Wako - Sydney

Wako Japenese Restaurant

Wako japanese restaurant was the destination for lunch, as picked by my trusty friend. Situated on Dixon Street, it was one of the strip of eating places I had wanted to try - but haven't yet had the time to.

Stepping in, I was instantly engulfed by the quite, serene and tranquil atmosphere of what strikes me as a somewhat authentically jap restaurant. Only downside to the somewhat classy and elegant decor was that two big, tall bamboo sticks (stuck on the wall with blue-tak) fell with a super super loud clutter during the middle of our meals. Luckily, the table that the bamboo's landed on was empty, otherwise I daresay that an ambulance would have been involved on our chillaxy lunch. Other than that, I would say that this is fine Jap dining at affordable prices :)

Settling into our menus, I was drawn to the Aburi Sushi "Special" set. Aburi sushi being Flame grilled nigiri, lightly salted on the top, and the "special" set being that it comes with salad, miso soup, agedashi tofu and salmon sashimi. Placing our order was also quite simple... simply press the button on the end of the table, and the waitress/waiter comes "instantly" (after a few moments) out.

Miso Soup

Let's start with the miso soup - it was distinctly more flavoursome than your average packet mix. In fact, the very first sip of this soup set it apart from most miso soups that you get at Jap restaurants. It was rich, full of flavour, yet not overly powerful. It also had that really 'clean' sort of taste, uncontaminated with MSG.

The salad was slightly less appreciated by me. It felt and tasted pretty ordinary yet, it seemed to warrant praise from my partner. I guess, included in such a big set for less than $20, it was quite a bargain.

Salad

The salmon sashimi was really something else. It was soooo unexpectedly good and fresh. The pieces were that perfect bite size... thick, yet not overwhelmingly so... and soo sooo sooo freshhhhh!!! Mmmm....

Salmon Sashimi

The agedashi tofu also did not dissappoint. It was light and subtly tasty. And I love the seaweed and shallot on top which adds an extra crunch and texture to it :)

Agedashi Tofu

the "special" set minus the main

Now onto the Aburi sushi - which is actually what I ordered. Coming out on a heavy ceramic plate, looking uniquely Japanesy, I didn't really know what to expect. The very first bite into this... omigosh~~~ The fish was fresh... yet it had that grilled charred type taste to it... AND it was lightly saltedly flavoured. Mmm... The best of the lot was the salmon, and then the scallop. The mackeral in this was slightly too salty for my liking, but all the rest were really good.

Aburi Sushi

My partner had strong faith in his appetite and opted also, for a "special" set. He ordered the Tonkatsu. The Deep-fried bread-crumbed pork was really really good too. The sauce was tasty, the pork was tender and the portion was HUGE... (ooo...btw, his set came with a bowl of rice too!).

Tonkatsu

As you can imagine, both of us were fully stuffed by the end of lunch. Luckily, the waiters were patient enough to let us just sit and lounge and chill and chat for quite a while after our meals.

Another of our company ordered the Yakiniku set. Looked a little bit overcooked to me... but my friends like their meats thoroughly well-done. So it was very well suited for them. It did look very nicely sauced though~

Yakiniku

The salmon chirashi set also looked awesome! Big slices of salmon, generous portions of rice, and salad, and... my friend really appreciated the "pop-ness" of the salmon roe which led to that salty liquid oozing out. Mmm.. must mean that it's fresh and tasty.

Salmon Chirashi

Last but not least, was my God-bro's Unagi-don. He got a HUGEEE piece(s) of Unagi... and the rice looked nicely tanned (indicative of it being well sauced) and no qualms or complaints came from him. I'm sure it was awesome too! (even though I don't eat eel) :P

Unagi-don

All in all, it was a great lunching experience. Nice friendly staff who weren't intrusive, yet attentive-ish when you press the button. Awesome food. Good affordable prices. Big portions. Leaves us fully stuffed. Great quiet environment for a chill-out. Seems almost too good to be true!

Ratings:
Food - 9/10
Service - 8/10
Ambiance - 8/10
Value for money - 9/10
Overall - 34/40

Wako
Number One Dixon
Lvl Ground, Shop 34
1 Dixon Street
Sydney
NSW, 2000
tel: (02) 9262 9355