to celebrate 3 months of staying with my new housemate, i shouted him dinner at this place just closeby - have been interested to try it sometime, although i was a bit suspicious of the name - it sounded more Korean than Japanese ... but he was keen to try here too, and we weren't disappointed at all!! they set the Japanese atmosphere with the decor, as well as the staff cheerfully greeting us upon entry "IRRASHAIMASE!!" - very Japanese! ;) I checked out the menu & specials before booking, looked pretty good! upon sitting down inspecting their pictorial menu with fuller descriptions, i knew i'd be back to try more of the menu in future before i'd even placed my order! ;) we ordered the moim special (7 pieces of delectable baked salmon, spicy tuna, crab meat, cucumber & avocado with salad and fish roe) - an excellent starter @ $13.80 [!] .. not exactly top value for money, but the quality & presentation were superb! I ordered the spicy chicken bento @ $14.80 - a winner, my housemate ordered the Teri Salmon bento @17.80, both our stomachs were delightfully happy!! to cap of a great meal, we both dug into some sesame ice-creams - which we were told by our friendly waiter, John, were made onsite daily by the owner, Clay, which i thought was pretty impressive! we found all the staff a delight, attentive, friendly & helpful. the place really got buzzing around 6 on a Wednesday night, I even checked out the function room further inside which was just as packed with customers as the main eating area! a rare thing for other restaurants in the area - onsite toilets here! will definitely be back & look forward to working my way through the menu, trying out the season specials, as well as getting to know more of the staff too! Japanese food lovers, unite! even though they're Korean [i'm not sure about the chef, but at least the staff are Korean] they replicate the quality of taste & awesome presentation you'd come to expect of Japanese food.

Approximate cost: $11+

what i love about these guys is their BARGAIN SECTION!! =) just near the entrance closest to the butcher shop immediately on the left, near the floor, there's a reduced to clear drawer of discounted fruit & veg. always check there 1st thing whenever i'm in the area - great way to save $$ :D prices for most other things are pretty reasonable, with the occasional specials too =)

I came here for a friends' bucks' party - this was my first real teppanyaki dining experience, and it was the most fun dining experience i've been to in a long while! the chefs are very friendly & impressively entertaining as they cook the yummy food right in front of you, serving it steaming straight to your plate -- as hot as it looked, it was just the right temperature to eat almost straight away - i still cant figure out how they do that -- the iron cooking plate is obviously very hot, and the meat is cooked all the way through-- juicy, tender & full of flavour! i ordered the cheapest banquet @ $36 ... though i had to leave early & didn't get to finish sampling all my courses, and i was sure i didn't actually eat that large a quantity, i was definitely full, i left with a very happy stomach & tastebuds that were tantalised as never before! they even play games with the food which was fun, but does mean there's wastage which i'm passionately against [!] oh well, i guess most of the price is to cover the entertainment & the uniqueness of the experience, plus the wasted food ;) ... few dining experiences will be as memorable as this one!

Approximate cost: $36+

found this small cafe/takeaway nearby the house of prayer i work at, and having walked past it a few times, i thought i may as well try it for something different & to bless this business ;) i had the salmon & dill bake + roasted vege salad for $10.9 - very yum! With for the uniqueness of their menu, i just might have to return a few times to sample more of their delights! the inside is simple as the shopfront, it seems to possibly be a small family owned business. i look forward to blessing them more in future!

Approximate cost: $8+

came here for a friends' birthday dinner, although places like these are usually way out of my budget ... thankfully i got to share a meal with another friend, so the meal didn't burn a hole in my wallet ;) we shared a little mykonnos pizza [with haloumi cheese, lamb, onion, cheese + ... which was full of greasy goodness:P] as well as their "garlic bread" which i more of a garlic pizza... they have specials on different nights of the week, so maybe i'd like to try their $10 special on a Tues-Thurs night ;) staf are very friendly & patient as we stayed there 'til closing time, the atmosphere nice, and portions generous - quite a few of us packed takeaway containers as we weren't able to finish our meals!

Approximate cost: $25

was meeting a friend &his friends, enjoying hot chocolate across the road from here when we were trying to decide where to go for dinner. i saw the sign for "international cuisine" which was sufficiently different from the other options they suggested to warrant a check out of this place ;) the warm greeting on approaching by the staff was a plus, informing us of their specials - steak+wine for $20.others were keen, not being a drinker myself, i decided to go for their interestingly titled "millenium steak" @ $27.5 so i had high expectations! yes it was good, but not great. maybe it's just me & expensive food, it just never seems to never meet expectations that the asking price seems to set :P there was definitely nothing "millenium" about the steak, so i was left wondering why the fancy name ... my friends' friend ordered the "olympic steak" which was quite fancily presented with 2 prawns sticking out vertically from the steak! atmosphere, service & portions typical for the price, so you'll get a good feed here, but i'm not so sure i'd go out of my way to return here ... ;) [maybe i was just disappointed with the fancy names + the fancy prices on the menu ...

Approximate cost: $20+

i had dinner here with 3 sashimi-loving friends upon their high recommendation, so i knew i was in for a treat ;) thank DaddyGod, we didn't have to line up outside to get a table, busy as they were :) we ordered their sashimi salad, fried agedashi tofu, edamame beans, teriyaki chicken, sushi+sashimi combination plate & sushi dinner set, complete with 1 miso soup, 1 tea, & 4 green tea ice creams, and the total bill between 4 of us was $71. pretty good i reckon for a quality, healthy Japanese meal! the servings were generous, the atmosphere vibrant, service typically friendly & cheerful as you'd expect from Japanese places :) it's pretty small inside so i see how it could easily be packed full when they're busy. because we ordered so much food, we had to eat fairly quickly to make room for the next plates of beautifully resented, flavorsome food :) I look forward to coming back here another time! - if you love Japanese food, you gotta try sushi suma! ... their lunch menu looks slightly cheaper, so i'll definitely hafta try here again at lunch time!

Approximate cost: $15+

I love this little local fruit & vege shop - very conveniently located nearby Kirrawee railway station, good prices & friendly staff! ;) don't forget to notice the sign behind the check out counter! :)

ever since I saw their ad for $7.30 lunch specials, I knew I would try here someday, even though my healthier eating habits have steered me away from the oily, MSG-loaded unhealthy foods I've come to expect most Chinese restaurants to dish out, but was pleasantly surprised to find my dish not super oily or MSG loaded [not that i could really tell :p] - anyhow, I came here for lunch upon a surprise meeting with a brother in Jesus - a great place to share our lives & connect, not super noisy given there was quite alot of business on a Friday lunchtime. I had the Szechuan pork with boiled rice for $7.30, it was just spicy enough, if anything it was a little mild. definitely safer that way! I find staff are always more delightful to deal with, if i treat them with a little dignity & honour - finding out their names, calling them by name, finding out where they're from & saying 'thank you' in their language .. breaks my stereotypes of chinese restaurant staff all being grumpy, rude & greedy ;) nice decor too :)
so if you're in the area & wanting a decent, cheap lunch - the lunch specials menu is fairly large - it may take me a long long while before i work through it all! =) a good lunch for 2 at under $16 is pretty hard to beat!

Approximate cost: $7+

when I first glanced the menu & prices of this shop just outside Kogarah Railway station, around the corner from the Australia Post shop] I knew I just had to come back to try this place out, bargain hunter & cheap-eats lover that I am!! I had the medium meal of any 2 curries with rice for $7.90. having never tried Nepalese cuisine before, I was expecting it to be similar to Indian, (which is one of my favourites for its variety of spices & flavors to delight the tastebuds to no end!)
I'd have to say the flavors were even better than Indian, which is saying ALOT, or maybe it's just because it was delightfully different from the flavors I'd gotten used to with Indian food. in any case, unbeatable for it's price & yummy factor. i will definitely be back, if not just to say hi to the friendly staff! =)

Approximate cost: $6+