Japanese restaurant opened it’s second shop today.  The new place is not a restaurant, it’s a takeaway shop, so I think they open only for lunch time selling bento or donburi type of food.  It’s in the city, near the new Woolworth on St George Tce.

Which Japanese Restaurant To Go

Other day I was chatting with my Japanese friends “which Japanese restaurants in Perth do you go to?”. If it was few months ago Samurai would be in their answers, I think :p After talking with friends I realized the restaurants men chose are different from what women chose. My boy friends take the volume of food, the quantity of meat, and the prices into account. On the other hand my girl friends take different things into account such as how the food is presented, the atmosphere of the place and the taste of food.

What most men look for is the food value and the volume… I don’t say all the men are like that, but I agree with what my friends say, actually. Top 3 Japanese restaurants my boy friends chose are :

• Banzai Sushi & Noodle Bar
• Sundays Everyday
• Kanta Japanese Kitchen and Sushi Bar

photo from http://yourrestaurants.com.au

On the other hand, my girl friends chose:

• Taka’s Kitchen
• Shimizu Grand in Floreat

Taka’s Kitchen are actually chosen by my boy friends too. Their prices are reasonable and food are ok, and the location is good too. The cheapest dish is su-udon (plain udon noodle soup) which is $3.00. The popular dish is teriyaki chicken @ $7.90. If you want to try their sushi I recommend Shaft Lane shop. There are 2 sushi chefs working at Shaft Lane, one is from Japan and another is from Melbourne. Both are Japanese and have experience working as sushi chef. I don’t really like Taka’s in Fremantle food court (Old Shanghai) though. Their sushi rolls were really bad :p I wouldn’t call them “sushi” :p

I like Shimizu Floreat too, their atmosphere is good for a meet-up with friends. This place does buffet, but you can also order a la carte menu without extra charge such as takoyaki, beef teriyaki (which actually was like beef steak cubes with garlic and teriyaki sauce) etc. Last time I went there it was about $48.50 per head (pricy!) but if you target on eating tempura, sashimi and sushi, it’s worth the value I think.

Japanese Restaurants

Wow it was a bit of shock to hear that Mr Samurai closed their business… Although I wasn’t their regular customer, as I don’t really go to city often except for shopping and visiting JP Consulate etc, I kind of miss their food.  Nothing special, really.  Just that I know there’re many local people who loved Mr Samurai food.

Now, where can we get Japanese food for reasonable prices?  Ummm there are a few, actually.  Lots of Japanese food places are owned by non-Japanese, but some of them serve nice food.  Here is a list of casual Japanese eating places around Perth, which I recommend to you 🙂

※ Sundays Everyday – 6-43 Halme Court, Myaree

※ Ohnamiya – 34 Kearns Crs, Ardross

※ Shige Sushi Bar – Millstream Shopping Centre, South Perth

※ Peko Peko – Shop1/ 172 St Brigids Tce, Doubleview

※ Kanta – 2/76 Langford Ave, Langford

And, if you want to go to rather expensive Japanese restaurants, here are some …

※ Matsuri Japanese : cnr of Hay and Milligan Streets, Perth

※ Shimizu Floreat : Floreat Shopping Centre

Ramen Restaurants

Although I’m not a big fan of ramen noodle, I sometimes feel like eating them in this cold weather.  Ramen soup is usually pork, chicken or vegetable stock based and very tasty.  On the other hand, fish stock is used for udon and soba noodle soup.

Because animal stock is used for ramen soup, it is bit oily and that gives the soup tasty flavor.  There are thousands of ramen restaurants across Japan and each has their original recipe for the
soup.

Here in Perth has few ramen restaurants owned by Japanese.  I’m not sure if they make soup by themselves though.

Banzai Sushi & Noodle Bar
741 Newcastle Street Leederville WA 6007

Kai Japanese Dining & Takeaway
Shop4, 110 Parry Ave Bullcreek WA 6149

Dosukoi
Stall7, Fremantle Market Fremantle WA 6160

Has anyone been to any of those restaurants?

I think it’s interesting that those restaurants have quite unique ramen menu.  I’ve never seen Fried Chicken Ramen or Gyoza Ramen in Japan :p  Fried Chicken Ramen has Karaage (Japanese style fried chicken) on ramen noodle, and Gyoza Ramen has deep-fried dumplings on ramen noodle.  Dosukoi’s simple Ramen is $6.50, it’s pretty cheap.  Kai Japanese just opened few months ago, and the owner used run another Japanese restaurant in Subiaco. (popular one)  At Banzai, you can enjoy ramen noodle with ranges of Japanese liquir such as chu-hi.  (white peach is my favorite)

If you want to enjoy other Japanese noodle menu, I recommend …

Ramen & Udon @ Taka’s Kitchen Shafto Lane, Perth
(Ramen noodle available only after 5pm on weekdays, and all day Saturday)

Udon @ Ohnamiya, Applecross

Udon @ Oceans, Fremantle

Udon @ Jaws restaurants, Perth

Udon @ Ninniku Jip, Victoria Park

Udon @ Sado Japanese, Claremont

French x Japanese

A fusion of Japanese and French cuisine has been a big trend since I was a teenager, and now you can find it anywhere in Japan. Even in traditional Japanese restaurant they create a menu using French techniques.

I am one of people who loves this French x Japanese food, and I often went to restaurants to enjoy the delicious food in Japan. The food is so well presented that it makes me feel guilty to eat.

It was actually a sensational experience to me when I had this unique sushi at one of modern Kaiten sushi bar in Kyoto 10 years ago. Sushi rice was cooked in red wine, and thickly sliced roast beef was arranged on the rice with a dash of mustard and shredded white spring onions. It looked wonderful and unique as red wine beautifully colored the rice into vivid red/pink.

In Perth there are few Japanese restaurants who serve some fusion food. One of them is Absolutely Chez Unicho, which used to be in Mosman Park. The Japanese chef creates very nice French x Japanese food. Unfortunately they have closed their restaurant in Perth and moved to Melbourne few months ago.

And, K’s restaurant in North Bridge. I’ve been wanting to go there but haven’t got a chance yet. One of my friend has been there few times and she said the food is nice. They have course meal, and you can choose the course depending on your budget.

Has anyone tried those restaurants? I think I will go to K’s sometime next month.