Edomae Sushi Burwood — Restaurant in Sydney

Edomae Sushi stands out amidst the sea of Chinese restaurants in Burwood. This Japanese restaurant, set off the main drag, often attracts a queue. Crowds are managed using a strict 75-minute dining time limit stressed by staff and reinforced by an on-screen countdown timer. The restaurant’s name references Japan’s Edo period, where urbanisation in Edo (the former name of Japan’s capital) led to the development of convenient fast food, such as Edomae sushi sold from street stands in the area we now know as Tokyo Bay. The restaurant gives a nod to these street food vendors with overhead lanterns set off by bare wood structures in the timber-dominated space. The restaurant’s colourful murals are a nod to the emergence of printmaking in the Edo period, a time that also saw the production of Hokusai’s famous woodblock print, The Great Wave off Kanagawa.

With this tradition in mind, we load up on three kinds of shellfish ($6.20/person). Start with the sweet surf clam, advance to the crisper texture of the whelk (tsubugai), and end on the chewy top shell (akanishigai) that fills your mouth with the flavour of the sea. Punctuate with an ochoko of dry Kyoto-Shochikunai junmai sake ($25/300ml) before moving onto wagyu or fish. Again, the three-of-a-kind options are king, with meat three ways ($8.50/person) offering up wagyu beef lightly seared (tataki) and well-cooked marbled lower rib (karubi) alongside a tender piece of ox tongue. The tuna trio ($7.30/person) lines up fresh tuna, shoyu-marinated zuke tuna (another Edo period innovation to preserve fresh tuna for longer) and lightly seared tuna.

When you order from the touch screens, all your sushi arrives together on a platter. We rounded out our three trios with my personal favourite, sea urchin roe nigiri ($8.80/2 pieces), and spanner crab nigiri ($5/2 pieces), which was “new to me. What impressed about this sushi spot was the wide range of items and the moderate prices: this lunch for two came out just over eighty bucks. Most of the two-piece nigiri sushi plates are priced between...

Unfortunately it was extremely underwhelming and not what I was expecting. The decor does set a good impression for quality and authenticity but that’s where it all ends.

The sashimi used in the sushi were cut paper thin and of mediocre quality for the price of $4.80 per plate. The rice was hard and dry. The salmon don I got was a rip off - a few pieces of thin salmon sashimi for $24.

The staff were very cold and impersonal and didn’t seem like they cared about their job. I also didn’t like how they were standing right behind us the whole time as we were eating, as if they were suspicious of the customers. However I do give them credit for how quickly we received our iPad orders.

What was most disappointing was when I pointed out my chopsticks had dark marks which looked like mould, they quickly took them off me with no apology.

The only reason they are so busy is because there aren’t that many sushi train options in Burwood to start with, besides K’s Sushi which is of much more decent quality and price. It is also in a somewhat odd location.

Won’t be in a hurry to return...

Bright and wooden interior with good ambience, offering good sushi but a limited selection.

✅ Dishes we really loved included the torched scallop don, grilled salmon nigiri, softshell crab roll and salmon sashimi. This may seem an odd remark but the sushi rice was quite delicious too. Surprisingly, the sake was quite smooth with no harsh aftertaste.

❓Unfortunately, the mayo sauce in the tara Mayo and lobster salad sushi was too overpowering. I was surprised that they didn’t offer as many items as pictured on the menu, such as the softshell crab. While the city location serves considerably better quality sushi, the Burwood store is not too far off the mark.

❓Arrived at 7.30pm on a Thursday evening and it was approximately a 30 minute wait (15 tables in front of us). We weren’t too fussed as after grabbing the slip of paper, we hopped down to Burwood Hotel for some boba.

✅Additionally, I would like to note that the staff are quite attentive and food service is quite fast.

I would consider coming back again but at $50pp, I’d like to try other sushi in...