Kaisendon Burwood

We've been seeing so many TikToks about this fresh seafood donburi restaurant in Burwood, so of course we had to go and try it for ourselves.

One Friday night, we got there just before 6pm, and lucky us, we managed to get the last available table.  No waiting for us that night, but apparently the queue here can get really long, especially because the restaurant itself isn't very big.

My husband went straight for his favourite fish, Bluefin tuna toro.  I ordered the salmon uni don, while my son got the assorted seafood don. 

And honestly... the seafood was super, super fresh.  It's definitely on the pricier side, but I can see why.  The quality of the seafood really shows.

The uni in my bowl was especially good.  It tasted like a better grade of uni.  It had a really nice, full texture rather than the type that just melts away in your mouth.  You could actually bite into it, and there was absolutely no fishy taste just sea smell.  The only problem?  There was literally just one piece of uni in my bowl.  Definitely NOT enough for me!  I wanted more!!

The eel was also cooked perfectly, tender, nicely done and full of flavour.

One thing to note: The restaurant is a little hidden in a back alley, so it can be easy to miss if you don't know where to look.  If you're coming from Burwood Road, go into Grace Lane, next to the tea shop and keep walking all the way to the end of the lane.  Then turn left and the restaurant is right there on the corner.

Kaisendon Burwood

Shop 7/180-186 Burwood Road, Burwood

Open: Thursday - Sunday 11am - 10pm

Kajiken Aburasoba, Sydney

Aburasoba is a brothless style of ramen that focuses on thick noodles tossed in a rich sauce made from soy sauce, oil and umami-packed seasonings.  Instead of sipping soup, you're meant to mix everything thoroughly before eating so the sauce coats every strand of noodle.  Kajiken recommends adding a splash of extra chilli oil or vinegar to enhance the flavour. 

Wagyu beef aburasoba

Original aburasoba

We ordered the original aburasoba and the wagyu beef aburasoba, with extra toppings like chashu, corn and mentaiko.  The noodles were chewy and satisfying, the flavours were bold and savoury.  The wagyu beef added richness, while the mentaiko brought a nice salty kick and lifted up the whole dish.

While the food tasted good, the portion size felt a bit small for the price.  The value-wise it feels slightly overpriced compared to what you get.  Overall, it's tasty and worth trying if you're curious about aburasoba, but not something I'd go back for often given the cost.

Extra topping: Chashu $4 (2pcs), Mentaiko $2.50, and corn $1.50

Chicken karaage $12.80

Takoyaki $9

Kajiken Abura Soba

Shop 1 and 2, 605 - 609 George Street, Sydney (Enter from Goulburn Street)

Open: 11am - 9pm 

Yappari Steak Regent Place, Sydney

Located in the heart of the CBD in the Regent Place Shopping Centre on the main roadside, Yappari Steak brings a lively, modern Japanese-steakhouse vibe.  The bright orange signage so stands out among the more muted city dining options.  Always see this restaurant with a long queue, but that day we came early and was a few empty seats available.  No doubt!!!  We need to give it a try.

Inside, it's a casual and clean with wooden-tones, booths along the walls, an open kitchen where you can glimpse the hot-stone cooking in action.  The concept was imported from Okinawa, Japan and they emphasise on 'thick yet tender' good quality meat served on hot stone plate to retain flavour.  What makes Yappari a bit different is the lava-stone cooking method.  Your steak arrives sizzling on a very hot stone and you finish cooking it at your table to your preferred doneness.  

One of the things that elevates Yappari Steak from 'just another steak joint' is the condiment and sauce station.  Diners can select their own flavours pairings.  My suggestion is trying the steak with just salt and pepper first to indulge the beef's natural flavour, then if you like move to a sauce combo of your preference like raw garlic, onion steak sauce and a hint of wasabi.

If you want a fun, reasonably priced steak experience in the CBD, especially for lunch or casual dinner.  The lava-stone concept adds flair, the location is handy and the food is solid.  It hits a sweet 'value-steak' zone in Sydney that is why the place is busy most of the time.

Yappari Steak Regent Place

Regent Place Shopping Centre

101 Bathurst Street, Sydney

Ph: 0450 593 100

Open: Daily 11am -10pm

Yakitori Yokocho

The next yokocho chain we had under Regent Place roof was this Yakitori Yokocho.  The shop recreates the sense of Japan's alleyways and is fully decorated with all these old movie posters that kinda transport us back to Japan in 50's era. 

We aimed to nibble a few small dishes and grilled stuff with some beers.  Judging by their menu, to be honest, I was expecting something more.  We ended up trying not so many items.  In that lunch hour rush, the shop was quite full.  However, I saw lots of them enjoying a bento set.  They looked appetising yet the price is inexpensive too.  

Beef carpaccio

Wagyu yakitori

Chicken tight with Japanese leek

Gin and tonic

Carpaccio was in perfect cut, thinly sliced and tasted slight oily and tangy.  While their wagyu skewer were also tender and cooked perfectly.  For chicken skewer, we got some sweet teriyaki on it and it was definitely a nice compliment to those chicken pieces.  Their food actually were pretty good. 

  

Yakitori Yokocho

Regent Place, Level 9

501 George Street

Open: Sunday - Thursday 12pm - 3pm, 4:30pm - 10:15pm

           Friday - Saturday   12pm - 3pm, 4:30pm - 12am

Edomae Sushi Yokocho

Have you heard about Regent Place Shopping Centre near Town Hall station, this area turned out to be like a little Japanese town.  They are filled with a pack of Japanese restaurants and stores selling Japanese sweets and merchandises.  Let alone this Yokocho chains: Edomae Sushi Yokocho, Yakiniku Yokocho and Yakitori Yokocho, they are all under the same roof.  I have visited 3 of them recently.  Let me start with the sushi shop first.  

When the address said level 9, don't get it wrong.  It's actually one level down from street level.  The shop is located just opposite Mido mart.  On the weekend, it's very hard to get a spot, there always be a long queue.  However, on weekday, we were so lucky to get a table right away.  

It is a sushi train shop.  You can just pick up sushi from the conveyor belt or place an order from tablet underneath each table.  They have variety of nigiri and sushi rolls in the house.  Inexpensive sushi, it costs $4.30/plate of 2 pieces nigiri and slightly more expensive on special items.  I could tell that they use fresh fish and other ingredients as well.  However, in here they tend to serve classic and traditional sushi, not those modern and fancy ones. 

 

Sushi train - conveyor belt

Edomae Sushi Yokocho

Level 9, Regent Place Shopping Centre

501 George Street, Sydney

Hours: Sunday - Wednesday 12pm - 2:30pm, 4pm - 8:30pm

            Thursday - Saturday  12pm - 2:30pm, 4pm - 9pm

Little Spoon Fusion Cafe, Chippendale

Chippendale has turned themself into one of the trendiest and hottest suburbs compared to a few years back.  Nowadays, some are even calling it "Hippendale".  There are numbers of funky and creative cafes in the area.  And we definitely needed to go there to try them.  So, one fine weekend morning, we visited Little Spoon fusion cafe, located right behind Central Park.  This cafe serves Japanese fusion food and drinks.  I did check on the internet before coming here and I saw this grilled Angus beef with some sort of green soba and it looks absolutely gorgeous.  I was so sure that I have to try this dish.

 

The place was already packed when we arrived and luckily, we just got their last spot without even have to wait at all.  Good sign..

Turmeric latte

They did a really nice milk froth but for me, the turmeric here was way too strong.  Anyway, it still was a good drink.

I can't really remember the name of this juice but it was super refreshing and delicious too.  I'm sure that it has some mixture of berry juice in there.

Ham cheese burger for my kiddos

Soft shell crab tempura udon

At first from reading their menu, we thought this dish would be a soupy udon dish, udon with a clear soup base like we normally get in any Japanese restaurants.  When it arrived in front of us, we were pretty surprised with the look.  I mean in a good way though.  Although to be honest, before we tasted it, we presumed that it would be a boring dish.  However, after I took my first bite, it completely blew my mind.  I can taste slightly tanginess in it and those furikake and shrimp roes lifted up the whole flavour.  It was surprisingly enjoyable and delicious. 

Angus beef soba

This dish looks exactly like what I imagined.  The beef was perfectly cooked, medium-rare.  There was some kind of spices around the edges of those beef slices and texture wise, it was crispy on the outside and tender inside.  They gave plenty of meat there, it could be for 2 persons, but I can definitely have it for myself too.  For the noodle itself, to be honest, I like the taste from udon dish much better.

Well spent weekend morning with these delicious foods.  My tummy was surely happy.  And we will certainly come back here again.  Octie Appetie.. 

Little Spoon Fusion Cafe

81 O'Connor Street, Chippendale

Ph: 0426 571 179

Open: 7 days a week, 8am-3pm and until 3:30pm on the weekends