Miyama Japanese Kitchen Newtown — Restaurant in Sydney

I'm going to say 2.5. This little Japanese eatery located at the top of King St just before city road. Some years ago this was our go to Japanese on King, we always took friends and family here for a great meal and friendly banter with the former hostess/owner, she always remembered her regulars by name and what their favourite dishes were, food was always outstanding and well presented. Fast forward a couple of years , we thought we would pop in with a friend as Tanshin was closed. Welcomed on arrival, seated quickly, the place was not busy, felt rushed, request for drinks, as we were chatting, deciding on choices, twice approached, are you ready yet to order? I understand he must have been a bit busy. I compared table service to previous visits based on the previous host, for her it was all about the customer experience and ensuring all customers were looked after so based on that i felt our expectations versus the experience was a let down. I will say fairly quick timeframe ordering to plates on table. We all had lunch specials, my chicken katsu looked just like a chicken schnitze sliced, it was cooked well, but I have had better elsewhere, that was packed full of flavour and portion size was fair, the sauce was probably a tablespoons or so worth in a tiny dish sharing with mayonnaise most definitely not enough sauce compared to other local eateries, the salad was lacking love and seasoning and was watery. The miso soup was no better than buying at a supermarket, my friend was Japanese and she was fairly disappointed with her meal as well. My husband sashimi was OK but nothing to write home about. The venue itself was clean and fresh, the Japanese decor has not changed that I could see. Won't be returning...

We waited about 15 mins to have our orders taken, despite the place being basically empty at the time, and then I waited for 45 mins for this plate (photo) which certainly was not worth $25. My partner's cooked dish came out in about 30 mins and then other tables who arrived after us were being served their food. When we queried it, the waitress made a bunch of excuses about how the preparation time for my particular dish takes a long time. Clearly somebody had messed up the order and big surprise, the order then came out within a few minutes (because that's how long it would have taken them to make it). Only once we paid and voiced our total disappointment did she finally offer and apology after first trying to give more excuses. No other compensation or effort to try and better our experience and it was very pricey for what we got. There are much better Japanese restaurants on King St so no reason to bother...

Food: 4/5 Absolutely the best value food around in Newtown. Can get a curry or Udon or don for around $11 during lunch. We got the Tonkatsu Udon and Unagi Don. Fantastic flavour, the only slight dilemma is sometimes the Udon is inconsistent with the brand they use, sometimes being thicker and Chewy and sometimes being thin.

Service: 4/5 Always seated very promptly and greeted well with utensils and water. They are typically very fast when it comes to getting food out, even during their busy lunch periods. Moreover, the staff are very friendly and also give out free lollies when paying at the cashier.

Atmosphere: 4/5 Neat little Japanese restaurant with nice interior decoration. They have free wifi! Even for a small shop, you don't feel too crowded

Overall will be coming back most lunches when feeling like some noodles. It is very close to University of Sydney, just a...