A delicious experience. Dined on a Saturday evening and not a chance to get in without a reservation (many hopeful walk ins were turned away). The menu has a decent range - from the usual sashimi/sushi/tempura staple but the main draw is the robata. Cooking meat & vegetables on an open charcoal grill Japanese style brings out the aroma of the foods & the light sauce & accompaniments just lifts things higher. The oysters were superb. The ox tongue was melt in the mouth delicious. The agadashi tofu was a little disappointing. However the star dish was a special they had on that evening : Foire gras/Wagyu in truffle oil in a hot pot with Japanese rice. A bit pricey @ $68 but it was absolutely delicious. Service is efficient but staff had no time for niceties & were focussed on taking orders & bringing out the food. Approximately $100+ a head, a little on the high end for a casual meal but we walked away satiated with smiles on our faces.
Accidentally went in to have dinner the other night. We’re totally surprised with their food. It was amazing! Fresh, tasty and the vibe is great. Despite with the small portion of food and price is a bit exy but we’re still satisfied and ended up ordering a lot. Definitely will come back to try out more.
Ordered the chawan mushi, signature hand roll, char Siu, quail, and eel. Each meat was tender but crisp on the outside - perfect. The kingfish sashimi was also very very tender and lovely. The umeshu tasting set was also really enjoyable and paired really nicely with different dishes.
Chawan mushi was absolute heaven and oh I wish I could live inside that little clay pot. Could not get enough of the softness and truffle-egg-crab blend of flavours.
Was a little let down by the signature hand roll as I thought it would be a very large maki roll, and that we had to DIY the rolls. Also the seaweed used here was already salted and I think that took away from the flavours of the rice and seafood. Novelty was nice but probably would order something else.
We found that we did order a little too much by the end of the night, and I think it would be nice if the staff could have a better idea of how much to order. We did ask but the server reassured us it was enough. Maybe something along the lines of “2 grilled items, 2 starters, and 1 main” would have been useful
Mariko “Mickey” Kawase
+5
Popped in for an early dinner. Great hidden gem in our local area. Between the two, we ordered the nasu nibitashi, chawan-mushi, beef tongue, toothfish collar saikyo-yaki and yaki-onigiri which were all so divine.
Chawan-mushi had crab meat and truffle and is an absolute must. Also hard to find saikyo-yaki and nibitashi, which are great traditional dishes that as a Japanese you can’t go past without ordering.
For those giving negative reviews of this place, need to understand how unique and special this place is. Jog on, go to a westernised institution like a Merivale and order your karaage and spider crab roll laced in mayo. Please don’t taint a legit Japanese restaurant where you don’t understand the subtle flavours of Japanese cuisine.
One of the best ramen I’ve had in Sydney - the asari soy clam ramen had a poignant buttery flavour that went beautifully with the clams, and the duck yuzu ramen was packed with unexpected and refreshing flavours. I also liked the tempura burdock in both the ramens that we ordered. Service was quick and friendly.
We visited Gaku recently after trying their lunchtime ramen menu which was delicious. The restaurant has a relaxing atmosphere and the staff are friendly and gave us a few nice recommendations. There is a nice selection of small dishes which are great to share. Our favourite dishes were the chawan mushi with spanner crab meat and Truffle sauce and their char siu dish. Between two people we ordered about 2 small dishes, 2 charcoal grill items and a few sushi dishes which was plenty of food.
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