Vegetarians and Vegans out there beware, This is not the post for you. Meat lovers... Enjoy and try not to eat the screen. So I have a question for everyone. Do you ever find yourself saying "I'll have my steak medium please" and your steak arrives at your table looking juicy and tender, you turn to the person next to you and you do that weird smile nod thing. You cut into the steak and it basically MOO's at you ? Now you look closely and you realize it looks juicy because it is still bleeding.
Well luckily for everyone I have found a place that solves the problem of under cooked meat and the awkwardness of sending something back only to spend the rest of the meal wondering if someone has tampered with it as revenge... (Don't deny it, I know you all think it).
As it started to turn dark I turned to my other half and asked "What are we having for dinner?". Mind you this was about the 20th time I had asked him in the day. Halfway through rolling his eyes at me, my phone rings and it's my big sis and my brother in law. Score!! they had planned on going to Wakana's and asked if we wanted to go. Arriving at the location we walk past a flashy modernised Japanese restaurant that was right next door and straight away upon seeing Wakana's I knew it was going to be good. You can't survive next to a restaurant of the same cuisine that looks like it is fit for a queen, unless you rock at what you do.
We walk in and this man's smiling face greets us and we are ushered to our seat very quickly . We had booked a spot which I had been told is recommended because it can get very busy.
When I asked this man if I could take a picture of him at the counter he said jokingly "Make me look handsome please". It is friendliness like this that makes me feel like I am right at home.
Okay so back to the solution for under cooked meat...
Yep you see it, a Grill right at your table. Here you can cook the meat as fast or long as you like. No blue meat here.
complimentary condiments and salad arrive at the table and we receive one each. The sauces were from left to right : sweet soy, sesame and vinegar. The salad consisted of ice berg lettuces shallots and a sweet and creamy Japanese sauce. It was light and crunchy, a good distraction from the meatiness of the meal.
Premium Pork loins $12 : This was delicious with bits of char marks on it. A word of advice is to not overcook this on the grill because it can get quite dry and chewy. A few times when we were lost in conversation we found a piece or two had managed to shrink and curl into odd positions. My favourite condiment to dip this in was the sweet soy. The others liked to dip it in all 3 condiments.
Karubi Pork (Pork neck) $20: A bit more expensive than the Pork loins but well worth it. this was juicy and tender. It had the taste of fatty pork without the oily feeling. Pork neck must be the most misunderstood meat, I can almost feel the shudder of people when they see this... But if you think about it, A pigs neck is probably the only part aside from the legs that move around constantly (I mean their always bobbing up and down eating) Why do you think free range meat is so expensive? Because they move around a lot therefore a better quality of meat. The neck is basically free range pork... don't you think?
Special Wagyu $29: I know many will be looking at that price and thinking wow for 12 pieces of beef that is a bit costly. Let me just say it really isn't. My big sis and I have actually bought this at a special grocer before and it cost around $22 for 14 slices. So to eat this outside for that price is a bargain. This was so juicy with fat that you need a minute to compose yourself afterwards. I could feel the heart disease forming as I looking at the wagyu sizzling away on the grill. Trust me when I tell you... it is worth it.
Cooked Special Wagyu gleaming away
Yasai Moriawase (Assorted vegetables) $12: There were asparagus, shitake mushrooms, sweet potato, pumpkin, zucchini, eggplants, carrots and onions. As simple as this looks, you will be thanking the stars that you ordered this. It gives a nice relief on the taste buds to have this in between mouthfuls of meat. My favourite was the zucchini it was juicy and mellow.
Grilling away
Karage Chicken (spicy) $13: This was from the precooked menu it had a nice flavour, wasn't really spicy and the first piece I had was slightly chewy. However after hearing that my big sis' piece was nice and tender I tried again and found myself a tender piece.
Salmon Fried Rice $12: it consisted of salmon, eggs and shallots. It is hard to tell if it was tasty or not. Mainly because this came out after all the grilled meat and everything can taste bland after that. My suggestion is to have this dish first. It had generous chunks of salmon in it which I was very happy about. And after a while when my taste buds had come back to play I gave this another go and found it had a nice light mellow flavour with nice bursts of crunchy shallots every now and then.
Cream Croquettes (3 pieces) $6: Now you are probably all wondering where the photo is for this dish.... Well let me just say when this came out we ate it so quickly that even I completely forgot that I was in blogging mode. This was creamy with small bits of sweet corn and it was so delicious I was fighting with my other half for his piece. He did not give up easily...
To wash the gluttony down- Ramune japanese soda $4.50: This reminded me of lemonade but a very light and fragrant one.
Calpis Water $3: This taste like a very watered down light version of Yakult. It was pretty good considering I'm not a big fan of Yakult.
Overall the experience at Wakana's was fun and social with delicious food that you cook slowly while enjoying your company. Definitely a place you bring people you like. I liked how the menu happily stated that It was a MSG free restaurant. This place also closes quite early at 9:30pm, so book an early time if possible. It is also a little stuffy at first because of the grills but you soon forget that when you start eating. I will definitely be back for some perfectly cooked meat... and most importantly Cream Croquettes!
Oh and everyone.....
Don't forget to hit the ATM before you come.
Yakiniku Restaurant- Wakana: 2A Broughton Road, Artarmon, Sydney
Love Always Mel x
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