goros

such a fun bar. good first impression when i walked in and saw the giant garfield, air hockey table and point blanc. the food was excellent. loved the fried chicken. super crunchy and so juicy. the shoestring fries are your standard fries but the sauce they served it with (it was japanese curry like) made it different. yakitori (beef rib, pork belly and chicken) was devine. beef and pork ones just melted in my mouth and they were served with some wasabi like condiment (but much milder) which helped cut through the fat and sweetness. sushi set was fine, nothing bad to say about it. ordered a mushroom salad too which had a really nice dressing. really liked the pepitas in it. ate all this while in one of the karaoke rooms. such a great chilled out place for drinks, food and entertainment.

terrible food and slow service. i ordered the chicken bento box and was very disappointed.  visited with a group of coworkers and everyone thought the food quality and taste was average

a lot of fun, unpretentious, well done japanese izakaya street food in a bar/restaurant/games/karaoke house in surry hills. goro's is a cool little place in surry hills that has a lot of personality and brings something new to sydney with surprisingly good food. there are a mix of booths, long tables and sectioned off dining areas that flows into an open bar with high tables, a small dance floor (even a dj on the night i went) as well as an air hockey table, pool table, arcade games and a few karaoke rooms. you order at the bar and we chose a mix of dishes to share. a short menu with all your classic japanese street food with a few small modernised twists. the grilled skewers were good the pork belly was probably my favourite, smokey and fatty. karaage chicken was crispy and juicy, chips were a bit lame fat chunky chips would have soaked up the curry sauce better which was a nice twist. the standout was the pork schnitzel sandwhiches, perfectly cooked, crispy and worked well with the soft bread, coleslaw and jap mayo. takoyaki was also done well in a typical style. gyoza were crispy but could have been juicer and filled more. sushi of the day was not good. the chicken and avo were too mashed up and not seasoned enough. plain rice would be good to have on the menu. presentation overall looked good, service was excellent and the bar staff are friendly and having a good time. dance floor was happening, drinks were flowing and the free karaoke had people singing their hearts out. just make sure to book for karaoke as it is popular and you get 2 hours. love this place it's versatile, refreshing and doesn't seem too try-hard or disrespectful to japanese culture.

a super cool bar, with karaoke. the food was delish. we grabbed the burger special, loved the spicy seasoning on the fries, the bento box was good, i am not a fan of the octopus balls and they could not be subbed out. the mango beer is the perfect thirst quencher on a hot day.

goros is a great japanese isakaya style joint. feels like japan when you go in, little booths, high benches and stools and interior decorated with japanese prints, whisky and sake signs. there's arcade games, air hockey, a pool table and a dj. when i've been late at night, there's a dance floor happening too. the best part is the free karaoke - just make sure you book. i've done this on a nuns do of occasions and it has a great range of song choices, you can take your food and drinks in too. for the food, you can get yakitori, gyoza or japanese inspired burgers. not a huge range of food but it's pretty good nonetheless. i have had the gyozas many times and they're very delicious. it was a bit slow to come out. lots of whiskeys (but quite expensive), sake and whiskey based cocktails. cool place to eat, drink and hang out.

large japanese themed bar with food and karaoke. judging by the thronging friday crowd, popular for after work drinks and celebratory gatherings.

what a huge transformation from seedy central tavern to trendy japanese themed goros.  they reserved karaoke but moved it into two private side rooms.  centre of the bar turned into booths with hints of japanese decoration.  a few japanese beers are on tap including asahi and sapporo.  the $9 pinot gris tasted horrible, i should have known and sticked to japanese beer.  we visited on a saturday night and the place was packed. majority of the crowd looked in 20s, there were a few japanese themed fancy dress party happening as well.  music was somewhat rnb and somewhat pop, probably catering for the young crowd.  if you are still down with the kids, you might find this place exciting.

goros would be a good place for a few drinks with friends. my boyfriend and i went there for the tuesday night $15 kaarage chicken. it was pretty quiet for a tuesday night, and was definitely more of a pub/bar vibe than we expected. regardless, the chicken was really delicious. the batter was seasoned perfectly and the outside was deliciously crispy with the moist soft inside - the antithesis for which i always seek out in fried chicken! i ordered the agodashi tofu which was cheap (only $12) and a good serving for the price but i was still pretty hungry. it was okay, certainly not the best agodashi tofu i've ever had, being a little bit flavourless. i would love to try some of their chip options, like tougarashi fries that are unfortunately only available after 10pm thursday to saturday. i also ordered a shochu infusion drink which was fun, as i had never tried a shochu drink. overall, goros wasn't bad, with the fried chicken definitely the highlight. i would go back with friends for a few drinks and the chicken, but wouldn't go back just for dinner.

goros is decent enough. small menu and more on the not healthy option japanese food. the best thing about the place is the giant stuffed garfield that sits in one of the booths.

came here for farewell drinks not long ago. unexpectedly cool interiors and certainly will be full during weekends, goro's is another funky place to visit, browse or simply having a good catch up with friends. clean and decent. their gyoza and fried chicken were tasty and good companions for beers/sake/plum wine. haven't tried their burgers and their wednesday specials yet, but keen to go back :)

walk through the doors. major "otaku" vibe. air hockey, point blank and street fighter arcade machines sit nearby the karaoke room. a massive garfield sits on the couch near the pool table. turn tables pump hip beats. posters of retro anime and samurai films plaster the walls. there's japanese geek paraphernalia everywhere. love it.

tuesday evening. chillaxed vibe. walk over to the bar, super wide. not too busy. we order sapporo's and asahi's. they're poured fresh from the tap. the best way to drink these beers. fresh. sip. aaaaahhhhh. so fresh. look at the menu. everything's deep fried, fried, grilled, barbecued, charred. you're in an izakaya. f*ck your salad.

we sit down in our monster sized izakaya booth. love the roominess, the size is a japanese dream. nothing like this in tokyo.

food arrives.

first, goro's fried chicken with wasabi mayo ($17.00). the plate is massive. pick up a piece of karaage. piping hot. crunch, crunch, crunch. awesome flavour, bites crunchily. is that a word? who cares. the chicken's been marinated properly. good. that's all i care about. and the crunch. did i say it's crunchy? yep.

second. pork gyozas ($14.00). steamed. should balance out the deep fried goodness of the chicken. pick it up and pop it in the mouth. nice and tender skins. flavoursome pork filling. sprinkled with shichimi. nice little spicy kick but not over-the-top. i like it.

thirdly. piece de resistance. teriyaki wagyu beef cheeseburger with crispy bacon and a plate load of fries ($18.00). too much food. cut it in half. sharing is caring. bite into it. fantastic smoky char on the wagyu meat patty. teriyaki sauce, tomato sauce, japanese mayo all mixing together in my mouth. cheese, bacon. it's a heart attack waiting to happen. life's short. enjoy. eat.

goros. it's a good time. only two people the other night. next time, bringing a small army. next time, drinking buckets of sake and downing japanese highball whiskies.

nb - on a wednesday night after 5pm, arcade games, air hockey, pool and karaoke are all free. games unlimited. thursday nights, there's a double teriyaki wagyu beef cheeseburger. it's called a godzilla burger. how cool is that?

i love the level of detail there is at goros with its japanese decor - from it's cute kawaii figurines, to the paper lanterns, manga wallpaper, karaoke rooms, neon arcade area.. even if you go here for a visit and not for food, you'd still be in for a treat. 

i went here with a group of 4 so we sat at one of the booths in the middle of the room. the colours of this place really transports you to another world & the down-to-earth-ness of the staff make you right at home. we also went here on a wednesday evening which was the $15 curry special with kirin beer.. my god the serving of this was huge for $15!! and it tasted pretty good as well, i recommend their curry! 

after a few drinks and food, we tried out their karaoke room (free!) which was a load of fun, especially with their wig selection that you can wear while jamming out. 

just a note that the food here is good, as long as you know what to order.. the beef short rib show down sounded promising however did come out quite small and also not satisfying enough for $12..
the perfect atmosphere to hang out with friends, and make sure to take the time to wander around the place, i'll be back again for sure!

a woman walks into a bar, and two minutes later, she’s got her favourite japanese beer in a can – yona yona pale ale ($11) - in hand, watching b-grade film clips, while casually eyeing off a diverse crowd venturing behind back-lit rice paper screens.she makes quick work of a classy, ceramic flask of houraisen ‘bi’ junmai daiginjo sake ($36/180ml) whilst wondering idly if ‘private room karaoke’ is a euphemism

goro’s

a nice addition to this end of town. it’s kind of in an odd spot for a bar, but we need a lot more bars in odd spots, in the fairly quiet areas of town if we have any hope of catching up to melbourne’s epicly saturated bar culture. within a stone’s throw of central station, it’s a super convenient location.

less than a 5 min walk from the likes of the wild rover and tio’s. it’s impossible to miss with the cool neon signage.

goro’s reminds me of your average cheap and cheerful tokyo izakaya, with a few small differences.

it’s larger than any tokyo izakaya, but it doesn’t feel too big for it’s own good.

you keep your shoes on.

and there is no all you can drink/eat options which is a shame, but this is australia.

this is a place i’ll keep coming back to,

i haven’t tried the karaoke yet, but that’s definitely on the cards...and i’ve since been told a little secret about the karaoke i might just keep to myself

they’ve got a cool selection of drinks, some japanese whisky’s like nikka and suntory, a decent selection of japanese draft, orion, sapporo, asahi, kirin. would love to see some hokkaido ale or the ever elusive yebisu in the future. became a fan of the “unusual negroni” which adds some umeshu into the mix...umeshu is a sweet (although can be sour) japanese sake fruit mix.

the booth seating is a winner, reminds me of many a nights in tokyo getting smashed with friends out in shibuya, playing drinking games, crowding everyone into a tiny booth and then more, smashing our way through epic nomihoadi sessions

the foods not bad, love the sweet potato fries, i hit the wasabi stick on the roulette wheel. which took a little bit to get over. but it wasn’t crazy hot like my first wasabi experience; sticking a spoon full of the stuff in my mouth.

the foods very simple, nothing crazy over the top, it’s what you get in pretty much most izakayas in tokyo. would love to see some okonomiyaki at some stage in the future. its just easy quick finger food, tasty as all hell...the slider was pretty impressive. totally forgot to take a photo of it as i demolished it in seconds.

i’m really impressed with what they’ve done at goro’s. it’d be so easy to try and go over the top in trying to make a japanese themed joint. this really captures the simplicity of a tokyo izakaya so well. they’re not the most amazing bars, they’re just fun, friendly, cheap and cheerful places to catch up with friends. except this is the 1st one i’ve been to that has a karaoke room...probably because in tokyo the izakayas would be within mic swinging distance of a karaoke; there is no real need to add one.

the only real complaint i have with goro’s is that they don’t have a couple of street fighter ii hyper/super/champion ed. to relive the good old days.

greeted by bouncers and entering a sea of hipsters, i was relieved to have pre-booked a booth. the food needed to be awkwardly ordered at the beer-drenched bar by yelling over people but when it came out, it was delicious. great flavours in everything we ordered and we enjoyed the yakitori roulette with one jam-packed with wasabi. the goros fried chicken was a hit and the wasabi sauce was addictive. it was far too loud to have a conversation but the vibe was fun (air hockey and the like) and i enjoyed getting away from the suits but staying in the cbd.
delicious | loud | will return with a group and in my jeans