Oyako Izakaya - Strathfield

Came here upon a recommendation from a bartender at a nearby hotel. From the get go, quite impressed by the size of the crowd for a Monday night. We were a party of 3 and the member of our party who was Korean noted that the restaurant was also a popular drinking place, where food may be secondary to some customers and only supplements the Soju (Korean wine). This is a standard practice among Koreans who populated the restaurant, and run the restaurant. Quite normal for Strathfield I was advised, even the specials were printed in Korean, similar to nearby Oliver Brown's notice to customers. We sat down and ordered a medium sashimi platter, grilled pork belly,spicy seafood salad and agedashi tofu. To drink was a small bottle of Soju. A complimentary peanuts and agamame is provided as a small appetizer to start. Service was friendly and fast, meals came out at a reasonable pace given the crowd and all looked quite good. Sashimi was very fresh and a nice portion, presented over crushed ice. Similarly, the seafood salad and agedashi tofu was good. My friends were quite impressed with the pork belly and felt it was the winner, served with a salad and onions which cuts through the grilled pork nicely. As I was left slightly wanting I ordered a karage chicken don to finish and it came with a side salad. It arrived quickly and looked good, slightly gooey with egg and a nice garnish of pickles.  The bill came to $108 among three of us which seemed reasonable given that Japanese can tend to be overpriced.  Overall, it was a pleasant experience and the food and service was of a good standard. The only word of warning is it can get loud, the party of 8-12 next to us were drinking and getting rowdy, but added a certain atmosphere depending on your outlook. Just take a look before entering and decide for yourself. Happy dining :-)

Came here upon a recommendation from a bartender at a nearby hotel. From the get go, quite impressed by the size of the crowd for a Monday night. We were a party of 3 and the member of our party who was Korean noted that the restaurant was also a popular drinking place, where food may be secondary to some customers and only supplements the Soju (Korean wine). This is a standard practice among Koreans who populated the restaurant, and run the restaurant. Quite normal for Strathfield I was advised, even the specials were printed in Korean, similar to nearby Oliver Brown's notice to customers. We sat down and ordered a medium sashimi platter, grilled pork belly,spicy seafood salad and agedashi tofu. To drink was a small bottle of Soju. A complimentary peanuts and agamame is provided as a small appetizer to start. Service was friendly and fast, meals came out at a reasonable pace given the crowd and all looked quite good. Sashimi was very fresh and a nice portion... read more

Came here upon a recommendation from a bartender at a nearby hotel. From the get go, quite impressed by the size of the crowd for a Monday night. We were a party of 3 and the member of our party who was Korean noted that the restaurant was also a popular drinking place, where food may be secondary to some customers and only supplements the Soju (Korean wine). This is a standard practice among Koreans who populated the restaurant, and run the restaurant. Quite normal for Strathfield I was advised, even the specials were printed in Korean, similar to nearby Oliver Brown's notice to customers. We sat down and ordered a medium sashimi platter, grilled pork belly,spicy seafood salad and agedashi tofu. To drink was a small bottle of Soju. A complimentary peanuts and agamame is provided as a small appetizer to start. Service was friendly and fast, meals came out at a reasonable pace given the crowd and all looked quite good. Sashimi was very fresh and a nice portion, presented over crushed ice. Similarly, the seafood salad and agedashi tofu was good. My friends were quite impressed with the pork belly and felt it was the winner, served with a salad and onions which cuts through the grilled pork nicely. As I was left slightly wanting I ordered a karage chicken don to finish and it came with a side salad. It arrived quickly and looked good, slightly gooey with egg and a nice garnish of pickles.  The bill came to $108 among three of us which seemed reasonable given that Japanese can tend to be overpriced.  Overall, it was a pleasant experience and the food and service was of a good standard. The only word of warning is it can get loud, the party of 8-12 next to us were drinking and getting rowdy, but added a certain atmosphere depending on your outlook. Just take a look before entering and decide for yourself. Happy dining :-)

Came here upon a recommendation from a bartender at a nearby hotel. From the get go, quite impressed by the size of the crowd for a Monday night. We were a party of 3 and the member of our party who was Korean noted that the restaurant was also a popular drinking place, where food may be secondary to some customers and only supplements the Soju (Korean wine). This is a standard practice among Koreans who populated the restaurant, and run the restaurant. Quite normal for Strathfield I was advised, even the specials were printed in Korean, similar to nearby Oliver Brown's notice to customers. We sat down and ordered a medium sashimi platter, grilled pork belly,spicy seafood salad and agedashi tofu. To drink was a small bottle of Soju. A complimentary peanuts and agamame is provided as a small appetizer to start. Service was friendly and fast, meals came out at a reasonable pace given the crowd and all looked quite good. Sashimi was very fresh and a nice portion... read more

A yakitori bar in Haberfield almost seemed like an oxymoron.