sagano japanese restaurant @ cnr. jamison & clarence street, sydney

It was a Thursday night and J had called to say that he'd made dinner plans with our friend C and that I was coming along. I think J knew without question that if we were going to a Japanese restaurant, I probably wouldn't say no and it did happen to be a Japanese restaurant for dinner that night (the boy only knows me too well!) Meeting up with C, he was telling me that this place had great ambience and up until we sat down and during the meal, he kept asking me 'Don't you think this place has great ambience?' I'll share my opinions on ambience in a sec but here's what we had for dinner:

Mixed tempura - the batter was light and crunchy. I do love tempura but I actually prefer the ones with vegie in them, I'm actually not a big fan of the prawn tempura.

Beef tongue. This has been a dish I've been ordering from restaurant to restaurant. It's done well here (slightly chewy) but it's definitely done better at Jurin where you get a thick slice of beef tongue which just melts in your mouth.

Curry Udon (Udon noodles in a thick curry soup)

Oyakodon. Thought I'd order this as I haven't had it in awhile. It's a very home-cooked dish (I make a rather mean oyakodon at home too!) but it's always nice to have it out and have someone cook it for you.

Pork Belly. This is probably another dish I've been ordering pretty much everywhere I go. I know pork belly probably isn't good for me but then when you share this dish amongst three, I don't think it can be too bad. Do recommend you order the pork belly here - the meat just melts in your mouth and the bed of mash it sits on is so incredibly fine and buttery!

So the question of ambience - I do agree with C that this place has great ambience. The furniture/decor is very traditional Japanese. Loved the fact that they have booth seating and with the shop being quite tucked away, you actually do get some peace and quiet even whilst your smack bang in the middle of the city. The place seems to attract a much older crowd with the majority of customers being businessman and office workers in the area. Service is polite (in true Japanese manner) and well, whilst the food is quite slow to come out of the kitchen, it actually doesn't seem so bad as the restaurant ambience is quite conducive to you sitting and have a good chat with the people that you're dining with.

Thanks C for introducing us to this place!! I really enjoyed it!