sushi e

i was staying in a nearby hotel and came here based on reviews. i was not expecting such a glamorous setting. i sat at the sushi bar. cocktail, sushi and service were all great, good value for the package.

if nothing else, merivale sure knows how to throw a fantastic party. after the resounding success of the first ever coogee foreshore festival – a little rain can’t stop them! – they’re following it up with another showcase of their renowned restaurants, this time in the form of wok on! held this time, at the establishment. part of the annual march into merivale celebrations, wok on! transforms the establishment into a marketplace, where mr wong, sushi e, sunee, and ms g offers up samples of their best and most popular, saving you the hassle (and budget!) of visiting every restaurant individually to try their wares.

as part of march into merivale, wok on brings a taste of the orient to the establishment. a selection of merivales asian restaurants include mr wong, ms.g's, sushi e and sunee's thai canteen.

in collaboration with march into merivale festival, coogee pavilion dressed itself up, ready to host a large bustling market of delicious food stalls, family activities, live music and entertainment.  upon entering, i was already hit with smell of aromatic food left, right and centre. i didn’t even know where to start! the festival operates under a token system, exchange for your prepaid ticket or you can pay cash on the spot. after taking in a smart decision to browse the stalls outside as well as inside, i can definitely say i was very impressed by the variety of food options on offer. calamari taco + pork al pastor, taco, cabbage and coriander - el loco  first up were these hand held bundles of joy from el loco. the pork definitely packed some punch and was really enjoyable against the crisp cabbage. the calamari looked too good to deny but it had a bit too much ginger for my liking. steamed scallop and prawn shumai - mr wong i was pretty excited to try out the mr wong stall because i’ve been eyeing them for a while now. i’m a big fan of shumai at yum cha so had to order it. this particular one was still hot, firm and moist, retaining in all the goodness. no faults, just wish they offered some sriracha on the side. ceviche - sushi e  steering away from the standard avocado roll and sashimi, we wanted to try something new - ceviche. the texture was very similar to sashimi but it was much thinner and a slightly ci

march into mervivale (merivale’s 5 week long food and drinks event calender) takes us to their large palatial coogee pavilion. stalls from mr wongs, el loco, papi chulo, deus, sushie all feature with eats from all the vendors. luckily the weather gods were kind and the passing shower came and went. we spent 4 hours at the event and the always bustlin coogee pavilion was a hub of foodie fans and the festival catered for all; even the young uns with puppet shows and their large play area. we did mention deus were here and for a nifty 2 tokens (approximately $11.25) you can net yourself a nice deus logoed tee that they screen printed on site. got tokens will travel. going from the top down. the adults only coogee roof bar was bustlin. march into merivale didn’t extend upwards but you’re able to wander round with your eats and dine upstairs. the seaview and the 3-4 bars upstairs means you’ll be well taken care of.

the food was of the finest quality. we had prawn dumplings, another entrée which appeared to be tempura prawn sushi, encased in a tempura batter, snapper tempura and sashimi. normally we would not select so much deep-fried food, but the tempura was light and didn’t sit disagreeably in our stomachs.

the timing of the main courses was a bit off– i had finished my tempura snapper before my partner received his sashimi—but the server apologised and offered my part

sushi e has been sitting on my wish list ever since it was chronicled by one of my favourite food bloggers, pris of food porn nation . i was sold as soon as i saw awesome japanese tapas, fresh sashimi and some modern takes on traditional japanese staples. let me try and sell you now (i swear i have no arranged marriage in place with sushi-e. speaking of, you know my old man has been trying to pimp me out to some of our family friends? he sends photos of me to them accompanied by a question mark than eagerly awaits responses. i wish i was making this up).

don't bother eating here... drinks only.... i've been here twice now, the first time i shrugged off the lack of any customer service as i popped in on a busy friday night and hadn't made a booking. upon on my second return here (in a group of 6), the service was such a joke that this review was inevitable. i had to wait almost 40 mins for my table even though i had booked well in advance (they did give us a complimentary drink each to apologise for the delay) however the wait times between being seated, ordering and then waiting for our food was just ridiculous. even when i got up and approached our waitress (who seemed to be avoiding us) and asked her nicely how long our food would take she brushed me off (another round of complimentary drinks arrived thereafter...) after waiting almost an hour and a half for food, it finally started coming out (slowly... one dish at a time...)
all in all, the venue looks great, service is almost non existent, food is nice when you finally do get it but overpriced and the kitchen is way too slow... we left paying our $800+ bill some of us still hungry (they forgot some of the food we ordered but charged us for it) and very over it. not worth the money when you spend half the night waiting and hoping that it's your food coming out of the kitchen! won't be back again unfortunately.

sushi e is part of the oh-so-chic establishment, the entertainment venue on george street. located on level 4 and adjacent to the lounge/bar hemmesphere, sushi e is modern, sophisticated, and sexy as hell. head sushi chef nobuyuki ura (pictured below on the right) and his team are fanatical about sushi, and if you're dining as a pair they seat you at the marble sushi bar so you can see all their knife work. i briefly walked around before our meal and the precision and dexterity as they worked was incredible. i love sus

before i knew what was happening the tobanyaki arrived, bubbling away in the ceramic bowl, you could actually see it going crazy with the lid bobbling around. the great reveal allowed the aromas to waft around and i instantly picked up on sesame followed by hearty beef.

sushi e restaurant is part of the merivale group, which own many other hip/ high class/ hatted restaurants. with high hopes at sushi e, here comes the food....... -- the food --  large sashimi ($50) fish was fairly fresh. cutting technique was fair. scallops were less fresh / "sweet" than i normally have elsewhere. slightly overpriced for what it is. i've had better sashimi platters. i wish they used fresh wasabi. hotate sushi ($5), scampi sushi ($10), 2x salmon belly sushi ($16),  salmon roe sushi ($8) i wish they seared the scallop slightly as the scallop lacked the "fresh water taste"/ "sweetness" (if you know what i mean). the scampi sushi was fair, again lacked the "fresh water taste". the salmon belly sushi was seared but with no teriyaki sauce drizzled prior to searing, which made it a bit dry. the salmon roe was alright but i've had great ones in japan so i'm a picky one when it comes to japanese food eel sushi ($8) flavours were alright but the eel was a bit dry (not juicy) ba

the dragon ash roll we shared was amazing. strong smokey flavour in the salmon made a great companion to the fried shallots, which are so often relegated to the role of a garnish to noodle soups.

...dearly love flame-seared aburi salmon, and this was no exception. i particularly enjoyed the savoury pop of the salmon roe on my tongue; nothing quite compares to its fresh flavour. the sushi platter on the $33 meal deal menu consists of four pieces of tuna and avocado roll and six pieces of nigiri – tuna, salmon, ocean trout, scallop, snapper and prawn.

yum!. super cool place with super cool food! going back!

great food, great viewing. when i travel to sydney i often come to this place if i am dining alone. a stool at the sushi bar is the ideal place to enjoy your own company and watch the parade around you.

the food here is very good...most of the japanese favourites with a few twists and very high quality produce. at the sushi bar you can watch the chefs prepare the food, the waiters rushing from table to table and diners coming and going. it's easy to lose track of time.

the wine list is very good also. the whole thing may be a little more expensive than your average japanese restaurant but the quality of the food and the experience of the restaurant make it worth it.