Sushi Bar Rashai is a local legend on Sydney's Parramatta Road in Annandale that has been operating for 38 years. It is known for its fresh, authentic food and for being open late until midnight. And the bill? That's also a very nice surprise and it is one of the best value Japanese restaurants in Sydney!
Sushi Bar Rashai is a Japanese restaurant that has been open in Sydney for a record 38 year since 1987. When Queen Viv recently visited and enjoyed it she suggested that we go there for an upcoming dinner. It is a Saturday night when Mr NQN and I meet up with Miss America, Queen Viv, Matt and Carmen for dinner. The restaurant is located on Parramatta Road in Annandale between numerous bridal stores and an erotic massage parlour (look for the goldfish).
In October 2019 a couple took over Sushi Bar Rashai and she takes care of the floor while he is the chef and they do an amazing job with just the two of them. It has the real feel of being in a family run restaurant in Japan. The restaurant is simply decorated with posters of neko-chan cats and dishes on the menu. A guide to the parts of a kingfish adorn the wall next to us.
The menu is a mostly picture menu of huge proportions. There is everything from sushi and sashimi platters (best pre-ordered), oysters, salads, tempura, hot pots, ramen, udon and bentos - a real feat considering it is just the two of them.
Queen Viv and Miss America start with some warm sake while the rest of us have soft drinks.
We start with the sashimi deluxe, an enormous platter with salmon, tuna, snapper, kingfish and scallops on ice. Normally with a sashimi platter you might get a couple of pieces each but even with the six of us, this sashimi platter goes on forever (it's just the scallops we need to count out). I adore the salmon and kingfish and it's not only fresh and delicious but amazing value as you get 48 pieces.
We are all big fans of nasu miso or grilled eggplant with white miso sauce and this is no exception. This comes as six thick but meltingly soft discs of eggplant topped with a complex sweet and salty white miso sauce.
Carmen orders the vege tempura which is a great choice. There is range of vegetables from sweet potato, pumpkin, capsicum and green beans are cooked in the lightest, crispiest tempura batter.
We also share some sushi rolls since there are 6 of us and there are 8 pieces per roll. There are baby rolls, medium rolls and big rolls each denoted on the menu by M or B next to each one. I choose 3 big rolls. The tempura prawn roll is sliced avocado on a tempura prawn and cucumber roll with teriyaki sauce and mayonnaise. The tempura prawn is crunchy inside the roll and we really enjoy this.
A lot of others really enjoyed the sashimi tuna so I order a Ruby Roll with fresh tuna slices atop an avocado and kingfish roll with mayonnaise and red onion. The onion on top offers a nice piquancy to the roll.
Out of all three rolls I really loved the grilled salmon roll the best. It has seared salmon on top of a roll filled with cucumber and avocado with teriyaki sauce, mayonnaise and tenkasu or crunchy tempura flakes. This hits because of the light smokiness from the grilled salmon but also the crunchiness of the tempura flakes.
What I really loved was two items on the menu that I don't often see at Japanese restaurants here but I used to enjoy them when I lived in Tokyo. The first is cream croquettes (I think there's a mix up, I ordered some but they didn't come out) and Chicken Nanban. This is chicken katsu topped with a tartare sauce. The tartare has finely chopped egg and a touch of curry powder (Japanese tartare usually includes egg) so it has delicious curried egg sandwich vibes. The chicken is crisp and tender and fantastic with rice, salad and that egg tartare sauce.
For sharing's sake we also order the chicken yaki udon although there are many ramen and udon soups available too. This has thick, chewy udon noodles and a good amount of chicken and vegetables on it.
Having feasted on savouries until we are full, Queen Viv produces the dessert menu from the side of the table. They're known for their tempura ice cream, which is deep fried vanilla ice cream with sponge cake and strawberry sauce. It's like their version of deep fried ice cream. It's nice but the breading does tend to separate from the ice cream and I'm not big on the strawberry sauce.
Queen Viv and Mr NQN love the strawberry ice cream mochi which has strawberry ice cream inside a stretchy, chewy mochi skin. It's classic but a tasty version.
My favourite is the classic red bean daifuku mochi. I don't taste much black sesame and the predominant flavour is the sweet red bean filling but it tastes just like the mochi I used to enjoy eating in Japan and I would have happily had one to myself if I had more room.
And at the end, the bill with tip is an incredibly reasonable $60 per person!
So tell me Dear Reader, have you ever visited this restaurant? Do you prefer desserts like tempura ice cream or mochi?
This meal was independently paid for.
Sushi Bar Rashai
241 Parramatta Rd, Annandale NSW 2038
Phone: (02) 9560 3007
Wednesday Sunday 5pm – 12 am
Closed Monday and Tuesday
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