I Don't Eat, I Devour

First of all, the décor and serving ware at Edition Coffee Roasters are the wabisabi style of my dreams. Moody yet calming, simple yet elegant, they certainly elevate the dining experience.  Best known for their coffee (as the name suggests), the food served at Edition Coffee Roasters is best described as Japanese-Scandi-fusion, and will be reason for my numerous return trips. It is unsurprising that it won best café at the Time Out Food Awards 2018. Wagyu meatball don, $23.10  Most of the savoury options on the small but curated menu are sandwich-like options, therefore the wagyu meatball don (rice bowl) immediately caught my attention. Served with crunchy, marinated cucumber, crispy nori, and a soy-cured egg yolk, the konbu rice was a real highlight. Umami, gently savoury and utterly moreish, this is a rice bowl I couldn't imagine easily replicating anywhere else. Each component is so skillfully created (particularly the soy-cured yolk: truly inspired), its simplicity is dec...

I knew I could trust Dopa when I saw it it is brought to us by the good people of Devon - one of my favourite brunch destinations in Sydney. Specialising in donburi (Japanese rice-bowl dish) and Asian-inspired desserts, Dopa is quick, simple and delicious.  The menu at Dopa ranges from the cheap and cheery ($13 for a simple chicken bowl) to the fancy (there is a $88 bowl featuring wagyu steak, tongue, foie gras, soft egg and white truffle and truffle agadashi tofu). Although the fancy bowls sound pretty mouth-watering, I don't know if I would actually order the expensive menu items - mainly because the vibe of Dopa is so casual, and you have to serve yourself, so it feels a bit odd to be going ultra-luxe there.  Cheeseburger Donburi set, $17 A playful marriage between a Japanese classic (the donburi) and an all-American staple, the cheeseburger donburi is wonderfully enjoyable, filling and just ever-so-slightly naughty. The patty tastes lovely and rich, slightly pink in the m...

I have made no secret of my partiality towards  Harada . It is truly the best Japanese omasake experience I have had to date, and well-compensated for the loss of the Mino omasake, which had been a family favourite for years: I reviewed it shortly after the inception of this blog in 2015 , and again in 2018 . This time, I went to Harada for a casual lunch - the short but sweet lunch menu consists entirely of different kinds of ramen, with one small dish option, being gyoza. The dinner at Harada might be fancy af, the lunch is well within the cheap eats territory. Gyoza, $6  The well-coloured bottom shows that the gyoza is pan-fried. It is on the soft side, very flavourful and juicy. The rich porky goodness makes it a perfectly respectable dumpling. Hakata Tonkotsu Ramen The majority of the small ramen menu consist of chicken-broth ramen, and this is the only exception. The tonkotsu ramen (being pork bone broth) is very rich and silky in texture. It comes with a g...

The gentle easing of covid19 restrictions coincides with the gentle descent of winter upon Sydney. What is winter perfect for? A big, comforting bowl of ramen, of course. Rara is one of the most popular and highly rated ramen joints in Sydney - since its opening, there's always been a line meandering outside its small but chic Redfern location. Rara is usually a walk-in joint, but with covid restrictions, Rara is currently taking bookings through its website - make sure you get in quick, because unless you book days in advance, your choices will be limited to 5pm or 9pm sessions, if you get a spot at all. Rara Tonkotsu with black garlic and chili oil, $18.80 The OG Rara tonkotsu is a creamy and thick pork bone broth that is wonderfully satisfying. You can also choose, for a dollar or two extra, to add black garlic or chili oil, or both. The noodle at Rara is hand-and-house-made, it is on the softer side, but delightfully bouncy. It is topped with charsiu (free range pork), ...

Ultra-minimalist and ultra-chic, Kuro is a Japanese restaurant that is not very Japanese. The techniques are modern, the ingredients are non-traditional, and really there are only little hints of Japanese elements in their delicious dishes. Kuro Chiffon, $5 A tiny morsel that turns the expectation up-side-down: a savoury chiffon cake? Topped with nori-flavoured creme fraiche and salmon roe, I think I will have all future chiffon cakes salty, please.  Tomato, $14 One of my favourite dishes of the evening: refreshing tomatoes on a bed of stracciatella (the burrata-like cheese, not the choc-chip ice-cream) and topped with a savoury, umami jelly film, this is one refreshing and moreish dish.  King Prawn, $14 each Deep fried so every element is edible (including the head and tail, we were told - though I'm not so sure about that), the king prawn is served with a prawn butter and encased in arare (Japanese rice cracker crumbs). I found the dish somewhat ...

I have always been such a fan of intimate Japanese eateries - and Tokyo Bistro is a neighbourhood gem hidden in the residential hub of Pyrmont with a generous, friendly chef and a killer degustation menu. Sakura Salmon Fresh Tasmanian salmon is cured with cherry blossom salt and drizzled with cream wasabi. The salmon is fatty, oily and fresh, the little bubbles of salmon roe adding that hit of salt - the sakura flavour is extremely subtle, as is the wasabi cream - simply a hint, very elegant. Shiraae Shiraae is spinach with a tofu, manuka honey and Yamazaki whisky sauce. The tofu makes the sauce extremely creamy without the addition of any milk or cream, and what would otherwise be considered a homely dish is elevated by the intricate flavours of the honey and whisky. You're eating the spinach until quite unexpected you get a hit of fragrant sweetness - most pleasant. Wagyu tartare corn Yep, that's beef tartare - not for the faint of heart, though many culture...

Harada, named after the chef who runs the place, recently opened to mixed reviews on Google Reviews - but a closer look will suggest that the score has been artificially lowered by those who gave spiteful 1 star reviews for being denied service. One reviewer even referred to Harada as the "Soup Nazi". Those who have enjoyed Harada-san's food, it seems, have all given their meals rave reviews.  The fact that the chef turned people away for a lack of booking did nothing to deter me. In fact, my faith in his establishment was strengthened many-folds: this suggests to me that he is an artisan who believes in fresh ingredients, buying what he will cook on the day, and not resorting to wasteful or freezer-dependent practices.  I am quite positive that I have found the best Japanese Omakase restaurant in Sydney.  Omakase means chef's choice - you eat what the chef puts in front of you. It is intimate, liberating, and a surefire way to make sure you are eatin...