Sushi-ya (2) - Artarmon

In celebration of Earth Hour, Sushi-Ya plays it part by offering dinner by candle-light. What this meant was a homey casual Japanese dinner with an air of romance (and also slightly bad photos).

the atmosphere

As usual, we are greeted by an awesome little appetiser as we are seated. Tonight, it was a cold mix of vermicelli, jellyfish, chicken and edamame beans in a light soy ish vinegarish dressing. This was tasty, with slightly more chicken flavour than I would have liked, but my partner relished every moment of it.

appetiser

We wanted to order lots and lots of food. However, we were stopped by a smart cluey waiter who told us - "no... too much". Hence, this is what we ended up with on the night.

The Special Sashimi ($30.50) comprised of a fresh plateful of approximately 22pcs of selected sashimi. There was salmon, tuna, kingfish, octopus, clams, squid, scampi, prawns, scallop, and jellyfish. All sashimi variety was very tasty and fresh. My favourite was the scallops - soooo cool and sweet and accompanied with the salty 'pop' of the salmon roe. What I also enjoyed very much was the scampi. This was refreshingly subtly sweet - much like my scallop - but a little mushier than my scallop. The salmon was also much freshness.

Special Sashimi - $30.50

The Sushiya Salad ($14.90) is a mix of sashimi and veges with a sesame mayo dressing. Again, this sashimi was refreshing. The serving was generous but no where near as huge as the one at Sushi Suma. However, my partner commented that it was much tastier and the veges were of much higher quality compared to the larger portion counterpart.

Sushiya Salad - $14.90

We also ordered the soft shell crab ($16.90). This comprised of 4 halfs of a crab, deep fried and served with a huge pool of special, very potent, brown sauce. The soft shell crab was hidden underneath a huge pile of greens - possibly to soak up the oil. The crab itself was tempura crunchy on the outside and had extremely soft and juicy and sweet meat on the inside. It was quite delicious and quenched my cravings for soft-shell crab.

Soft Shell Crab - $16.90

Last but not least, we ordered a spicy ginger pork set ($17.50). The thinly sliced pork belly which was slightly very fatty, stir fried with onions in a spicy ginger sauce and accompanied with a side cabbage salad and a egg-potato salad. The set also came with rice and miso soup. I don't know why, but I think the first time we ate this (possibly around 5-6 years ago), this dish tasted better than it did now. This time, the pork bought with it an extremely subtle (almost missable) ginger and chilli taste and the pork was less tender than it used to be.

Spicy Ginger Pork - $17.50

Overall, Sushi-Ya never disappoints. It's nice and cozy. The food is tasty and fresh. The prices are reasonable and it's casual. It's a good little place to keep around for those nights when were really can't think of where to eat.

Ratings:
Food - 8/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 8/10
Value for money - 7.5/10
Overall - 30.5/40

Sushi-Ya
10 Wilke Ave
Artarmon
NSW 2064
tel: (02) 9411 1377