Miso, Sydney

If could only eat one type of meat for the rest of my life, it would be meat from the humble pig. There are so many ways to enjoy it - pork, ham, prosciutto, pancetta and of course bacon. But everything tastes better when deep fried, so when I had a hankering for some porky goodness one night, where better to head to than Miso, a Japanese restaurant which specialises in tonkatsu.

Katsu-tama Set - $16.80

Miso is part of the Masuya group which also has Japanese restaurants Masuya, Musashi and Makoto sushi bars. It serves meals teishoku style, which includes a main dish, miso soup, rice and a few smaller individual accompaniments alongside it (kobachi). For the non-pork eaters, they also have chicken katsu, as well as a range of udon noodle, curry and chirashi sushi dishes. But we were here for the tonkatsu, a pork cutlet which has been covered in panko crumbs and deep fried until golden and crunchy.

Katsu-tama Set - $16.80

Sushi Rio, Sydney

My sister Charm and I are both love our sushi. We ventured out to the city one Friday afternoon for lunch and we stumbled across Sushi Rio's lunch special where all sushi was $3! With a bargain like that we couldn't resist and so we abandoned our original lunch destination to eat at Sushi Rio.


The place was quite full but luckily when we went there was no line and we were seated promptly. One thing I like about Sushi Rio's setup is that their plates are grouped into categories according to the type of seafood/meat in the sushi. So all the salmon, prawn, tuna, chicken etc has its own little section of the train preceded by a sign saying what the section is. Pretty good for those unfamiliar with their sushi.

Raw salmon onion nigiri (normally $3.00)

We started off with the salmon onion nigiri which was very fresh and zigzagged with wasabi mayo.

Grilled eel nigiri (normally $3.50)

The eel nigiri is sweet and tender - the most tender eel I've ever had I think!

Raw scallop nigiri (normally $3.50)

Ichi-ban Boshi, The Galeries Victoria

Judging from the queues I see everytime I walk past, I think it's safe to assume that Ichi-ban Boshi is one of the most popular ramen joints in Sydney. Due to it's obvious popularity, I had pretty high expectations on my first visit here and sadly I don't think the food lived up to the standards I'd set and since then I have been reluctant to return. However, on Fi's request I'm back again tonight for dinner before watching Avenue Q at the Theatre Royal.


Having an early dinner at 5.30pm means that we a) get a table easily for 6 of us and b) avoid the horrendous queues that have built up by the time we leave. Fi and I have still yet to try the tonkotsu ramen and we ask the waitress whether they have any left. Sadly they have run out so I go to my plan B and order the karaage ramen. Everytime I order this I have the intention of asking for the karaage chicken on the side but as usual I forget and it arrives with the batter semi-soaked in broth. Fail.

Karaage Ramen - $10.90

Ton Ton Regent, Sydney

On chilly winter days, there's nothing more comforting than a piping hot bowl of noodles in soup. This is how Sir D and I ended up at Ton Ton Regent - a primarily take-away noodle joint which also offers hand roll sushi, rice bowls and other dishes. There is some seating around the counter but when we arrived at 12.30pm on a Friday, almost all of the seats were taken. But we got lucky =)


At the counter they have a glass cabinet with some salads and sushi rolls, and around it are pictures of their menu items with shout outs of "New!", "Popular!" and "Try Me!". You can pick up a laminated menu from the counter or go for the noodle set which is written on the red board. The noodle set allows you to select one noodle bowl from the menu plus either a small curry, gyoza or sushi roll for $12.50. I was feeling quite hungry so I ordered the noodle set with their special Ton Ton Ramen, while Sir D ordered the Sukiyaki Beef Udon.

Ton Ton Ramen: A special 'tonkotsu' soup - mildly spiced thick pork broth topped with BBQ pork - $9.80