Izakaya Samurai, Neutral Bay

Izakaya Samurai recently celebrated their 3rd anniversary. I totally rate Izakaya Samurai as one of best Japanese restaurants in Sydney. I love the fresh produce, the friendly staff and the prices are reasonable for the portions.

To celebrate the occasion of Izakaya's 3rd Anniversary, Yuri, Melle and I had a few choya sodas to start the night and then waited for the Tuna show to start. It's a sweet and low alcohol drink. 

To mark the anniversary, there was a special cutting of tuna at Izakaya Samurai.The staff put on a brilliant and informative demonstration of how this 40kg yellow fin tuna is prepared.

The tuna head was epic (above) . I'm impressed by the size of the tuna fish however I'm told this is a smaller sized tuna. In Japan, some tuna is so large that the price can exceed a million dollars. With expert knife skills and he delicately slices up the yellow fin tuna and explains where the best parts of the tuna are.

The tuna is so cleanly cut. I'm very impressed.

What a tuna show!! Melle is super impressed as well. Yuri smiles and we all shot some sake to celebrate! I'm loving the style from this guy below. We sit down and start ordering up a feast.

After the Tuna show, we are inspired so we order mostly tuna dishes and salmon dishes. I tell Melle that the last time I came here that the sushi and sashimi were so tasty and fresh. 

She nods but it's not until she starts eating the salmon nigiri and sashimi that her eyes light up and says ohhh wow this is really fresh and tasty. Yuri then explains which tuna is which.

There are three grades of tuna available on the menu tonight. 

Melle prefers the medium grade (above) and we all enjoy the usual tuna grade sashimi and nigiri which is typically served in restaurants. The usual tuna grade is a deep purple. Yuri explains that the lighter the tuna, the higher the grade. Below is the highest grade which is fatty and delicate. I love it!

I typically love my salmon and kingfish over tuna but tonight I am really enjoying the yellow fin tuna. To make the meal a bit more substantial, I also order some wagyu beef and gyoza.

I take a photo of Yuri taking a photo. 

The gyoza (below) is authentic with thin dumpling skin and a pork mixture inside. Melle comments that it's delicious and the filling is slightly sweet. I'm a sucker for gyozas. One side looks a bit more cooked than others (below) however it all tastes the same.

I have a great meal at Izakaya Samurai. If I lived nearby, this would be my regular haunt. I love it.The produce is so fresh and the staff are so friendly. You should book though, I saw a line of about 20 people outside waiting for a table at about 8pm.

Check out my previous experience HERE 

I love this place and it's definitely one of my favourite places in Sydney. I love Japanese cuisine and Izakaya Samurai brings together fresh produce, friendly service and reasonable prices. LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT.

Weekend Food Escapes dined as guests of Washoku Lovers. All words, photos and opinions are my own.