Sushi Bar Rashai, Annandale

I love this place. I even had my 30th birthday family dinner here, partly because it’s such great food, and also because kids are made very welcome. Kids under 10 can even choose a free gift! Lucky ducks. Adults get a free meal on their birthday too if they’ve preregistered.

The menu is really varied and offers loads for vegetarians, non-seafoodies and kids. They even point out the presence of fish in the agedashi tofu, so considerate!

On this occasion, my mum and I came here for a special dinner before she left to go overseas for a while. We went all out with wine, all our favourite dishes and even non-sustainable sushi. (Sorry fishies, I won’t do it again, I promise…) Before our favourites arrived, however, we were brought a little complimentary appetiser of cold, lightly seasoned potato noodles.

One thing that brings me back here again and again is their nasu dengaku – eggplant steak with sweet miso sauce ($9.80). Oh! It’s the best – not too oily and with a light crisp edge, and the sauce while rich and sweet is not totally smothering the whole dish.

Next comes the kabayaki – hands down the BEST eel I’ve had in Sydney. Absolutely gorgeous! And at $10.80 it’s a steal.

Another favourite, beef tataki ($10.80) is done beautifully here. Not quite as amazing as at Iiza, but deliciously delicate and citrussy nonetheless.

The sushi and sashimi here is always a highlight. We shared the sashimi platter ($20.80) which as you can see is plenty for two to share, as the presentation is so cute! My only gripe was they’d overlooked the ginger, but it arrived within moments of asking them for it, and I was happy to see they hadn’t been stingy.

Mum and I are both off rice so to balance out the richness of all this amazing food we ordered a green salad ($7.80). It was huge! I liked the way the “special dressing” came on the side so you can use as much or as little as you like. We ended up using it all as it was delicious – we guessed it was sesame oil/paste and vinegar based.