Sushia Izakaya & Bar, Sydney (29th November 2013)

Today was the first time I stepped foot into a Japanese restaurant post-traumatic experience at Kenji @ Opera Kitchen - it has been a while since I last went to Sushia Izakaya & Bar for lunch and I’m pretty confident there won’t be any seagulls trying to steal my food when dining at this indoor restaurant!

“Ooo, new sushi train menu…,” I noted walking past the large sign by the entrance. Good thing I'm here, get to sample their new menu ;) There were hardly any diners at 12pm and plenty of seats to choose from. Being a lone diner, I took up my usual spot at the bar. Hmm, looking at the items on the sushi train, I noticed there were a couple of new salmon variations though the sushi selection were limited, perhaps because it was still early for lunch; the chefs were busy making more to add onto the train. After eyeing the conveyor belt for about 5 minutes while sipping my warm cup of green tea, I decided to start off with a few dishes from their sushi train menu (you can order from the menu at any time with the wait staff) and got myself a Salmon Sashimi and a single serve of Agendashi Tofu. 

The Salmon Sashimi is my absolute favourite here at Sushia – thick cuts, fresh and SO good. I could happily eat another serving but it would burn a hole in my pocket. Just have to slowly saviour the six slices on my plate…

Salmon Sashimi ($6.50)

The Agendashi Tofu was made on order so took some time but well worth the wait. Served warm in a small bowl, the deep fried silken tofu sits in a broth mixture of dashi, mirin and shoyu, topped with finely sliced spring onion, nori and bonito shavings. The only way to consume the cute little dish is with a spoon – delicious! 

Agendashi Tofu ($3)

There were various signs placed on the train and one of them had information on how you can obtain a discount for your bill. Check in a photo of your meal on Facebook and receive 10% off the food bill (drinks not included); all you needed to do was show your check in when paying to get the discount. One cute tofu dish checked in!

Throngs of corporate workers started filling up the place as time passed by. I was still feeling peckish so waved to a nearby wait staff, this time putting in an order for a Lobster Salad and a Soft Shell Crab hand roll, both of which too weren’t available on the conveyor. While waiting for them to be made, I helped myself to a Grilled Eel nigiri from the train – tasted as expected, nothing to shout about. 

Grilled Eel ($4.20)

My Lobster Salad turned up shortly and though it was tasty, my small gripe was that the sushi was made a little too big; I couldn’t have it in one mouthful (had to take two bites) and my sushi was disintegrating as I ate :/ The first bite was a slight shock to the system because the salad came straight from the fridge i.e. it was cold and I happened to be the first diner of the day to order the Lobster Salad. 

Lobster Salad ($4.20)

Last but not least was the Soft Shell Crab hand roll – skilfully wrapped in a nori cone with ingredients spilling out the open end, I ate it with my hand, dipping the roll in the spicy mayo (served on the side) with each bite. Woah, that mayo has quite a kick! The soft shell crab was totally fried through and it even had some roe in it (mmm, eggy…yum...). 

Soft Shell Crab hand roll ($4.20)

Cost $22.60 all up including my 10% discount which was more than what I would normally spend for lunch but bugger it - the food was great and worth the cost. Come check out the new menu - I'm loving it :)