Suminoya (2) - Sydney

For my partner's birthday, he wanted barbeque. Japanese type, Korean type, Brazilian type - he didn't really care, just as long as it was barbequed and charcoaled. Luck of the draw, we ended up at Suminoya for some all you can eat Jap buffet.

Given the choice between the Gourmet buffet ($41) and the Premium buffet ($49), with the main differences being sashimi and unlimited beef tongue, my partner and I (one being a sashimi lover and the other, a beef tongue lover), of course ordered the Premium. We are given 90 minutes to eat (with the last order being at around the 60 minute mark).

So, what did we end up eating? Beef tongue, more beef tongue and more beef tongue LOL
Nah - we had a good variety. The beef tongue was pretty good though. Nice and tasty. Chewy ish but not tough. Lightly peppered and charcoaled to perfection by my partner.

beef tongue

There was, of course, my sashimi. Not being a tuna fan, I opted for salmon, kingfish and squid. These were all very surprisingly tasty and fresh (and hence, many many more plates were ordered).

sashimi mix

Scallops on the grill cooked to perfection and eaten with a hint of lemon was deliciousness, as was pork sausages (which I oddly love). The buttery garlicy prawns were also quite decent. There was also pork ribs (which is like thick bacon on a grill) which my partner adores. This was soooooo super fatteningly tasty. The pork fat just cooks through the meat, making it super super juicy.

scallops
garlicy buttered prawns

pork sausages, pork rib and mushrooms

Other meats which we ordered included the chicken and beef fillet and beef rib. These were both really really juicy. The chicken drips fat into the grill - making it flame up and super smokey. But really really delicious. The beef rib/beef fillets are both really tender and marinated well.

chicken and beef rib and beef fillet

Interestingly, the shabu shabu style pork loin, which was super super thin, cooked well on the barbeque. Whilst not much fat thoughout, it wasn't tough and icky when cooked, it was still tender and pork tasty.

shabu shabu style pork loin

My partner also wanted eel. I think when grilled, it's pretty tasty and you can see that the sauce is still on it. And buttered corn on grill? YUM.

bbq eel

buttered corn

To make the meaty process a little healthier (or not), I like to wrap my meats and sashimi in korean dried seaweed. I loveeeee seaweed and I think it accentuates and makes the sashimi yummier. As for the meats - it gives it an extra dimension of tastes and textures, but I think the way to go is what my partner does - wrapping it in lettuce and miso dip.

korean dried seaweed
lettuce with homemade miso dip

As for other non-cooking needed dishes, the beef yukke is pretty much a must for me. Thin strips of raw beef with sesame oil, soy sauce, sugar, salt, green onions, and ground garlic. On top, there is sesame seeds and black pepper sprinkled, and a raw egg cracked. When you mix it all up, it is a sweet tender beefy slimy yummy mess :)

beef yukke

A few salads were ordered. My partner likes the avocado and herb salad, which is a mix of greens, mushrooms, tomato, avocado and chopped nuts. I prefer my seaweed and sashimi salad. This is always yummy and tasty. Would prefer slightly more seaweed in it, but overall, the mayo sashimi mixed with greens always does the trick for me.

avocado and herb salad
sashimi and seaweed salad

As my salad lacked a bit of seaweed, the best way to make up for it is with a huge amount of seaweed - in a seaweed soup~ Needed a bit of salt, but nonetheless, made me feel kind of healthy, with lotsa lotsa seaweed and different strips of veges (eg. onions, carrots, etc).

seaweed soup

Our stuff grilling :)

Last but not least - there is dessert. Unlimited amount of it, but by this time, we're pretty much full. My partner ordered lemon sorbet, green tea icecream and vanilla icecream. I wanted the coffee jelly and 2 scoops of green tea icecream :) The coffee jelly was less potent compared to previous times I've been here - but still a good wake up (especially after 3 days of no sleep). The green tea icecream is also quite tasty - but could just be because I love icecream.

lemon sorbet

coffee jelly

green tea and vanilla icecream

Overall, Suminoya is always a favourite of ours. Plenty and plenty of food. Barbeque goodness for my partner and sashimi galore for me. Awesome.

Ratings:
Food - 8/10
Service - 7.5/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 7.5/10
Overall - 30/40

Suminoya
1 Hosking Place
Sydney NSW 2000
tel: (02) 9231 2177