Nagomi Bento - Eagle Street Pier

Well I didn’t think this place would be that much of a winner on a Friday night, I just thought it would be quick, fresh food. Little did I know!

Ruhee, Harry & I headed there after a few at Friday’s for a quick bite. We ordered a whole heap of different tapas, only $6 a plate. Okonomiyaki, fresh assorted sushi, spring rolls, edamame, dim sims, teriyaki chicken and of course, Gyoza!

But the real winner on the night were the ‘mini’ cocktails. I presume the only thing mini about them was the cup size and the price as it definitely wasn’t mini on alcohol. Try a watermelon one – AMAZE!!!!

Sushi Tram Station

Thought I would check out the $3 sushi train night at Sushi Tram Station in Stones Corner.

Not all that impressed. Had to wait a while to be seated, then our table was quite far from the train and closer to the other tables.

Sushi was average, gyoza was below average, edamame was cold and the service wasn’t attentive.

Verdict: Won’t be back.

Kokoro Bento, South Brisbane deliciousness

I discovered this new little Japanese place while hunting down the IGA in South Brisbane.

Now, by now, if you read my blog, you will know that I LOVE gyoza. So maaannn was I happy when I stumbled across this place and they do 4 delicious steamed gyoza for $3.50! They are already cooked too so you don't even have to wait for them. Convenient and delicious AND cheap!

They have a wide variation of fresh sushi rolls,  priced at $2.50 or $3.00 depending on the fill. The soft shell crab, and tempura prawn are my faves however their salmon avo, teriyaki chicken and surimi rolls are all just as good.

The tempura prawn udon noodle soup is also one of my faves and they do it very well. They have your usual selection of Japanese meals - noodles, soups,  curries and rice meals. All really reasonably priced - under $10.

The staff are lovely and efficient, you grab your own condiments, (yes the soy and wasabi is free) along with your choice of eating utensils and off you go. I haven't actually sat down to enjoy a meal here, I always get takeaway, however it looks nice and if I had time I would sit and stay but the burdens of work are forever dragging me away.

It has quickly become busy but with fresh food like this at great prices, I shouldn't really be surprised at all! My new local lunch spot :)

You can find it down an alley, 32 Cordelia Street, South Brisbane QLD 4101. Behind the convention centre. Hopefully they will get an online presence soon as they will continue to grow!

Ann Gyoza Bar

Gyoza is yummy! Nice and soft and fresh but pan fried and crispy too! You’d hope so though, considering it is a gyoza joint.  It comes out on a sizzling plate, with onion and capsicum garnishes. The waitress then pours the sauce over the top, a delicious citrus, soy.  We went for the chicken and vegetable

You do have to wait a while for the dumplings to cool, which if you’re like me and impatient to eat your food, it’s hard work.

Only note would be that I thought there would be more varieties. There was no beef or duck which I would consider to be staples.

We tried the crab claw balls – they were good and then the chicken teriyaki karage. Teriyaki sauce was delicious and if my Mum was there, she would have told me off for classily dipping my finger in the bowl to get extra sauce!

We also had the edamame, which unusually, was served cold.

Staff were attentive and the décor is very Japanese, that dark wood feel their restaurants often have.

Cheap meal though, worked out to $17 each for three of us, and we were all full to pop by the time we were leaving!

Wara Wara wasabi bomb

I thought this restaurant was Korean with a Japanese influence but it seems they advertise it the other way around…

I love the fit out of this place. You walk upstairs to find a big, open space with a huge screen playing Asian pop music. There are booths all down one side with funky artwork behind them. The rest of the space are your usual wooden chairs and tables that are popular in Asian restaurants.

Thought this was funny - no I didn't dare try it!

My friend and I popped in after work at a whim, I had seen the place and wanted to visit for a while. She ordered the seafood stir fry noodles and I ordered the tempura prawn udon noodle soup, with a side of Gyoza of course!

The gyoza was delicious! I would definitely go back just for that alone. I love my gyoza and this one definitely withstood the quality and taste test!

Due to a minor communication misunderstanding, I ended up with the vegetable udon instead of the prawn. However when I explained this to them they were very sweet and apologetic getting me the prawn udon in no time. The soup was yummy, your standard udon noodle soup.

My friend’s meal was huge! The sauce was a light soy and garlic and there was calamari, fish and other seafood throughout it. The only thing that she disliked was the pippi like shell fish, but each to their own and she ate everything but!

Cute place to check out just for the atmosphere.

Himalayan Cafe - New Farm

Great food, fantastic atmosphere and BYO goodness.

The first thing that hits you when you arrive at the Himalayan Cafe is the atmosphere, it has dark-ish interior lighting, some incense is burning by the shrine and the music transports you away.
It is very relaxed and the venue is full of happy voices - it looked to be very popular and luckily we had booked in advance, (we being Wes) I don't think we would have got a table otherwise.

We ordered steamed meat dumplings (of course) to start with. They are a much thicker pastry to gyoza but yummy all the same especially when coupled with the satay-like sauce. We had another starter. almost like the same taste as a samosa, I can't remember the name and I can't find the menu online to check it. Would recommend both however.

Wes's main meal

By Wes's lack of conversation during dinner I can but assume his lamb main was good. He talked my ear off the rest of the time so I took this as a good sign! Men can be so easy to read at times.

I tried the Himalayan noodles with prawns as my main - figured I would go for something I couldn't get elsewhere as I was also considering the pesto chicken. The meals are massive and very reasonably priced. The prawns were delicious, and the noodles soft with a great flavour  I'd have it again for sure.

Entree I can't remember name of!

The toilets are an interesting experience. Not that there is anything wrong with them, they're just interesting. First of all I couldn't distinguish between the Himalayan man and woman and wasn't sure which door to go through. A little awkward but I figured it out. Then there is the lighting.. There is no 'normal' lighting.. I spent an indefinite amount of time searching for the light switch but it seems they are persistent in having you use the restrooms while they are bathed in a deep red light. Or glow rather. Worth a look even if you aren't busting! Haha

Anyway it's a great place to check out - be sure to make a reservation and bring a good bottle of wine for the BYO!

My main - Himalayan noodles

Sushi Kotobuki - LOVE this place!

Best.Place.EVERRRR

When I worked for the Lions I regularly visited this place as it is just around the corner from the Gabba in East Brisbane. Now I don’t get there so often but love it when I do!

These pics reallllly don't do the food justice, I had take-away tonight and it was incredible as always. We went for Lion King, edamame, prawn uramake and gyoza.

Sushi Kotobuki is one of those restaurants that when you look at it from the outside you don’t think much of it. Most people don’t even know that it is there. Hidden in a little block on a corner, it doesn’t have any real presence from the outside. Inside it just looks like any tiny sushi place. However, if you saw how many people go there you would be able to tell straight away you had stumbled upon something awesome.

They have just completed a renovation to accommodate more people and jazz up the interior. It looks good but they are still in need of more space for tables due to their popularity. The line is still huge and we had to order take away as there were no tables.

My regular order is edamame and a Lion King roll or James special. The James special isn’t on the actual menu, someone just created it and it caught on but if you ask for it they will know what it is. Both of them and I’m full for under $10! Did I mention how cheap this place is? Best sushi in Brisbane and they’re so cheap. Can’t beat it!

They also have your usual range of Japanese curries and soups etc that are equally delicious but with sushi so cheap and delicious I tend to stick with that.

The staff are lovely, they always recognise you and ask how you are. Japanese hospitality at its best.

Go there, you will not be disappointed.

Mitoki –Kangaroo Point

Nestled in the heart of Kangaroo Point, diagonally across from the Story Bridge Hotel, you will find Mitoki. A cute little open aired Japanese restaurant with iPads to order from. The staff are of course, all Japanese and as they all are, extremely polite and sweet.

To celebrate their first birthday Mitoki had 15 of their favourite Tapa’s for $5 a plate. High five for us! Here we were expecting to pay a fairly decent amount for a nice meal and they say $5.. we say 10 please!

We started with 3 plates of the grilled salmon sushi, our personal favourite. I love the stuff.
Of course I had to get the gyoza, which to be honest wasn’t as nice as it could have been. The edge of the pastry was a bit dry or hard and the meat wasn’t amazing.

This was followed by Octopus balls which hilariously J, who hadn’t tried Takoyaki before, decided to put all but the whole ball in her mouth… followed by her gagging and spitting it out with ‘there’s something in it!’ Of course there is something in it, it’s an octopus ball! It has octopus in it! She didn’t like the feeling of the tentacles against her tongue evidently.
We also had edamame (a staple) and beef carpaccio (which was very similar totataki) with an Asahi beer. Nom.

The cheap tapa's deal runs until the 27^th October and then the prices are back to normal.. So go there.. go there now!

Wagaya - You like eel, right?

I've wanted to go to Wagaya in Fortitude Valley for quite a while.

So after the disappointing draw of the Bledisloe Cup, we were happy to find it still open.

Wagaya has an awesome interior, sleek dark wooden booths that are private and contribute to creating a cool ambience.
It had touch screen menus, which are quite funky and savvy but some would argue take away from the excellent traditional Japanese service that we have grown used to.

The gyoza were delicious. I love dumplings a get them wherever I go and these ones were very good. Highly recommend.

The sushi however was average. You can definitely find better for cheaper in Brisbane.
We shared a The lightly grilled salmon sushi, a spider roll and a dragon roll.

In the picture on the menu the dragon roll looked like it was covered in salmon so I ordered it in a rush from the screen as the kitchen was closing at 11.15pm.
When the plate was delivered I asked the waiter what was on the sushi as it definitely wasn't salmon. Turned out it was eel.
I have tried smoked eel as a kid... But this just did not look appetizing, even covered in BBQ sauce and sesame seeds. I wasn't game to try it first so Nikita took the plunge.. The look on her face was priceless.
A look of disgust and horror followed by 'no, no, no, nope' combined with vigorous head shaking confirmed that it was a gross as it looked.
Once she told me it had the texture of fat with the smell and taste of strong fish there was no way that any was going past my lips!!

So if you just want some dumplings and a cool interior head here. If you're after more than that, there are many other Japanese restaurants in Brizzy that would satisfy your cravings.