sushi-ya (chatswood)

The search for dinner took J and I to Chatswood. Having originally planned on Don Cafe where I've been told by the guys houses a rather 'good' selection of adult magazines, we ended changing our minds and heading just a bit further down the road to a place neither of us had been before - still keeping our choice of Japanese. The name actually rung a bell but it wasn't till much later after the meal that I realised it was the same one that K was talking about that's in Atarmon.

Despite it being the eve of Australia Day, coinciding also with night shopping, we managed to find parking quite easy; just outside Nando's which is part of the same block. The restaurant wasn't full yet but should we have gone in another 5-10 minutes later, we probably would've been waiting for a little while or tucked at the dodgy seats in a corridor at the back. Quite a neat little place but you get the feeling also that you're packed in tightly with everyone else. You'll notice a nice collage of fish on the wall as you walk in (although as we were sitting under it, they looked more like daggers and sashimi knives hanging above our heads). Where we sat in the front corner, there was perhaps a 30cm to the next table. Where you hear most of the conversation going on around you, the scariest thing was that our table nearly collapsed as a fellow patron struggled to get out of his seat next to me (so glad that didn't happen!)

On the whole, I really enjoyed the food. When the bill came back, it was a most reasonable one (save for the beer they added onto bill from the next table - that beer was equivalent to a quarter of our meal). Beef tataki was definitely awesome, the Karage chicken pieces could've been smaller but they still tasted great anyhow, the Agedashi Tofu could've been more well cooked on the inside and perhaps, the best salmon sushi in the world - I could eat that salmon all day. For a bill that came just over $40, we were more than well fed. I looked around as to what else was on offer and from what I could see, they were certainly most decent servings in a ravishing display of colours. Definitely a worthwhile place to go back. The place seems to draw in a crowd of all different backgrounds and group sizes; from families, couples, friends, dinner parties, you name it! No room for dessert tonight but I was tempted by the Green Tea Tiramisu!