A small quaint charming Japanese restaurant which has an exquisite interior and a relaxing outside…read morearea. If you choose to eat inside, the reduced lighting gives it style and personal feeling. While never too busy it also has enough customers to indicate it is worth visiting. The noise levels are quiet enough to easily have a conversation without trying to shout over other people. There should never be any need to book in advance. The staff are very friendly and accommodating but it is important to realise that for most of the waitresses, English is not their native language. You should keep your order simple and clear to prevent mistakes. The food can simply be summed up as excellent. They have always been very quick in bringing out soups and starters so it is worthwhile ordering those. You can expect some variation in how long it takes to get your main meal depending on how busy they are as well as how long it takes to prepare the food. Their miso soup is decent and they have a fantastic karage. Their sushi, sashami and bento boxes are of very high quality and they take a lot of extra effort in making sure it is presented beautifully. I am a big fan of their chicken teriyaki bento box as it has variety as well as tasting great. They are fully licensed and even have Japanese beers on tap. I can't comment too much on the alcohol situation as I generally don't drink alcohol at Japanese restaurants but the other people I go with say it is acceptable. The price they charge for all of this is incredible. You will be surprised when you see how low the bill is. I would consider this place exceptional value and doubt there are many other places in the Chatswood area that have food and service this good with such low prices. I would consider Izakaya Arigato a hidden gem. Absolutely worth checking out if you are in the area and have a craving for a decent Japanese meal.

I love Izakaya Arigato! It's a cosy little establishment serving great food and small selection of…read moreJapanese beers on tap! Takes me back to a little Izakaya I ate at in Osaka! From Sushi to Ramen, Bento to Donburri; across the board the food is great and price is just as good! My favourites are the grilled salmon nigiri and the katsu don! If you love Japanese cuisine and don't want to venture into Westfield shopping centre, this is the hidden gem in Chatswood you've been looking for!

Small suburban Japanese restaurant. The diners were mainly Japanese families…read more Had the udon hot pot lunch set - on the menu it said rice, miso soup, and a dessert would be included with all sets. But we weren't served the rice or miso (would have been too full anyway) but a little disappointed we didn't get what was promised. Udon tasted authentic, the prawn inside the tempura shell was fresh and cooked well, loved the runny egg yolk and large mushrooms. Soup base was light and tasted good. I ended up slurping all the soup, even though I don't normally eat the soup in noodle dishes. The dessert was one small scoop of black sesame ice cream. The ice cream was served inside a ramekin, and the ramekin and ice cream was frozen and ice cream had ice shavings around it. I'm pretty sure they made it more than a week ago and froze it. Didn't taste fresh, and was very dry and hard. I pierced my spoon into the ice cream and a small piece came out. Tasted very frozen, hard, and could taste the freezer taste. I didn't have any more.

Sometimes I forget that Japanese is so much more than just sushi…read more Don't get me wrong, I scoff sushi like the best of them, but come dinner time, I tend to search for a hot dinner instead of some delicate cold sashimi. Hence my wariness when a recent family diner was booked at HaNa Ju-Rin in Crows Nest. But I was oh so wrong. I'm sure it helped that my sister-in-law is an expert orderer, but I still managed to be dumbstruck by every dish. There was gyoza, there was udon, there was king fish salad. Then there were slightly more adventurous dishes like giblets, intestines and beef tongue. And finally there was the dish that rocked my world: okonomiyaki. Sweet mercy this fried pancake slice of savoury deliciousness canNOT be good for you, but you'll definitely find me hoeing into one next time I have hangover. In fact, hangover or no, you'll be sure find me hanging out in front of HaNa again soon.

Located off the busy Military rd in Neutral Bay. This Japanese restaurant is part of the samurai…read moregroup. They use a touch screen pad for the inside tables and a normal menu for the outdoor tables. Staff are friendly and efficient and happy to help you choose items off the menu if you are stuck. To start we got a few specials including the pork belly bao and the deep fried sole fish, then onto some grilled salmon and by this stage our bellies were getting full! So we opted to get 2 small desserts which was the banana split and the green tea cake roll. Overall, good food with lots of flavour. If you visit do try and get a seat inside because its pretty fun to order off the menu.

I totally rate Izakaya Samurai as one of best Japanese restaurants in Sydney. I love the fresh…read moreproduce, the friendly staff and the prices are reasonable for the portions. I tell Melle that the last time I came here that the sushi and sashimi were so tasty and fresh. She nods but it's not until she starts eating the salmon nigiri and sashimi that her eyes light up and says ohhh wow this is really fresh and tasty. Yuri then explains which tuna is which. There are three grades of tuna available on the menu tonight. Melle prefers the medium grade and we all enjoy the usual tuna grade sashimi and nigiri which is typically served in restaurants. The usual tuna grade is a deep purple. Yuri explains that the lighter the tuna, the higher the grade. The highest grade is fatty and delicate. I love it!

5 out of 5, the meal we had at En Toriciya was great. I rarely have a meal where every single item…read moreis amazing; so hats off to the chef & staff... you blew my socks off. I've been keen to try some of the newer restaurants in Crows Nest after falling in love with Mama Buoi's and I'm glad that we made the decision the other night to try En Toriciya. We were hungry, and we were wanting Toro (tuna belly, aka the prime cut of the tuna/sushi world). We ordered: - Agedashi Tofu = 5/5 on my official Agedashi Tofu rating scale. More please! - Kingfish & Jalapeno Carpaccio (yuzu soy sauce). = Delicious, the definition of the dish, and with just the right amount of kick. - Assorted Sushi (small) = great, very fresh. - Toro sushi ($12 per piece). = The star, what people would consider "the Wagyu of the sushi world". We HAD to order it and then refrain from ordering more. It was so amazing; it basically dissolves in you mouth into complete bliss. If you haven't had Toro... and see it on the menu and love sushi/sashimi... do yourself a favour and treat yo' self! - Tempura Udon = very tasty, I loved the udon noodles. - Nabeyaki Hot Pot Udon = exceptional. I walked out still tasting the sweet/salty goodness. If I had to say anything negative about my experience is that we couldn't keep ordering more food. We could have ordered another round of Toro easily (but that would have been $24). In the end, what we ordered came to $111 - which is pricey, but you also don't need to order the amount of food we did.

Amazing food, service is perfect, chefs are talented and entertainment was great!!…read more You got to try this restaurant out!! People say the deco needs upgrading. That is not what you are there for. You can basically go to an ordinary hamburger place and get basic deco. But what this place has is quirky, smiley, humorous, Japanese chefs!! And they can deliver that with exceptional presentation and entertain anyone. The food is fresh, staff are accomodating and very pleasant. I will be coming back here again!! Thank you for your hospitality, service and tasty food!!

The udon is excellent. Staff very friendly. Japanese grocer on the corner. Come on down!read more

Not a frequent traveller to Artarmon, I met a friend who has recently moved here for dinner. On the…read moreNorth side of the station it is like little Tokyo, with three Japanese restaurants and two Japanese grocery stores in a little plaza. I picked the middle one, Jubei. The $5 beer happy hour got me in, whether it was still happy hour or not I didn't care I just thought it was a nice touch. And the pictures on the menu were better. As I waited for my dinner buddy I checked out what other people were eating. The couple next to me had some kind of soup that they were sharing, which looked interesting. Then they had big chunks of grilled fish. So we ended up ordering the pork belly broth which was super tasty and has finely sliced pork belly that melted in your mouth. Also ordered the fish, which was grilled in miso. Also had a mini okonomiyaki which I have not eaten since being in Japan, and was yum. (Although I don't like the fish shavings that look like wood shavings and move by themselves). For dessert was ice cream, with us trying the green tea icecream and black seasame flavours. It was served in a glass with crunchy nut cornflakes on the bottom and a kind of syrup over the top. The cornflakes were an awesome addition! Price came to $61 for two beers, three dishes and two desserts. Next time I want to try the sushi, as well as the big range of yakitori (something on a stick).

I was taken here for dinner by friends and, absolutely loved it. It's been here for years and,…read moreunless you know this place exists you would not find it. It's a traditional Japanese Yakitori / Izakaya house with very traditional decor, small tables, open kitchen and very friendly staff. They have a huge selection of sakes to choose from and of course, other drink choices like beer, wine, teas and so on. They have a menu with a wide range of choices and a daily specials list. We ordered a sashimi selection, pork belly skewers, slow cooked scallops and, tempura prawns with truffle salt. The food here is amazing. The fish was super fresh and tasty. The tempura prawns were divine and I loved the scallops. The flavours were very authentic and clean just like good places in Japan. I would happily come back here any day for a feed and some sake. A great place to hang out with friends. This place was packed on a Sunday night, with people doing the same. It's a real gem in the area :-))

Although I've been in Sydney for ten years, the moment I miss Japan is not coming often. One main…read morereason is because we can enjoy authentic Japanese food quite easily in this city. And here is my favourite place among them. Once you enter the wooden sliding door, you must feel yourself transported to Japan. The interior, atmosphere and menu (and even even the background music) are the ones you can see in an authentic Izakaya pub in my country. There are 2 dishes I have never missed whenever dining at this restaurant, which are sushi and yakitori skewers. Especially I love how they make the seared sushi. Simply delicious. My partner is big fan of the Baked Cabbage with truffle sauce. It has such a unique combination of flavour. Their menu is quite big and I have not explored all of them, but all the dishes I have tried were awesome. This restaurant is located in the middle of a residential area, so this is not a place to be chosen for its access. However I feel it got so difficult to make a booking these days. I wanted to keep this restaurant as a hidden gem, but I also could not stop telling how great their foods are!

Ambiance was great. Really wonderful family event. Food was…read morewell cooked but was not sure what was coming next. Didn't realise that is was byo before we got there

We visited Fujiya Japanese in Gordon on a Wednesday and it was absolutely barren of people. The…read moreacoustics are very poor so when there are people in the restaurant, it is very difficult to hear yourself. Despite this, we had an excellent meal of perch, miso soup, king prawns, beef, fried rice, teriyaki chicken and salad. This meal set cost $35 per person and was quite reasonable considering it was very filling. There are a few different menu sets, which provide diners with plenty of choice based on food preferences and price limitations. We were also given the opportunity to catch the eggs and rice in bowls, which is always very entertaining. The restaurant is great for group bookings, as everyone is centred around the BBQ. The chef was very talkative, but interfered with your conversation a little too much. While he was entertaining at times, we were trying to hold a conversation. All the food tasted fresh and was cooked right in front of us. The staff were very friendly and the timing of the food was excellent. Individual dishes were extremely overpriced and ranged anywhere from $22-$28 for standard seafood and meat.

Don't turn your nose up at this miniscule shopping centre diner - Sushi Joy dishes up some…read moreseriously fresh and tasty Japanese fare at extremely decent prices. They do the expected dishes, but they do them well. While their flavoursome udon noodle soup and plump gyoza dumplings have warmed my cockles on many a wintry night, it's the sushi I keep coming back for. A glass-fronted counter with pre-made rolls, you won't find here. Everything is made to order whether you're sitting down for a meal or grabbing something to take away. The large raw salmon rolls are a particular favourite, filled with finely sliced, soft flesh - no gnawing away on a chunk of fatty fish - encased in just a thin rim of rice. If you're after a meal to go, a few sushi items will usually only take 10 to 15 minutes to prepare - just enough time for you to grab your milk and sugar from the nearby Woolworths while you wait.

Really great restaurant. If you're looking for a freshly made sushi, you just have to try eating…read morehere. I like their bento box as well. Reasonable pricing, the only thing is you have to carry cash on you, because they don't accept any card. The place is a bit small for a group of people though. But who cares as long as the food is good, that's the only thing that matter.