Bidding farewell to the North Shore is a sad goodbye. For years, I’d always thought that there wasn’t much in the way to eat around here but I was sorely mistaken and set straight by many loyal readers who pointed out great finds in the area. Living close to Neutral Bay meant that I had a range of fantastic Japanese food within 10 minutes and one of my favourite places was Japaz, a Japanese tapas place. I later learned from Yas from Hungry Digital Elf that Japaz also has a cafe called Atomic Espresso across the road and they happen to serve Katsusando (Fried Pork Katsu Sandwiches) from Thursdays to Saturdays. Only 20 of these sandwiches are made on these days and if you want to nab yourself one, you need to ring ahead and reserve your “sando” (Japanese for sandwich).
Evidence of my Limited Edition lunacy
Yes this is a Limited Edition Sandwich. The two words Limited Edition can either bore or excite someone. Sadly I’m one of the latter. If I hear that only a few are available of something, the desire to covet and own one of these things is exponentially increased. The Louis Vuitton Murakami collection was one such instance of instant smitteness. I had to have the Murakami Retro bag. I rang LV and put my name down and pestered them every few days to see whether a shipment had come in. When it did, I bought it, used it and then after a big fat raindrop plopped on the cream leather trim (you can probably see it on the right of the bow), stowed it away in its dustbag for years, just in case it ever got marked again, taken out only on occasions where a dress or outfit specifically matched the colours. I never said I made sense did I?
Cappucino $4
This afternoon Mr NQN and I find ourselves on the small Atomic Espresso cafe on Wycombe Street in Neutral Bay. The chef from Japaz walks past us and gives us a quiet Irasshaimase and nod. The waitress is friendly and we tell her that we are here to collect our Katsusando and have lunch so we order coffee and a pasta dish that she recommends. It’s called Atomic Espresso so we have high hopes for the coffee and we’re not let down. It’s a great, full bodied coffee.
The Limited Edition Pork Katsusando $15
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August 3, 2009
by Not Quite Nigella
Sashimi porn-yes.
I should start off with a warning about portions at Sushi Suma. Only visit here if you are starving, and even then only go if you’ve taken the precautionary measures and arranged for an emergency stomach compartment or a switch with your dessert tank. Servings here are legendarily huge and service, well it’s an in and out, stuff-em-full sort of place. Four Supermodels could probably share a dinner box and I am including those annoying Supermodels that keep telling us “Oh yes I hardly ever diet! I eat as much as I want”.
This evening we are supposed to meet Rose and Ronald at 6.30pm but we are 15 minutes late. Rose and Ronald have been kicked off their table downstairs in the restaurant and have been asked to wait upstairs in the bar area. We are given a copy of the menu and we order the items upstairs with the no nonsense man with the keypad. In order to expedite turnover, orders are taken upstairs and when the food and table are ready, diners are guided downstairs. Despite there being a bar and having a captive, waiting (and thirsty) audience, there is no bar service as the no nonsense man (we assume the owner) is busy corralling diners. Luckily we are waiting less than 10 minutes when we are shown downstairs. It’s a curious layout, the dining area is small and the kitchen is comparatively huge – larger than the dining space. As we sit down, with the super tightly laid out tables, Rose comments about how loud it is.
Complimentary Appetiser
This vermicelli noodle salad is lightly seasoned with a sweet, vinegary taste.
Complimentary Agedashi Tofu
The complimentary agedashi tofu is a nice surprise as everyone receives one. It’s delicious and one of the better ones I’ve had with a perfectly seasoned sauce (I often find the sauce isn’t flavoursome enough) but this is just right.
Kaiso Salad $8.80
We’re given our Kaiso salad and the size gives us an indication of things to come. It’s huge with a mound of shredded cabbage and thick and thin seaweed. The seaweed itself isn’t highly seasoned or flavoured but the salad has a light dressing over it and a scattering of sesame seeds.
Cream Croquette with crab meat $6.80
The items I went crazy for in Tokyo were Cream Croquettes. These are small croquettes filled with the creamiest potato. I can’t really see or taste any crab meat but I do see a couple of corn kernels.
Other diner’s plates are set down next to us and we are aghast at how big they are. The Katsu meal at the table next to us had 8 huge pieces of katsu and their Tempura had a large variety of food. We see why the sizes are legendary.
Sushi Deluxe $16.80
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July 15, 2009
by Not Quite Nigella
I love a bargain as much as anyone else. However this doesn’t extend to rummaging in sales bins or queuing up from 6am to get into a Department Store sale only to jostle around and snatch clothes from other shoppers. I am a lazy bargain hunter at best but when a bargain presents itself and it’s in easy reach, I grab it. The easiest bargain to be had in this GFC riddled world has to be Sushi Choo’s $20 All You Can Eat Sushi available from 12-1pm or 6-8pm every day.
I did a double take when I first saw the bargain advertised thinking that it must be one of those cheap and nasty sushi chains that is always featuring in the news for food poisoning scares. Surely this isn’t Merivale’s Sushi Choo? Home to the chic and perfectly merchandised furniture and staff? I immediately told my husband who readily agreed to a date. We rarely go to Sushi Trains because he can easily eat $50 worth of sushi in one sitting so the idea of eating as much as he wanted for $20 appealed to him enormously.
Just in case, we’ve made a booking for two people for 6pm. We arrive at 5.58pm only to be asked to wait for 2 minutes while they get the train 100% ready. At 6pm the black wooden barriers slide open and we enter the room which is bathed in a glowing red. The interior is beautiful although it does strike me as more “Chinese” than “Japanese” (I imagine a Franck Eggelhoffer Interior Decorator type saying “Just make it look Asian!“) except for the robots and Astro Boy figurines.
The sushi train is in full motion snaking its offering around the room. It seems most customers are partaking of the $20 all you can eat deal although a la carte plates can also be ordered (prices are pretty reasonable for many of the a la carte offerings). During the promotion times, the sushi train is a reduced version of the menu so not all of the regular sushi train plates are featured.
Miso Soup $5 (a la carte menu)
Mr NQN declares this to be delicious although I didn’t try this for myself.
Spicy Seaweed Salad
The spicy seaweed salad is of course a favourite with its spicy sesame dressing. I confess we probably ate about 7 plates of this (but Your Honour, they’re small servings!).
I can admit my little secret to you Dear Reader: I love Japanese Mayo mixed with soy sauce to dip my sushi into. Our lovely waiter who is both courteous and friendly offers me a Jalapeño Mayo which I eagerly try. It’s fantastic and gives a little kick to the sushi as my sinuses can’t take wasabi.
Dynamite Roll
My favourite sushi was the dynamite tuna roll. Edged with roe, it’s filled with delicious raw spicy tuna and cucumber with the chili giving it an extra dimension.
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July 8, 2009
by Not Quite Nigella
We often overhear unusual things in public places. Not deliberately mind you, but sometimes a conversation will waft over when there’s a moment of silence and sometimes it’s intriguing so you stop to listen for a bit. We’ve also heard very odd conversations such as the one we overheard at Kasumi Dining Room during our visit. It’s empty save for one table and the music is soft so we can’t help but overhear it.
“What do you think would win in a battle. A Christian animal or a Non-Christian animal?”
I almost spit out my drink chuckling at that. And of course you know the answer they gave right? The Christian Animal would win according to them.
Odd overheard conversation aside, we had been interested in going to Kasumi for a while, over a year in fact ever since we spied it when we dined at Uighur Cuisine next door. Japanese Izakayas are one of my favourite places to eat as they feature small meals of tasty dishes – perfect for someone like me who loves sampling as much as possible. My excitement at visiting an Kasumi Izakaya is dampened when were handed our menus showing a range of set lunches. It seems the Izakaya only comes to life at night.
Chicken Udon $8.80
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June 21, 2009
by Not Quite Nigella
A couple readers of mine (Carolyn and angevb) recommended Sakae to me and as I always do, I write all restaurant recommendations in my black moleskine notebook. This evening, Mr NQN, The Assman and I are in search for good food after an afternoon geo caching (geo caching for them, reading cookbooks in the car for me – yes I am not an outdoorsey person). As a student, the Assman’s criteria was that it needed to be less than $20 per person and it had to have some vegetarian options. Realising quickly that we might have to travel a bit for our meal given these conditions, we decide that Sakae it is!
Complimentary noodles
A small rectangular shaped room it’s busy with diners. We’re given our complimentary appetiser, a little bowl of noodles. These are not too bad although a little sweet and a bit bland. But it’s free and we’re hungry so we aren’t complaining.
Ramune (Lemonade) $3
My husband tries the Ramune – that is Japanese for Lemonade if you sound it out and he and the Assman are both intrigued by Katakana and how the Japanese pronounce western words for which they don’t have a sound (eg the “Le” in Lemonade is “Ra” here). They’re also a bit intrigued by the bottle where you take the top off and push down the glass ball to break the seal and are rewarded with sweet, bubbly lemonade.
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May 2, 2009
by Not Quite Nigella
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