Sushi Ichi Bar - Parramatta, NSW

One of the biggest parts of moving out and being responsible is budgeting. In order to survive comfortably, you have to make sure to count every penny going in and out. This is a responsibility that the Mrs has begrudgingly taken up on a weekly basis and she's been doing quite well at it. This week, I was informed that despite our usual expenditure, we were doing rather well for budget and so, we could enjoy a nice dinner out. I took this as an opportunity to gorge on something I hadn't had the chance to eat in a while: sushi.

That's why early in the morning, I made a booking for two at Sushi Ichi Bar, located on the far end of Cowper Street near Harris Park. I'd seen some of the photos of this place from sweetandyummie about a month ago and I'd be dying to try this place as soon as we could. The possibility that there could be a good sushi place so close to home meant I just had to go try it. We'd been waiting on a delivery all day and had barely made it in time for our booking but I'm glad we did. In my opinion, Sushi Ichi Bar is in a prime location being so close to Harris Park/Parramatta station and being just down the road from Anytime Fitness...so convenient for people looking for a quick bite after work or a post-gym feed.

I'd wanted to order the sushi best deal which was this massive boat of nigiri but the Mrs was against it as she didn't find the crunchy roll appealing. Maybe next time I can ask them to see if they can substitute it for the aburi roll...but oh well, we still ordered enough (I guess) for the two of us. First to come was the nigiri lovers B which was four pieces of salmon nigiri, four pieces of aburi salmon nigiri and eight pieces of raw tuna hoso maki (little rolls).

As an avid lover of sushi, Sushi Ichi Bar is impresses me a lot in both the speed at which the lone sushi chef can churn out their delectable food items for 3 tables of guests as well as how fresh and immensely delicious their sushi is. For me, The sushi shari is on the softer side but I'd much prefer that to underdone rice. I mean, for a local sushi joint, the quality and balance of the rice is spot on: mildly acidic yet sweet at the same time, the sushi rice is a perfect vessel to ferry those fresh, flavoursome slices of fish into your mouth.

Additional to the nigiri lovers, we also ordered the ichi salmon aburi roll. In this roll, you as the diner get to choose whether you want seafood salad or salmon in a roll with cucumber and avocado. The roll is then topped with additional slices of seared salmon, spring onions, tobiko (flying fish roe) and sauces. Seriously...I cannot stress my immense joy and satisfaction at how good this sushi roll is. The torched salmon slices and chunky salmon meat intertwine in your mouth and give you this textural contrast that makes each bite heavenly.

That not being enough for us (me), I ended up ordering the noodle and sushi deal as well of which I chose to have the udon with three pieces of additional salmon nigiri. At first glance, the size of the bowl might be a bit small but when you start eating it, you realise they do give you a decent portion of noodles. It comes with a fried prawn tempura, a stick of seafood extender, a slice of tamago (Japanese sweetened omelette) and a slice of aburage which is sweet tofu skin. The soup is heavy on the umami and you can clearly taste the dashi stock used to make it. Needless to say, I enjoyed every moment of my udon noodles and I savoured my last three pieces of salmon nigiri even more so.

In my opinion, the most impressive part of my experience at Sushi Ichi Bar wasn't the just that they had really, really fresh and authentic sushi available (though I did love every piece of sushi I ate), it was also the fact that all of our items came to a very reasonable $46.40. I really think that the general area that Sushi Ichi Bar gets overlooked but I'm hoping traffic and business will pick up there very soon. Until then, I very much hope to become a regular at this humble little sushi bar.

Nishiki Sushi - Campsie, NSW

How is it that $35 buys you so much happiness? That's what I was wondering the whole time I was having dinner at Nishiki. There is nothing that gives me more elation than to know that I have the option to gorge on as many of my favorite morsels as I can and not have to pay exorbitant amounts of money. Does happiness equal sushi? In my case, it certainly does.

Recently, the family has been seeing ads in the Chinese papers informing us that new sushi buffet has opened in Campsie. We were feeling particularly in the mood for sushi so we decided to drive out and try it out for dinner. Being located on the main road means that parking is a bit of an issue so don't hesitate to duck into one of the side streets, it really isn't that much of a walk.

Strategically speaking, you should always try and position yourself as close to the chef as possible. Unfortunately for us, being that those spaces were already occupied, we chose to sit at the seats closest to the door as we were particularly famished. In truth, this really wasn't much of a detriment (in fact, kinda became a benefit) because you have the option of ordering as many items as you'd like from the staff. Being so close to the front counter meant that we were always quick to be attended to.

I'll be very honest, we didn't expect very much from Nishiki...mostly because we've been scorned by so many sushi buffets on offer however, in my case, I was rather pleasantly surprised when I found the quality of the sushi to be better-than-decent. The neta (sliced fish) tasted relatively fresh and the rice really wasn't that bad. I also quite enjoyed the selection they had on offer as it did focus more on the nigiri than the rolls. I do have to say that I was slightly disappointed with the kingfish belly. I found the fish to be a bit on the thicker side and the skin wasn't cut as thinly as I'd have liked it to be which made it slightly harder to chew. 

Aside from various pieces of nigiri and maki available, they also provided small slips of paper which allowed you to order hot food by the piece. Being that my absolute favorite fried oysters were on offer, I'm really surprised I didn't go crazy with my ordering. If you're not a big fan of sushi, I guess you could stick to the fried foods (they also had self-service miso soup on offer) but I'd suggest only ordering a bunch of the stuff you really wanted. The karaage was missing it's starchy crunch but all else was great. The fried oysters came out piping hot and every bite yielded a perfectly crunchy exterior and briny, creamy interior.

As you must have gathered, I had actually walked into Nishiki a skeptic but I definitely came out a convinced and satisfied man. I got my month's worth of sushi in one sitting (mum and the sister needed to join plates to catch up to my pile) and I didn't feel nearly as full or as pressured than when I went for the annual sushi challenge at another unnamed sushi purveyor (one of my proudest moments, 24/25 plates). Nishiki is definitely worth the return, if not for the decently delectable sushi, than for the value for money you get out of the experience.

Kanzo - Parramatta

Lately, the Mrs and I have been dining quite a bit in the western suburbs. In particular, Parramatta as we've rather keen to scope out the area before eventually making the move here. As a requirement for my eventual migration to the west, I needed to be convinced that I had access to all my usual cravings and one of the more important cravings was sushi. Parramatta isn't necessarily lacking in it's options for sushi but trying to find a reasonably priced one is another challenge on it's own.That's why I was pleasantly surprised when the Mrs and I dined at Kanzo.

Kanzo is this quaint, little sushi restaurant located on George St, opposite of the street Paper Planes is on. I've always known of it's existence but had never had a reason to try it till now. Parking is easy enough to find but with Pho Pasteur moving to the same location and a new korean BBQ place opening across the street, I can imagine it'll get a lot harder in the near future.

We were seated rather quickly as the rush hadn't yet started when we arrived but it quickly filled up after. Good thing is that they're rather quick with the service and food so turnover time is quick too. We ordered a large sushi, a plate of aburi salmon and a tempura udon to share. The first to arrive was the large sushi platter. I'm actually quite delighted with the quality of the nigiri here, the shari (sushi rice) was perfectly sized and ratioed when compared to the carefully and delicately prepared fish. The thinly sliced salmon and maguro was fresh and worked perfectly with the rice to make a wonderful little treat. The rolls weren't half bad either (I normally don't appreciate tuna rolls much but it worked really well here)

How wonderfully artistic is that presentation?

Perfectly sized and portioned nigiri.

Next came the aburi and damn, was that good. We didn't have enough pieces to share between us...no literally, it was a 5 piece order so one of us had to lose out. Being the wonderful husband I am (not), I begrudgingly gave the Mrs the extra piece of aburi. She did in turn give me the last piece of salmon nigiri so it wasn't all bad however, next time I believe I'll be ordering a lot more of this.

mmm...aburi.

To finish our meal, as is the usual fashion with my side of the family: we finish with a nice, piping hot bowl of noodles. Now, I believe that Kanzo is run by Koreans (which is no detriment to the place, half my favourite sushi places are run by Koreans) which indicates to me that while the sushi is impeccable, the quality of the udon might vary a bit. Some places do the soup a bit sweeter, Kanzo is more on the savoury side. The dashi is rather heavy on the fishy flavour from the bonito/niboshi dashi and doesn't have as much umami from the soy as other joints but all together, it was an acceptable bowl of noodles.

Soup and noodles to warm a cold, autumn night.

The tempura was fried to a wonderful golden crisp but I have to say I was mildly disappointed with the dipping sauce not being ten-tsuyu but a vinegary dressing reminiscent of what had dressed the salad we received earlier in the meal. Still very much appetising and a treat to eat, just not the sauce that I'm used to accompanying my tempura...that said, still better than not having sauce at all.

So immaculately golden and crunchy.

The more I eat out at Parramatta, the more excited I am at the prospect of building my life with the Mrs in this wonderful town. For someone like myself, being so ingrained in the restaurant and dining scene, being able to discover so much about a suburb is a highlight of my life. I can see myself becoming a regular at Kanzo over the coming years.