Imagine your are in a small alley in Tokyo. As you wander down you see a little restaurant that is…read morepacked full of people. No floor space is vacant. Tray after tray of lunch specials are brought out of the closet sized kitchen. As for the smell, it is a mix of warm oil for tempura, vinegar and something sweet (like a tonkatsu sauce). Now take that image and implant it in North Sydney. Taruhatchi, located down an almost hidden set of stairs, at the end of the corridor is exactly this type of place. While not visible to the average person, the number of people squeezed in here speaks wonders of its reputation. Today I am grabbing the Tempura Zarusoba lunch set. When it arrived, it looked perfect. Small side salad, a little sukemono (Japanese pickles) and even a couple of oranges to cleanse my palate after I finished. Awesome. The tempura was fresh and really crisp. Nothing soggy about this dish, just yum. The zarusoba was also awesome. Tasted like the dipping sauce was a little watery, but on the whole it was great experience. Really enjoyed the service and food here. Worth checking out. P.S. The one draw back was that lunch was not cheap. That said, you get a discount if you pay cash.

I like Japanese cuisine and this place is as good as any. They are busy so it can take a little…read morewhile for your order but it's worth it

Ordered miso soup (Personal fav) they filled a quarter of each little tub up! disgusted to say the…read moreleast work on your game. Kind Regards Miles Ball

Truly authentic Japanese place. Quaint and simple, this place is our new local! The sashimi was…read morefresh and perfectly chilled. The grilled mackerel was succulent and super tasty. The tsukune (chicken mince balls) were an absolute highlight; crispy and covered in a gorgeous sticky sauce. It's a great place for a casual dinner over great authentic Japanese flavours! They even have a fairy floss machine for the kids!! I leave this place with a big grin and a happy tummy! They are a BYO joint, but don't fret, there is a bottle shop just next door!

I have been on the hunt for a new Japanese restaurant in the Cremorne/Neutral Bay area after the…read morequality of Sushi Samurai has dropped off. My friend recommended checking out Toshiya. Whilst it isn't the cheapest place to eat, the food quality is quite good. THINGS I LIKE: *Beef Tataki - I'm not usually a big 'raw beef' kinda person, but I could eat two servings of this dish easily. *Soft Shelled Crab - it comes with some semi-spicy mayo that is awesome. *Sashimi - it's good, it's fresh. *Tempura Dumplings *Udon - very tasty, I like the Chicken Teriyaki. THINGS I DISLIKE: *SLOW/INATTENTIVE SERVICE* - I've been here twice (Sunday night, Wednesday night), and both times I've noticed that they don't have enough waitstaff, and those they have are so busy you are often left sitting there waiting to wave them over. I'm still happy with the food, but I'm not thrilled with waiting 5-10 minutes to order because their staff aren't watching the tables just running food out.

I have been looking for a great Japanese restaurant and I have finally found one! A sign of a…read moregreat restaurant is a line out the door; this is found nightly at Toshiya. However Toshiya is only open for lunch on Friday & Saturday and is pretty quiet. The lunch specials are a must! Really inexpensive for what you get. Wonderful flavors, from sashimi, to mitso soup, followed by a crab roll...delicious. I highly recommend a visit if you are craving good Japanese. I definitely will be returning to try some of their dinner specials, in particular the Share Plate for 2.

Quite nice Japanese/Korean restaurant. Had the fried seafood yaki ramen noodle. It was good. Lots…read moreof different varieties of seafood. Noodles were well cooked and had good amount of chewiness. Friendly staff

Yatai is the best!! You probably wouldn't think too much of it, being a teeny tiny unassuming place…read morejust beside West Ryde station, but step inside and be wowed by the great food and warm and friendly service. We get food here at least once or twice a week. My favourites are the chicken katsu roll, which is breaded chicken and cream cheese yummy yummy goodness, and the grilled salmon sushi. My husband's favourite is the sashimi don which is steamed rice topped with sashimi slices and vege and hot chili sauce. We also love the takoyaki and often have to fight with each other about who gets a bigger half of the serving. They have bento boxes costing $14-$17 which are really great value considering you get a main dish with rice, sashimi, sushi and a side salad. The rice dishes are good too but I kind of prefer those from Tatsuya. Yatai's sushi rolls are pretty big and I often have problem finishing one order so I always have something leftover to takeaway. Their sushi and sashimi sets are also great value, but as I don't eat raw sushi or sashimi, my husband can only look at other diners who order these with wide eyed jealousy as he has no one to share the massive set with. Quite often during the evening rush when commuters are coming home from work, the place gets packed but service is quick so you don't have to wait too long for a table. We always get a smile and greeting from everyone from the servers to the chefs/cooks in the kitchen when we come and we go and it just adds so much more to the experience. Couple that with the great tasting and affordable food makes this restaurant a real winner.

The salmon don was really good! the salmon was the belly part, so very fatty and melt-in-yo-mouth!…read moreVery fresh too! The sukiyaki was a bit overly sweet, but the toppings like beef and tofu were good! Still a good deal for 1 person. Definitely a good eat

We are definitely a rice is life kind of family and so we decided to eat Japanese tonight. I'm so…read moreglad we found Yayoi just in the nick of time. We got there at 1956 and they stop taking orders at 2000. We had about four minutes for all three of us to pick a meal and place our order. With that being said, I'm not sure we got a full look at the menu but we're very happy with our selection. The food was delicious, filling, and very reasonably priced. One thing they did not do is refill our water. This seems to be a common thing in Sydney so maybe people don't drink much water or maybe you have to ask. We haven't quite figured that out yet.

Saw the great reviews for this place (in particular ramen) so a few friends and I decided to cycle…read moreto Neutral Bay from the city. We arrived at noon and it was empty so we had great service. I ordered the spicy tonkotsu ramen, a friend ordered the cha-shu ramen, and another ordered the miso tonkotsu ramen. After you order ramen they ask what kind of noodle you prefer, thin (standard) or thick (udon style.) Word of note, each bowl comes with two egg halves, so don't be a fatty and order an extra egg like I did...but you will probably want to order extra cha-shu, unless you only like 1 or 2 pieces of cha-shu. I ordered extra cha-shu ($2) and only had 3 pieces...I think they're skimping a little here. We also ordered a salmon roll and skinny avocado roll, and these were really good, especially the cut of salmon. Sushi is definitely good and reasonable here. Taking the first bite, the ramen was really good...but after a few bites it seemed to be missing something. I'm not sure what it was, but the flavour started to get bland, on top of not having many pieces of cha-shu to add more flavour to the ramen. Still better than Ryo's Noodle, but I don't think I'd venture out of the city to come here for ramen.

This is my boyfriend's favorite sushi joint in Neutral Bay. When we walked in I saw some great menu…read moreitems and dinner specials. I was expecting a great sushi experience. We ordered the small sashimi plate and 2 rolls. The sashimi came out first and was great! I loved the shredded radish that accompanied the fish. However when the rolls came out I took 1 bite of the spider roll which was tasty, when I went in for my second piece I noticed a long hair in the sauce. I was so disgusted and wanted to send it back but my boyfriend insisted I not make a fuss. So I sat there and ate the sashimi instead. When I thought I might try a piece of sushi from the non hair found roll, guess what, I found a hair just sitting on top of the rice( see posted pictures if you don't believe me) that was really all I could handle. 1 hair, ok I don't think its acceptable, but 2 hairs in 1 plate?! That's just asking for a health inspector. I had to say something at this point to our server who said he would talk to the chef. He ended up comping the sushi rolls which was nice but really I want the restaurant to take a little more care in the kitchen and pride in their food. A restaurant at least should have good food and meet the minimum health standards. I'm sorry but I just don't think I can come back.

Small suburban Japanese restaurant. The diners were mainly Japanese families…read more Had the udon hot pot lunch set - on the menu it said rice, miso soup, and a dessert would be included with all sets. But we weren't served the rice or miso (would have been too full anyway) but a little disappointed we didn't get what was promised. Udon tasted authentic, the prawn inside the tempura shell was fresh and cooked well, loved the runny egg yolk and large mushrooms. Soup base was light and tasted good. I ended up slurping all the soup, even though I don't normally eat the soup in noodle dishes. The dessert was one small scoop of black sesame ice cream. The ice cream was served inside a ramekin, and the ramekin and ice cream was frozen and ice cream had ice shavings around it. I'm pretty sure they made it more than a week ago and froze it. Didn't taste fresh, and was very dry and hard. I pierced my spoon into the ice cream and a small piece came out. Tasted very frozen, hard, and could taste the freezer taste. I didn't have any more.

Sometimes I forget that Japanese is so much more than just sushi…read more Don't get me wrong, I scoff sushi like the best of them, but come dinner time, I tend to search for a hot dinner instead of some delicate cold sashimi. Hence my wariness when a recent family diner was booked at HaNa Ju-Rin in Crows Nest. But I was oh so wrong. I'm sure it helped that my sister-in-law is an expert orderer, but I still managed to be dumbstruck by every dish. There was gyoza, there was udon, there was king fish salad. Then there were slightly more adventurous dishes like giblets, intestines and beef tongue. And finally there was the dish that rocked my world: okonomiyaki. Sweet mercy this fried pancake slice of savoury deliciousness canNOT be good for you, but you'll definitely find me hoeing into one next time I have hangover. In fact, hangover or no, you'll be sure find me hanging out in front of HaNa again soon.

As the only Japanese restaurant on Majors Bay Rd, I thought it was about time I checked out Kokoro…read more Located opposite Coles, the restaurant is small, but has a warm, cosy atmosphere. Service seems a little distracted at times and it might be quicker to go to the counter to pay, rather than waiting for the bill. The sushi/sashimi is reasonably priced compared to other Japanese restaurants. You will find all the standard dishes on the menu, such as Teriyaki chicken (a little too chewy for my taste), various sushi rolls, sashimi and steamed buns. While everything was satisfactory, some of the seafood didn't taste as fresh as I'd like, and for that reason I probably wont be returning in a hurry. If you fancy checking it out for yourself, try the eel. It's delicious!

The service, the food here is the best Japanese, I've ever had! The prices are very reasonable,…read moreespecially when you consider the quality of the amazing sushi and seafood soup dishes. There is the most friendliest woman in the world there every night we've been (probably 20 times in the last six months very appropriately called "love"! She was so surprised I knew her name when I said "that meal was fantastic luv".