Kubota Japanese Cuisine — Restaurant in Sydney

Prices keep rising, yet the quality continues to decline—worse still, they appear to be deceiving Western customers unfamiliar with authentic Japanese cuisine.

After several years away, we returned to this restaurant only to find that prices have increased to the point where it no longer qualifies as a casual, home-style Japanese eatery. The menu has remained unchanged for years, and although the flavour is largely the same, the quality of ingredients has noticeably declined.

We ordered the assorted tempura, and to our surprise, the dipping sauce no longer came with grated daikon radish—a standard component. When we asked the waiter, they checked with the chef and told us that grated daikon now costs an extra $1. While $1 isn’t a big deal in itself, it leaves a very poor impression when you’re already paying close to $50 for a plate of tempura. We honestly couldn’t tell whether daikon has become outrageously expensive recently, or whether they’re simply cutting corners, assuming Western diners won’t know any better.

Even more concerning was the fact that the assorted tempura included no fish at all—what looked like a piece of white fish had quietly been replaced with cauliflower. It wasn’t until we bit into it that we realised we’d been misled. The plate already included a piece of deep-fried broccoli, so we’re fairly certain that what used to be white fish has now been swapped out for cauliflower.

These may seem like small things, but they reflect a troubling shift in the restaurant’s attitude—cutting corners to squeeze out more profit. This is no longer the restaurant we once knew, and we won’t be returning. There are many honest and genuinely well-run Japanese restaurants in Sydney that still take pride...

Sashimi was excellent, as we had been told, BUT don't expect to be able to order it if you decide to come here. Friends had told us that you need to be first in the queue when the door opens, as they only make three or four sashimi orders each lunch. After travelling 50 minutes to Petersham, we were first in the queue, 45 minutes before opening. A group of four got behind us 14 minutes later. When the door opened, the wait staff completely ignored us, but warmly welcomed the group of four ( maybe they were friends of the staff or regulars ? ). First to be seated, we ordered the sashimi, but then the wait staff came back to say that because the group of four had made their phone booking before we did, they would get all the sashimi. Luckily, the group of four overheard, and were kind enough to allow us to have two of the orders. On our way out, we asked the staff if they could clarify the process they use to decide which customers can order sashimi. They weren't happy that we were asking, and the owner told us "it's whoever books first". Note that when you call to book, you won't be told if you are the first, and nor can you pre-book a...

When we walked into the restaurant, there were two tables available, the waiter directed us to the table far from where we were standing but right next to the toilet. After we sat down and finished ordering, two ladies occupied the last table and the waiter immediately set up their table with plates and water. My child and I must be invisible throughout the whole approx. 50mins of hearing sound of toilet flushing, because the two ladies who came after us got served their meal well before us, and even after we finally had our first dish, there was still no table plates on our table, we had to grab plates from the wall cabinet by ourselves. Without any idea of how long the wait time would be for the other dishes, I asked for the bill. The waitress at the counter asked me to pay for the food that never showed up. As far as we could observed, we were the only table of Asian. I would not make any comments here, what I have written above are purely facts, i.e. true reflection of what had happened, I am legally responsible for...