Rakuen Sushi — Restaurant in Sydney

Has just jumped to my top Japanese spot in the Inner West in the mid-range price point category! 🏆

Nice food, good menu variety (in a way that gives options, but isn't reaching too far), really friendly staff, super-kid friendly and has outdoor seating. And, it goes above and beyond in a couple ways I'll detail soon.

🍜 I had the miso ramen which was delicious and incredibly priced. A lot of miso rens can be watery or dull, but this was really yummy. I was tempted by the okonomiyaki (nice menu!), but I wasn't feeling hungry enough to go for it. There were lots of veggie options.

👧 My little one had katsu sushi and they gave her kiddie chopsticks! She didn't need them but they were adorable and thoughtful nonetheless.

They also offer a kiddie-sized udon or ramen, which is fantastic.

✔️ What sets this place apart? Small things. First, their green tea is made with loose leaf tea (gen mai cha) and not a tea bag, which is a winner for me. Also they only charge a couple bucks, which is a nice touch (as it's usually a pretty standard accompaniment to a meal). And they refill you pot with more water if you like. Lots of other places in Sydney are charging $5 for a cup with a tea bag. Boo.

Also, they don't charge a card surcharge. I'm not sure why, but so many other Japanese restaurants do that I've basically stopped mentioning it in my reviews.

And outdoor seating. So lovely.

🍣 Now, you'll notice at the start that I said 'best in its price bracket'. That's because this isn't a top-shelf sushi place. It's good, but the maki is a touch wonky. It's your pretty standard, decent sushi. If you're looking for a fancy night out, this may not be your spot.

🚘 Metered...

in a addition to short rib and salad, we ordered two set meals: a set A meal with Teriyaki wagyu beef and a set B meal with teriyaki beef. when the dishes were served, surprisingly the teriyaki wagyu looks the same as the teriyaki beef. when inquired about this, the female owner/manager admitted the served "wagyu" is in fact ordinary beef and say "they are the same with different portion ;you know wagyu is expensive". I was utterly shocked because I have ordered wagyu not extra portion teriyaki beef. I insist on getting the wagyu and the manager says" okay, but wagyu is expensive so portion will be small."and suggest change to terriyaki salmon. and I agreed.

well. after a long wait, the dish was served. there are only three tiny pieces of salmon covered with big portion of vegetables. I did not even touch it and obviously the owner/manager dont care how I feel about it.

that is my experience ar Rakuen Sushi as of Jan 4 2016. I will never...

A lovely small Japanese eatery with a wide range of menu options and friendly attentive service. Most of the dishes were delicious including the various sushi dishes, ramen noodle soup and bibimbap. The fried items are excellent and worth indulging in - the tempura were cispy and light, wonderful with the ponzu dipping sauce. The karaage chicken was also crispy & perfect with drinks/beer as was the chicken katsu. The gyoza was very tasty, however the yakitori and teriyaki dishes were not as authentic or enjoyable as I'd like. Both types of dishes were way too salty, had way too much sauce & in the salmon don it was drowned in sauce. Also we were charged $1 extra for each dish's standard white rice accompaniment which I only noticed after we had left looking at the bill which I found a little strange & was unexplained. A concise drinks list at reasonable prices. Overall an...