Food review at Ichimaru Japanese Restaurant at Chatswood

Hello everyone, today’s food review takes us to Ichimaru Restaurant, a Japanese restaurant located at 226 Victoria Avenue, Chatswood. Prior to this, we have not been to Ichimaru even though we have passed by Ichimaru a number of times and noticed that it got really crowded especially during dinner time. So, just for the experience of it, we walked in at 5.30pm without any reservation. The first thing we noticed was that there were already a number of  “Reserved” signs on the tables. We informed the server that we didn’t make any reservation and was promptly directed to the end table meant for two. We had a quick look on their chalk board and noticed that they had a few specials going on. So, we ordered the “Special White Dragon”, “Alburi Niku Jyaga” and the “Teriyaki Wagyu beef Bento set”.

Assortment of sushi

Salmon and Tuna Sashimi

 The first dish that came out was the sashimi and sushi plate which is part of the “Teriyaki Wagyu beef Bento set”. The sashimi and sushi plate consisted of 2 slices of tuna sashimi, 3 slices of salmon sashimi, an assortment of sushi made up of prawn, kingfish, tuna and rolls topped with mayonnaise and salmon caviar. We find that the sashimi and the assortment of sushi were just average. In other words, nothing spectacular about them either in freshness or the way it was prepared. We give it an average score of 5/10.

Teriyaki Wagyu beef set

 The next dish was the Teriyaki Wagyu beef set which consisted of a few slices of beef, salad and white rice topped with black sesame seeds. The beef was tender but we find it a bit too sweet for our liking. Perhaps this could be due to too much teriyaki seasoning? We would rate this an average score of 5/10 as well. Just in passing, a bowl of miso soup which was quite ordinary was served with the Bento set.

Using a portable flame torch to melt the cheese

The end product - "Alburi Niku Jyaga"

 The next dish was the “Alburi Niku Jyaga” which consisted of grilled beef and potatoes topped with melted cheese in a bowl filled with some sweet broth sprinkled with some spring onions. We think the sweetness in the broth came from the miso. The unique feature about the “Alburi Niku Jyaga” was that the chef would come to the table with a portable flame torch to melt the cheese. It looks impressive and appetizing but the flavour in that dish didn’t quite satisfy our palates. This may be a unique dish but it wouldn’t be something we would order again as we didn’t quite like the sweet flavour (as a matter of fact, just too sweet for us) in that dish. We would rate it just 4/10.

Using the portable flame torch to grill the scallops

The grilled scallops

The final dish was the “Special White Dragon” which made up of grilled scallop sushi sitting on a bed of salad with slices of lemon. Like the “Alburi Niku Jyaga”, the chef used a portable flame torch to grill the scallops in front of us. After that, the chef would sprinkle some salmon caviar on the grilled scallops. The food presentation was good and the “show” was wonderful but the dish itself, again it was just average to us - in fact as one would normally expect of grilled scallops. It doesn’t make any difference whether the scallops were grilled in the kitchen or  right in front of us - the taste and flavour remain the same. Therefore, for this particular dish, we will give a rating of just 5/10.

In conclusion and based on our dining experience, we would rate the service 4/10 as we didn’t find the server friendly at all - pretty mechanical if you asked us. When we requested for spoons and plates, she appeared reluctant and wasn’t pleasant at all. As for the ambient, we would rate it 7/10 as it is clean and quite cosy. As to why the restaurant was frequently crowded, we really do not know. Could it be because we ordered dishes that are not so popular? Maybe, but we did asked the server what is Ichimaru famous for and she replied, “our wagyu beef”. We ordered that but as you can see from the ratings, it wasn’t spectacular. Could it be the food prices? Yes, we did find that the food prices in Ichimaru were relatively cheaper if compared with similar Japanese restaurants in Sydney, but then again there could be other reasons. We will visit this restaurant another time and then will see how it fares. Stay tuned!