Sushi Tei - Chifley Square, Sydney (30th May 2013)
Sushi Tei is one of the Japanese restaurants in Sydney I would go to for their consistently good service and quality Japanese fare, though not as often as I would like as quality does come at a price. Having had a fairly stressful week at work, I decided to treat myself to a fancier lunch today and headed over to Sushi Tei branch located at Chifley Square just before noon. The place was already filling up with lunchtime patrons when I arrived, and with no booking and being a solo diner, I was placed at one corner of the sushi bar with other stray diners - it kind of felt like we were at the 'naughty corner', being put on time out for not booking in advance or bringing company :P
A quick flip through the super-sized menus and I was ready to order - I've not had unagi for ages so went for the Unagi Kabayaki Zen (grilled premium eel with rice) lunch set. Cost $28 and it took about 10 minutes before my meal was served. My god was it HUGE! Served in a large circular wooden tray lined with banana leaf, my lunch set came with a generous serving of grilled eel drenched in teriyaki sauce, a bowl of rice, edamame, a slice of tamago, a meatball and a small serving of fresh fruit. Also included in the set meal was a bowl of miso soup and a serving of fresh salad but they couldn't fit onto the tray so were served separately. Time to dig in! I started off with the miso soup, then worked my way through the sides and then my main course, the eel. Loved the edamame and I have no idea what was in the cold meatball but it was pretty tasty. The eel was exactly what I expected it to be, salty and sweet, the gooey sauce going nicely with the eel and rice. Mmm, so much food but SO GOOD!
Given my height and size, sitting at the bar did not turned out very comfortable in - my food was above elbow level making it a rather awkward position to eat in. Oh, and there was an American guy who was a total bully sitting just a few seats away from me. Baldie (nickname I'm giving the nameless guy for obvious reasons) ordered a tempura set meal and asked the waitress if it came with rice to which she said yes, but just before his meal was served, the waitress returned to inform him that rice was not included. "But it is in the menu!" said Baldie not once but several times, each time much louder and more menacing so much so the poor Asian girl backed away in fear. The manager having witnessed the whole scene told his staff to serve others while he personally gave Baldie his bowl of rice who just harrumphed and dismissed the manager. Frankly, the behaviour was uncalled for - he only had to tell the waitress once and point out that she did say his dish included rice on order. Seriously, do you really need to make such a fuss over a bowl of rice that probably cost less than $2?! Sheesh!
A quick flip through the super-sized menus and I was ready to order - I've not had unagi for ages so went for the Unagi Kabayaki Zen (grilled premium eel with rice) lunch set. Cost $28 and it took about 10 minutes before my meal was served. My god was it HUGE! Served in a large circular wooden tray lined with banana leaf, my lunch set came with a generous serving of grilled eel drenched in teriyaki sauce, a bowl of rice, edamame, a slice of tamago, a meatball and a small serving of fresh fruit. Also included in the set meal was a bowl of miso soup and a serving of fresh salad but they couldn't fit onto the tray so were served separately. Time to dig in! I started off with the miso soup, then worked my way through the sides and then my main course, the eel. Loved the edamame and I have no idea what was in the cold meatball but it was pretty tasty. The eel was exactly what I expected it to be, salty and sweet, the gooey sauce going nicely with the eel and rice. Mmm, so much food but SO GOOD!
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Unagi Kabayaki Zen lunch set ($28)
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| View from my seat at the bar |
Given my height and size, sitting at the bar did not turned out very comfortable in - my food was above elbow level making it a rather awkward position to eat in. Oh, and there was an American guy who was a total bully sitting just a few seats away from me. Baldie (nickname I'm giving the nameless guy for obvious reasons) ordered a tempura set meal and asked the waitress if it came with rice to which she said yes, but just before his meal was served, the waitress returned to inform him that rice was not included. "But it is in the menu!" said Baldie not once but several times, each time much louder and more menacing so much so the poor Asian girl backed away in fear. The manager having witnessed the whole scene told his staff to serve others while he personally gave Baldie his bowl of rice who just harrumphed and dismissed the manager. Frankly, the behaviour was uncalled for - he only had to tell the waitress once and point out that she did say his dish included rice on order. Seriously, do you really need to make such a fuss over a bowl of rice that probably cost less than $2?! Sheesh!
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