Japanese Restaurants
Kampai Yebisu Izakaya | Regent Place
Izakaya dining is one of the most fun experiences you can have at Yebisu Izakaya inside Regent Place on George Street Sydney as their menu serves a wide range of pub food that is based wholly on Japanese cuisine. Dishes are more for snacking while drinking but there’s no issue with ordering a bit of everything that can easily turn into a feast. Make sure when your drinks arrive even if it’s water, hold them up like brave samurai warrior after a fierce battle and shout “KAMPAI!” at the top of your lungs. (Kampai in Japanese means cheers)
Mini Spread of Yebisu Izakaya Menu
Lines are CRAZY at Yebisu Izakaya even on a week night.
We were greeted by a lovely Japanese waitress and she explained the menu as well how to use the touch screen to order. One highlight about technology is once you have finalised your dishes and beverages, you can go to the section where it indicates “total bill” and it will show you the total amount you spent. It’s a friendly way to keep track of your wallet so you don’t leave crying…haha.
Touch Screen Menus have landed at Yebisu Izakaya.
Hard Copy Menu just in case we ain’t IT savvy.
The takoyaki curry cheese fondue ($10.80) can melt any ones heart even on Valentine’s Day. It was quite a thick creamy mixture with cheese and seafood pieces served with takoyaki balls that were flawlessly golden brown all around. The bite-size takoyaki balls married so well with the fondue. There was definitely a bold curry flavour and a touch of sweetness from the cheese. Cheese is the spice of life as one would say.
Takoyaki Curry Cheese Fondue ($10.80)
I gave a lot of attention to the grilled cheese seafood gyoza ($12.80) as it similarly tasted like a pizza with a slab of tomato paste in the center that was buried by melted cheeeeeessssssse. Best part of this dish was pulling apart the filling with chunks of prawn and the CHEESE BABY THE CHEESE SAUCE.
Grilled Cheese Seafood Gyoza ($12.80)
Look at the cheeesssseee melt….THINK ABOUT THE CHEEEESE!
Complimentary wet towel when you get in a cheesy situation.
There was a whole variety of alcoholic beverages but we picked the fruity drink that was the fresh peach calpico chuhai ($9.80). It’s an easy sweet way to start the party as the fresh mashed pieces of peach swirled around the entire cup and the chuhai was strong and diluted well with the un-carbonated calpico.
Peach Calpico Chuhai ($9.80)
We opt for one of the simplest and tastiest dish salomon chazuke ($9.30) that consisted of nothing more than a grilled salmon piece and green tea with some herbs and to garnish fresh straws of spring onions.
Salomon Chazuke ($9.30)
My tongue was so spellbound by the teas flavour blending with the salmon base making it a light broth. Now the real hidden treasure was the Japanese rice because it had soaked up all that broth and fish flavours.
Spotted a salmon piece in our Salomon Chazuke.
The Japanese wagyu beef skewer ($7) didn’t need to be heavily tossed and turned with salt as its natural flavour, obviously coming from the fat was incredibly rich to showcase on its own. The beef was exquisitely marble for peak juicy flavour and grilled to perfection that turned out to be an A+ for us.
Unfortunately I wasn’t into the chicken breast ($4.50) as it didn’t captivate my tastebuds due to the lack of flavours, however the ume sauce gave it a sting which was slightly zesty but sadly didn’t match my jam.
The chicken meat ball ($6) that was almost the size of a corn dog comprises a mixture of flavours and textures. When I popped the wobbly poached egg it was like watching a horror film. It oozed out slowly and my face would look traumatised when the chicken meat ball was dunked into it. There was a happy outcome to it as it tasted garlicky, slightly salty but covered with egg yolk added that delightful sweet palate.
Left to Right: Wagyu Beef Skewer ($7), Chicken Breast ($4.50) & Chicken Meat Ball with Poached Egg ($6)
Very popular at Yebisu Izakaya!
Apparently every hour there’s a sake trolley that comes around just to remind you how you should party like if you were in Japan.
We don’t usually have sake but tasting a shot of Nanbu Bijin Sake sure introduced us to a whole new world of flavours. There was a clean fragrance and flavour that reminiscent to green pears that easily made us want another shot. As for the Uonuma Sake this is best well known for their style to be dry but light texture with a crisp clean of savory taste.
Nanbu Bijin Sake & Uonuma Sake
There was a lot of heart and soul in the Tom Yum Goong Roll ($9.80- 4P) as it looked garden-fresh with tempera prawns rolled in a swimming pool of fish roe and decorated with all sorts of greens including lettuce and coriander with large dollops of Tom Yum sauce. Definitely the most unique flavour roll I’ve come across but I would much prefer my tastebuds to try something more traditional in this case. Overall great efforts if you like all things chilli.
Tom Yum Goong Roll ($9.80- 4P)
Our final main had arrive and we were already up in the air like we just don’t care after a few sake shots, but the show much go on and for today’s sushi plate ($19.80) was a pleasant way to finish. This to share plate included four pieces of salmon and avocado roll, salmon nigiri, tamago nigiri, scallop nigiri, tuna nigiri and yellow tail nigiri. It was an easy way to finish as all the nigiris flavours naturally came from the fish itself and yes it was mighty fresh.
Today’s Sushi Plate ($19.80)
That spread of wine and sake. Need a wall like that at home 😀
If you’d like to watch what’s happening in the Yebisu Izakya kitchen then sitting at the sushi bar area would be the best seat in the house for that experience.
Yebisu Izakya is a great place to chill for small to large gatherings or even after work humans. If you’re not in the mood for alcoholic drinks and prefer eating then this would be the spot as there menu is so extensive, you’d want to order it all as it is catered to share. Price wise is fairly okay however we’d suggest to go with at least four people if you’d like to try a bit of everything but overall fantastic hang out as the decors and atmosphere feels like you’re in Japan.
Photos by Vanny Tang
Disclaimer: Nessy Eater plus guest attended Yebisu Izakaya thanks to SD Marketing Global and Washoku Lovers.
Opinions are however, Nessy Eater’s own.
Like to know more about Nessy Eater food adventures?
You can follow Nessy Eater on Instagram / Facebook / Twitter or feel free to leave a YUMMY comment 🙂
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Rengaya- Premium Wagyu Grade 9+
If you heart beef, especially with a beef marble score of 9+ than Rengaya is the place to be. With the weather getting more cooler in Sydney I think this place is looking like a winner for best restaurant to eat this winter. There’s plenty of beef dishes to order at Rengaya and I have mentioned before they also do ALL YOU CAN EAT. Besides stuffing my face with unlimited supplies of wagyu I thought I’d switch my classy mode on and give the al carte menu a try. Dining with Yuri (SD Marketing Global) and Angelica (Angelica’s Blog) made me feel more like a lady and I had such pleasure to getting to know both of them more.
Meatasaurus Nessy Eater coming through!
So if you LOVE FREEBIES like me than sign up to Washoku Lovers and members score themselves a free drink at Rengaya or maybe a glass of 400ml Japanese draft beer (choice of Asahi Super Dry on tap or Suntory – The Premium Malt’s value up to $9.50) or if you can’t handle alcohol than a soft drink from the drinks menu. All you need to do is flash your membership card when you order. Show-off that card as if you’re wearing a twenty carat diamond ring on your finger. YES it’s free to join and you get to score some freebies at participating Japanese restaurants too. Note each restaurant offers freebies to members – Click here for more info.
Moving on and we have the kinako milk ($5.90) (prepared soybean) that’s a very healthy beverage in Asia and popular too. Served chilled, Angelica mentioned it had a grainy kind of texture which she quite enjoyed. From her facial expression I think that was my queue not to ask if I could try some.
Kinako Milk ($5.90)
For Yuri and I we opted for the Asahi Super Dry on tap 400ml ($9.80). There’s no shame in admitting that I couldn’t finish it all because I was too busy concentrating on the waygu. That’s right!
Asahi Super Dry on tap 400ml ($9.80)
We start slowly with the namuru ($8.90) that’s so much similar to Korean seasoned vegetables namul. It contains 5 kinds of vegetables including zucchini, shiitake mushroom, white radish, bean sprouts and spinach. My face lit up when this dish was well seasoned with salt, sesame oil and vinegar. I couldn’t refuse my chopsticks to continue to grab a few more slices or strands of those pickled goodness.
Namuru ($8.90)
Are you ready to get some wagyu in your belly? If you are nodding your head in front of the computer screen then I have to introduce you to the wagyu “yukke” ($13.90)– Served with finely chopped shallots, drizzled in sesame oil, rubbed with garlic and sitting so still atop of the beef tartar was an egg yolk that had no sign it had escaped from the egg white.
Wagyu “Yukke” ($13.90)
My face was traumatised when Yuri did the unthinkable, pop the egg yolk. The quality and freshness of this dish is top notch. I always heart that creamy texture from the egg yolk and chewy feel of the shredded beef.
Baby yolk me one more time…
We were still waiting for the main star to arrive so in the meantime let’s help balance out our meat consumption with wrap-up lettuce leaves ($8.90). It includes a fair few washed large lettuce leaves that’s the size of my face, pieces of sliced carrot, green chilli, garlic and special sauce. I was informed by Yuri that Japanese people combined the leaves together with the meat so it feels healthier. I can confirm it does feel a bit healthier but I still love meat on its own.
Wrap-Up Lettuce Leaves ($8.90)
Drum rolls please and the moment we have been waiting for was the premium wagyu amusement ($49.90) that’s a chef’s recommendation of premium wagyu beef cuts of wagyu rib, wagyu loin, wagyu oyster, wagyu rib finger and wagyu ox tongue. Words cannot describe how many times my mouth orgasimed. My body was going through all sorts of feelings. Each piece of wagyu was heaven in my mouth. I felt like there was fireworks happening every few minutes in my body. No need to add oil in a pan because it knew how to oozes its fat out and provide that beefy fragant.
Premium Wagyu Amusement ($49.90)
Each wagyu piece knew how to please my mouth and body. Every bite felt satisfying with its incredible tenderness and juicy flavours. At the end of this adventurous wagyu party it looked like I had wagyu lip balm all over my lips because it was that oily.
Premium wagyu beef right there.
The stone pot mentaiko bibimbap with soup ($15.90) arrives sizzling with vegetables, egg, chili cod roe, squid and of course rice. It was no joke this rice was pipping hot and comes with a bowl of hot miso soup and a dollop of sweet and spicy miso paste just in case you think you’ve got what it takes to handle that extra kick.
Stone Pot Mentaiko Bibimbap with soup ($15.90)
Mixed Mentaiko Bibimbap
Wagyu lettuce us be together…
The girls were eager to fulfill their dessert stomach’s cravings and so was I, so we order the shiratama cream anmitsu ($15.90) that includes kanten with shiratama and sweet red beans topped with one scoop of vanilla and green tea ice cream served with sweet black syrup and seasonal fruits. This beautiful platter had caught my eye and it was pretty darn epic to see black syrup being poured on top of the two large scoops of ice-cream.
Shiratama Cream Anmitsu ($15.90)
Bathe me with more black syrup!
We couldn’t pass the “WA 和 (Japanese)” Plate ($18.90) as it had so many components on the one plate. To warm our souls we had the shiratama zenzai, which is pretty much red bean soup. Next we shared thick slices of warabimochi with sweet black syrup, then green tea creme brulee served with tea. There was just too many choices on this plate and I personally love anything that contains green tea in it, so I totes raised my hand high for the brulee. Definitely the kind of dessert that you would want this winter.
“WA 和 (Japanese)” Plate ($18.90)
“Cover me in syrup” said the Warabimochi
There’s no reason for me not to return to Rengaya other than its upmarket price, but with that being said it does offer top quality meat and dishes on its menu for what you pay for. The wagyu is thumbs up and desserts is a must. I’m definitely not saying good-bye to this restaurant, instead it’s see you later alligator.
Photos by Vanny Tang
Disclaimer: Nessy Eater attended Rengaya, thanks SD Marketing Global and Washoku Lovers.
Opinions are however, Nessy Eater’s own.
Check out my other Rengaya post I did. Click here.
Like to know more about Nessy Eater food adventures?
You can follow Nessy Eater on Instagram / Facebook / Twitter or feel free to leave a YUMMY comment 😀
