Yayoi, Sydney Westfield

Have you been to Yayoi? It's an authentic and traditional style kind of Japanese that enhances the senses and reminds you of Japan. The new Yayoi is located on level 6 of Sydney Westfield and I head here with a group of my foodies from FCBA.

Yayoi is an authentic Japanese restaurant with the intent to keep the cooking and flavours as close to what you'd find in Japan. The cooking is sleek, clean and moreish.

For those who love Umeshu, you will fall in love with Yaoi's Umeshu collection which is all $8 and comprises of 10 different Umeshu. My favourite and recommended umeshu is the Yuzu Umeshu which is sweet and highly aromatic. It has really refreshing citrus tones from the yuzu which I really like. You also can't go past the Umeshu Classic. It's called the classic for a reason, this is the most widely recognisable and stocked umeshu in many Japanese restaurants. A nice sweet plum wine.

Matt and I end up sitting across our foodie friends Snapshotsoffood who have recently wed. We congratulate them over some edamame ($5). You peel off the skin and eat the sweet beans inside. It's all smiles around as we talk all things life, weddings and food. Edamame is the perfect way to start any Japanese meal.

We also share a number of entree dishes including this Salmon salad ($12) and Tamago Yaki ($7.50) which is a Japanese egg omelette. The egg omelette is light, fluffy and neatly put together. I love a good salmon salad as well with thinly sliced pieces of salmon on top of a bed of lettuce, cherry tomatoes and onion. These two are great entrees to share if you're wanting a lighter start.

For those who are really hungry, you may want to share some heavier a la cart dishes including the Chicken Nambam ($13.50) which is a crunchy chicken cutlet that is topped with a mildly sweet creamy sauce and is served up with a side salad. It's quite a naughty dish but it's hard to resist crunchy chicken. My favourite though was the Salmon with Lotus Root ($20.30). The teriyaki salmon was flavoursome and perfectly matched the softly braised lotus root. I'm smacking my lips as I think of this dish. I highly recommend this dish.

In terms of mains, Yayoi provides a series of "Set Mains" which consists of a main protein and a series of side dishes. It's not quite a bento box but it's called Teishoku. The Teishoku meal is probably enough food and you don't need an entree unless you're particularly hungry. The highly recommended sets are the

• Wagyu Sukiyaki Teishoku
• Unagi Hitsumabushi Teishoku (eel)
• Mix Toji Teishoku
• Yayoi Gozen 

The Wagyu Sukiyaki Teishoku set is $26.80 and has a large bowl of wagyu in a flavoursome broth of noodles. The beef in particular with the broth is really delicious. You're meant to dip the wagyu into the egg. There's rice, miso soup,egg and side condiments. For an additional charge you can upgrade to a clam miso soup or add salmon sashimi.

The wagyu is so delicious along with the udon noodles. I get very slurpy and take a short moment to savour the flavours. The broth is slightly sweet with beef flavours. I also munch on some of the clams. 

Next up is the Mix Toji Teishoku set meal ($19.80) which is a pork cutlet, tempura prawn, wagyu beef and is topped with egg. Again you can upgrade the miso soup with clams or add salmon sashimi. This dish is essentially a giant egg omelette with pork katsu, prawn and wagyu beef. It's nice with some rice and soy sauce. I prefer the wagyu sukiyaki set.

Then there's the Unagi Hitsumabushi Teishoku (eel) set ($26). The Eel sits on a bed of rice which you put in the bowl and add the broth and side condiments. I quite like eel and the eel is very tasty at Yayoi. I prefer the eel without the broth but I can understand why the Japanese would like rice and broth combination. Finally, there's the Yayoi Gozen Set ($32) which is a great set as it has four delightful proteins including Pork Loin Cutlet, Salmon Salad, Salmon Teriyaki and Sukiyaki. It has the greatest variety with rice, miso soup and tofu.

For dessert, there's a few options including the Kinako Warabi Mochi ($5) which is a jelly like dessert coated with soy bean powder. You can also get the Matcha version as well. My favourite pick is the is the Matcha Anmitsu ($8)  which has green tea ice cream with azuki beans, agar jelly and fruits, topped with brown sugar syrup. It's a great mix of texture and taste. I personally love green tea ice cream so I really get into this one.

Summary: Overall, I had a great dining experience at Yayoi. I would highly recommend this venue for date night or a night out with friends. The food is delicious and prepared really well.

My favourites were the Wagyu Sukiyaki set and the Salmon and lotus root dish. I can't resist dessert either - the green tea ice cream is a must. Finally I would wash that all down with a delicious yuzu umeshu.

Price: $30-40 ish per person

Location: Level 6, Sydney Westfield

Opening Hours: 
11:30am to 9:30pm Daily

Weekend Food Escapes dined as guests of the venue or their representatives. All photos, opinions and words are my own.