Review Gochiso - Willoughby

Gochiso is family friendly restaurant in the heart of Willoughby. It a small unassuming space tacked in the back of the Iceworks Willoughby. The decor is simple yet tasteful. The mastery and exceptional food quality of food in this place will quickly make you this place in new light. The food is delicious and amazing. This place is consistent in its delivery as I have been a regular of this establishment for five years. I have never left disappointed, whether it has been for lunch or dinner. I vote Gochiso as one of my top five Japanese restaurants in Sydney period!

Good food but so overpriced that I would rather fly to Japan when it opens, happily stay in quarantine and then buy a 7-eleven bento box instead of spending $40 for a bento in Sydney. I left satisfied with my stomach full and my wallet empty. Adjust your expectations before coming here.

Ordered sashimi small - good. Chunky pieces. Fresh. Spicy tuna roll - strange because so wet due to cucumber. Small Slivers of tuna fish - maybe it’s the offcuts? Edamame. Ceviche - delicious. Over priced good food. Limited menu. Nice, open layout. Small seating area. Thank you!

The restaurant is in the back of a complex. It has simple decor. It is a quiet place not too busy on the day we came. The food was promptly prepared, and tasted authentic Japanese. The sizes were good size and there’s a nice selection of lunch menus and wine list. Recommended!

Update - 7/11/21 - another outstanding meal from Gochiso. The Chef's Selection sashimi was brilliant. Quality worth the price. Thank you. -------- Excellent Japanese. Somewhat expensive but the quality of the food makes it worthwhile and very enjoyable.

Fantastic food. My kids love the chicken teriyaki here. No vegetarian option on the menu though for my wife. Please Gochiso, can you put at least one tofu main or vegetarian meal back on the menu!

Busy local japanese restaurant. Hard to get in without reservation. Not many Japanese restaurant like Gochiso in the local area. Most are sushi train style places or serves Ramen 🍜

Overpriced, average Japanese food~ The restaurant is nicely decorated which seems to be a nice place to dine and chill. However, the food was average and overpriced. I have ordered the wagyu beef bento $22, king fish carppacios ($18 - 6 slices of kingfish) and the potato croquettes for lunch. At the same price range I would rather go to Neutral Bay/ Crows Nest where they have some authentic Japanese food.

Been going to Gochiso for almost 9 years now, since it was opened. Still my favourite restaurant.

The restaurant is quite heartless and would not recommend if you want a relaxing time with family and kids. We had the largest table so wouldn't consider us to have small order. Our kids have severe allergies to multiple foods and these ingredients are generally used in Japanese cooking. We unfortunately have to carry our food most of the time but do order drinks so not looking too awkward. The restaurant insisted of charging $10 for our kids as they did not order food. When questioned, their response was "we are a restaurant". As a parent with special needs the lack of sympathy definitely teared our hearts out. Definitely would not recommend if you have allergy or food sensitivity. I also doubt their GF option as they don't seem to genuine care. The waiter was quite rude and would never expect from a Japanese restaurant. If you are looking for good family experience its better to look elsewhere.

Decor is OK but food is in very over-priced. Quality is only as average as food court. The most expensive dish - $32 wagyu beef was not fresh, like defrosted. Portion was shocking tiny. Even the accompanied potatoes were ridiculously stingy. So it is definitely not worth going at all.

Decent Japanese in Willoughby.<br/>Slightly overpriced and service a little slow. Make sure you have plenty of time. Parking can be a real challenge in peak times as there is only High St Market and very limited street parking

Located on on the High St, is this funky-hip interior decorated Japanese restaurant. We went in on a wet winter’s Tuesday. <br/><br/>The selection on the menu seems very decent. I ordered the wagyu steak bento box. The food arrive not too long thereafter. It was fab. The steak was grilled, so you get the charred bits. The meat was tender and done to the right level of medium-rare. <br/><br/>Overall a very decent spot. Nice and clean. Total cost of $50 for 2 bento boxes and some alcohol.<br/><br/>Will be back.

Shop decoration and playing of each dish is pretty fancy. The food is okay. However, I wouldn't have rated them that low if they have served our orders efficiently. We basically waited for around 20mins for each dish to come, one by one. The menu is over priced. I guess it could be because that they are situated in Willoughby. Probably won't go back as there are plenty other better valuable and tastier Japanese restaurants in the area.

We came on a Saturday night at 8pm and it we packed. However the service was quick and attentive - food came promptly, dishes were cleared quickly. Food was tasty and well presented. It is a little noisy but not in any way that impacted our conversation or experience. Nice decor and atmosphere. Good local.

We enjoyed our meal at Gochiso. We will return with hubby who was out for a work function. It's always nice to check out a new restaurant that serves good food with reasonable prices.

Gochiso Japanese restaurant located in the same eatery lane as Dose Espresso . What hits us at first as we walk into the restaurant are the cute and simple sketches that are drawn out by owners Yoonjee and Sangmin across the back walls of customers waiting in line for their food from a sushi chef. This simple yet thoughtful decor is echoed in their menu which offers everything from takoyaki balls to fish heads to sushi rolls and rice dishes. We decided to play it safe by ordering the Nasu Dengaku for starters followed by the Wagyu Teriyaki Udon, and take a risk by ordering the pricier Saikyo Lamb.

I found the aburi cold when it was served and it would have been better to serve it immediately as aburi tastes best when still warm. The fried prawn heads were also a lovely garnish but I’m not experienced with eating prawn heads so wasn’t sure what to do with them on the plate.

We love this restaurant - the food is delicious and I'm surprised it's not busier.

Love this restaurant. Now my local. Food is delicious esp sashimi platter and service excellent. Great for the kids.

Amazing food, great service!<br/>I was not a big fan of Japanese cuisine but I am now. Fresh & beautifully presented sashimi and delicious ginger pork are always winner. I am coming back very soon.

Friendly service with great value. The food is gorgeous but the price is very cheap. It's really noisy when the restaurant is full. But the owner told me hanging acoustics panel would be installed shortly. If its done, there will be no issue of this restaurant, I think. I'll definitely come back soon.

Today, i went to gochiso japanese restaurant with my friend.<br/>They have some special menu.<br/>We tried soba salad and volcano roll.<br/>It was amazing!!<br/>Soba salad is with grilled eggplant and vege. It is like a main size. The home made sesame sauce is great. <br/>When the volcano roll was served, we were surprised!! It looks like real volcano shape. The cream sauce with scallop, gave me a refreshing shock!!<br/>The wait staffs is friendly, and more than kind. <br/>The concrete wall art harmonize with this morden japanese food. <br/>We are very happy to know this restaurant in willoughby!!<br/>We are definitely back here:-)

Extremely disappointed.... When we first entered, it seemed alright but after ordering our menu, it felt like forever waiting. For about 20 minutes, we sat there doing almost nothing, occasionally trying to talk to each other...which did not work as the concrete brick wallks and wooden floor made everyone's voices echo and the room so loud. When the first dish finally arrived, it was gobbled up in a few minutes and once again, we sat there waiting for our next dish. Another 15 minutes and the sashimi came but unfortunately the dressing was not the Japanese type that i would have liked. The flavour was much too overpowering and sweet. About another 20 minutes and the mains or the salad had not yet arrived. We tried to get the waiters' attention but it was very hard and all they said was "it will come very soon". After the arrival of the final disappointing dishes, we looked at the price altogether and was too surprised to even say much. WHAT.A.RIP.OFF...the food was poorly made, the service was nowhere near the standard and the prices were way too expensive. Definitely will not go again and do not recommend this "restaurant" to anyone else.

Won't be coming back. Food was not that great.<br/><br/>Service was very slow, food came out after nearly 30 minutes waiting and after the first entree dish we had to wait even more for main.<br/>We ordered the chef's special Eggplant Soba Noodle ($18) and was quite disappointed. Only a small portion was given and was not something i would order for the price. The taste was not that great either.<br/><br/>We also ordered salmon/avocado roll which was not really what you can call sushi. Only a very thin layer of rice over some salmon and avocado.<br/>The restaurant itself is very noisy as the noise from other customers echoes. We literally had to shout across the table to hear each other!

What a nice place!!!. What a nice place to eat and chat!!!<br/>One of my friend introduce this place and had dinner with my hubby last nite.<br/>The food was great. We tried new special menu 'New style Ginger pork' and one of the bento box. Soy base sauce was so unique. I never had that in another Japanese restaurant before. Sashimi was so fresh, pork was so tender, great and young atmosphere, also kind and smiling staffs..<br/>well.. obviously, sum weird people complaint about the rice or amount of the food but I really don't get it. We enjoyed everything there last nite. Also Sake tasting was the new experience!<br/>Think also the best place for kids as they prepare every cute stuffs for the kids.<br/>Next weekend, definitely, will coming back with my 2 boys!

Poor food & service. Main dish - average, small serve, very salty in general<br/>Rice - dry, small serve, cheapest rice grain used<br/>Service - very poor, grumpy staff, got charged twice for the same item<br/><br/>If you happen to go, please please check your bill before you pay.

Reduced their serving sizes. What a shame - I noticed last time we were there how much smaller the serves were. It's good food but the chef admitted they have substantially reduced their serving sizes due to increasing costs ! So my 3 kids (aged 4,7 and 10) had to order 4 main meals just to fill them. Our dinner was $88 for 3 small children and one adult. Can't afford that anymore. He said they will further reduce meal sizes for 2013 when the new menu comes out - crazy !

The nasu dengaku was small and unusually, deep-fried slices (4) and had the miso sauce on the side. The wakame salad had both wakame and green seaweed atop lettuce leaves and avocado which was refreshing and zesty. The spicy tuna sushi roll was small and fresh but not at all spicy. Funky decor that's more urban and funky than your standard Japanese restaurant, lots of variety on the menu and reasonably priced. It did get noisy due to the concrete walls and hard floors and the service is non-existent, i.e. hard to get anyone's attention for anything. Nice local spot if you live in the area.

Loved it. Gochiso lives up to its name, its delicious. I dined here recently with children in tow. The staff could not have been more welcoming. Love the fit out, concrete walls and wall art. The teriyaki salmon set is as nice as any I've eaten in Toyko. A great addition to Willoughby.