Itoshin Japanese Restaurant Mermaid Beach — Restaurant in Gold Coast City

Jan-24: went back and since April 2022 we went to Japan in dec-22, apr-23 and dec23... And can safely say the agedadhi tofu and the large sushi and sashimi boat are still amazing.

Apr-22: Amazing experience, having been to Japan 8 times in the past decade and staying in nice Ryokans and eating at 2 Michelin star restaurants, I can safely say I was blown away by itoshin (also much better than any meal I had in when I was in It 3 years ago).

There is free parking underneath (see my picture), the decor is really nice, very modern Japanese (think of a trendy casual fine dining restaurant in Ginza). The sake recommendations were spot on, we loved the koka gasanyu the most and ordered another glass (they serve it like they do in Japan).

Edamame: can't fault this, large serve and nice and hot Agedashi tofu: overall best I've ever had in the world (better than Michelin star restaurants), I love the wholesomeness of the vegetables and the broth is just divine, it is not a very traditional agedashi tofu, but a superior one Salmon tempura: best tempura I've had in QLD, not at all oily, very crunchy and the vegetables still taste like nature intended them to. Large boat of sushi & sashimi: WOW, the presentation and quality of all the ingredients cannot be overstated, I love how there is a soy sauce for the sashimi, another soy for the roll sushi and a soy spray for the nigiri sushi. In detail: Pickled ginger: really nice, i think they make their own Scallops: I generally don't care for sashimi scallops, but this is the best I can remember eating in Australia Ocean trout sashimi: unbelievable melt in your mouth umami flavours Salmon sashimi: very fatty and so fresh, it was so fat I could barely hold them with my chopsticks Spanish Mackerel sashimi: I normally find this to be just ok, but this was very nice and the best I have ever eaten in the world. Sushi rolls: all were very tasty and the sushi rice amongst the best in Australia. I loved the Spanish Mackerel sushi roll the best. Nigiri sushi: seared salmon nigiri was smoky, complex and fresh at the same time, it is was my favourite, the Spanish Mackerel nigiri was the best of the raw nigiri.

We are from Sydney and are planning to revisit next time we are in Brisbane or Gold coast. We really want to visit Mr Itoshin and Little Itoshin (all related).

Thank you for such amazing high quality food and such a memorable experience. I hope we can...

Walking into this restaurant I felt like I was back in Japan down some side alley street in a well known neighborhood joint. The chefs here have excellent technique which we saw in the gorgeous and fresh sashimi platter (which is a great value) and also in the beef tataki and special teriyaki beef item of the evening. They even graciously accommodated our request to shift the portions of fish around in the sashimi platter, it's not always possible to change which fish you're receiving and it would have been fine if we weren't accommodated but they were okay with it and I was grateful. The tempura was also of note. A good tempura batter is light, stays crispy and doesn't cake on the items. We had tempura with the special teriyaki beef and it stayed crisp despite being in sauce and was light and flaky like some of the best tempura is. I also tried the aburi salmon sashimi and it was delectable. Favorite fish item was either the aburi kingfish or the aburi salmon. One small note, there was a small fish bone in one of the salmon sashimi pieces but only in one out of the four we received. It wasn't a dangerous size and salmon is hard to debone but just a heads up to always be careful with your sashimi anyways I guess. No worries there.

We saw another table order the prawn tempura (2pcs) and it looked delicious. Prawns we're sizeable and it came with tempura veggies and I was a little sad I didn't order it. Also sprung for the green tea ice cream and I am happy to report it is not overly sweet and tastes like high quality green tea should.

Servers were fast with requests, easy to chat with and smooth in all aspects. We heard that due to recent construction on Gold Coast Highway some customers hadn't been coming in but we found parking on the street just before the restaurant very easily. It was about 6pm on Thursday night for reference.

Would recommend making a booking. I will be back to try the nabe and sukiyaki which looked super delicious.

Thanks Itoshin for a...

I went for dinner on a weekday. Although after 7 pm many customers came over even though it was a weekday. I recommend having a reservation.

I ordered Edamame, Agedashi Tofu, Yakitori, Tempura Chicken Tenderloin, Duck Tataki, and Sashimi Platter. Small salads came with them.

The upgraded Sashimi Platter was several pieces with different parts of the same fish, such as belly and back, and different ways of cooking, like raw and grilled. It was interesting to compare the taste in parts and ways.

Some vege tempura were stuck together. I may have eaten them too late, sadly they were cold and not that crispy.

My best recommendation is Duck Tataki. The sweet soy sauce was a great match for the sliced duck tataki. I couldn't stop eating even though I was already full.

Overall, the taste is very good. But compared to the price which I paid, I give it 3 stars. I mean it was very delicious so it was kind of expensive. But there are still amazing dishes I would like to try next time. I am curious about the hot pot that smelled nice from...