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Samurai [Restaurant Review ]

What a little gem of a place. I had been planning our visit to the Samurai Restaurant for a few weeks now, after stumbling across it as we walked back to the car from the Balmain markets one weekend. And I'm glad that we made it in the end because it was truly a fine experience. We love Samurai Restaurant!

Samurai is situated in Balmain directly opposite the Cat & Fiddle Hotel, which I may add, has a theatre downstairs and host's good local bands, and most of all conveniently, a bottle shop, which is great as Samurai is B.Y.O.

As soon as we walked through the noren curtain we felt a great vibe about the place. We were the first customers to arrive and were greeted and seated and attended to instantly by the lovely staff, even though they were still adding the final touches to the tables. We watched curiously as one of them carefully made origami animals to place on each of the glasses on the tables.



Whilst reading through the nice colorful menu, green tea was served and a small appetizer of white radish, carrot, and soya bean in soya sauce which was very tasty.

The menu was very good and offered various new and traditional plates. After much debate we started with Samami $8.00 and Seafood Okonomiyaki $11.00, the Samami consisted of 2 skewers of grilled tenderloin chicken topped with avocado and red pepper sauce, the Okonomiyaki was a delicious pancake made from mountain potatoes and topped with seafood and a special sauce. Both extremely nice and the contrast between the hot chicken and the cold topping of the Samami really was refreshing. The Okonomiyaki was a real winner and I would make the trip there alone for another serving of that.

For mains we ordered the Samurai Deluxe Dinner Box Set $24.00 which had goyoza, krocke, sashimi, sushi, tempura, teriyaki chicken, miso soup, noodles and green salad, and apparently the marinade for the teriyaki is home made from a traditional family recipe. The Samurai Deluxe Dinner Box Set was beautifully presented and great tasting, it really was a feast. A word of warning though! This is meant for one-person, but it is quite a generous serving and would be perfect for a sharing couple.



We followed this up with a dish called Donburi, which is a popular and traditional way of eating, with your choice of topping in a huge bowl of steamed rice. We chose Oyako Don $10.00 which had a sweet soy sauce flavored chicken, onion and egg on rice. A very homely dish with plenty of flavour and when they say "huge bowl" they really do mean it. Great value for $10.00 and one for the short list on our next visit.

Samurai is a great place to spend the evening and they have some quirky things going on there. As you walk in there is a bookshelf, which has some historical books, and a nice one on Zen Gardens. I asked if people ever read the books only to be given the customary Japanese "giggle". But it doesn't look out of place and certainly adds some character. One thing I would like to say is how nice all the serving dishes were, from the cups, spoons right down to the lacquered sushi box set.

The great thing about Samurai is that they don't just make sushi to eat they make it to wear. After eating your favorite sushi, why not buy a pair of sushi earnings? They have around ten different types to choose from and they are skillfully moulded from plastic and can be bought for $5.00 a pair.



I had a very nice time there and the low-ambient Jazz playing in the background, the candles and low-lit paper lanterns just added to the ambiance, character and experience of the place and the staff were friendly and seemed genuinely to enjoy their place of work.

I would say that they get busy so it might pay to give them a bell before going just to make sure you get a table, or just rock up really early like we did! You can also call them and order take-a-way and they will get ready your order for you to pick up.

All up it cost us $57.00, which included drinks, so that was pretty good value! Unless you're loved one goes sushi earring crazy.

Samurai is a fantastic little place and it again shows that you don't have to re mortgage the house to enjoy a night out in Sydney and have a great meal. At MI Magazine we try to keep it real and us martial artists are not the wealthiest of folks, great food, excellent value, interesting cozy atmosphere, great presentation, friendly staff, spotlessly clean and a great experience. What more can anyone ask for?