Ippudo – “More Cheese Pleaseee!”

Restaurant: Ippudo

Location: Westfield Sydney, Level 5, Shop 5021, 188 Pitt Street, Sydney

Hello! Finally an update about our food adventures – there will be more coming including Seoul and Harbin.

A little background info about Ippudo, it has branches in Japan, the States, Singapore, Hong Kong, Seoul, Taipei and now SYDNEY! After waiting for MONTHS, we finally get to try the reputable Ippudo which everyone has been raving on about.

Perhaps because we went on a Sunday, we were lucky enough to get a seat without queuing. Walking into Ippudo, we are already loving the comfortable and spacious décor of this restaurant!

Needless to say, this bar is what I dream to have in my future home! :)

Gotta love attentive waiters – we had 3 waiters asking if we were ready to order, but because of the vast variety of food and there were only the 3 of us, we had to think carefully about what to order so we won’t miss out on the good stuff.

Portobello mushroom and tofu Sukiyaki $10

As soon as I saw this, I knew I had to order it just because it is a mushroom dish! The Portobello was a bit hard for my liking but the tofu and the sukiyaki broth was delicious.

Chicken cartilage and pork tsukune $10

We didn’t envisioned the dish to look like this, that’s why when the waiter arrived with this dish, we were a bit confused and thought they gave us the wrong thing! The cartilage gave the tsukune an interesting crunch, however it was a bit bland by itself. Candice was a bit reluctant to try it with the sauce which the waiter described as spicy, but in fact, it was quite tasty (not spicy at all) and went well with the tsukune.

Deep Fried Camembert $8

We actually didn’t order this at first because I didn’t see it on the menu, but apparently Candice suggested it to me but I guess I was in selective hearing mode (sorry!). I am so glad that I saw it because THIS is the highlight of our visit to Ippudo. When you take a bite of this lightly battered piece of heaven, the camembert oozes out. It doesn’t help that Camembert is one of our favourite cheeses. This dish was so amazingly mouth-watering that we HAD to ordered for a second one.

I was told that the branch in Hong Kong doesn’t have this dish! I wonder if Ippudo Australia has created this dish to suit the cheese lovers (like us) here.. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR CREATING THIS DISH!

Salmon with seasonal vegetables $15

As we finished our entrees, they changed our dishes. We were quite surprised by this because I can’t remember a time when we are given clean dishes unless we are in a fining dining restaurant. Gotta love Japanese and their politeness :)

The salmon was succulent, but there wasn’t anything particularly special about this dish.

Wagyu with bean sprouts $18

The wagyu were cooked perfectly and bean sprouts absorbed all the delicious juices.

Shiromaru Motoaji $15

The famous noodles were served the last, and it was certainly worth waiting for! Their soup base was more-ish and the noodles were thin so it wasn’t too filling, which was good for us considering we did try their other food as well. We shared a bowl among the 3 of us and it was just enough.

Black Sesame Panna Cotta $7

Although we had our heart fixed on frozen yoghurt after Ippudo, we couldn’t help but try one of their desserts! However, we were quite disappointed as the panna cotta did not really have that rich black sesame taste to it and I would prefer it if they had put less gelatin.

Hakata (Gin, Sake and grapefruit juice)$12 and Lychee Mojito $16

Ippudo has a wide range of cocktails to choose from, we had a hard time choosing what we wanted.

Since I was craving for grapefruit juice, I chose Hakata. Sipping on the Hakata, I thought “this just taste like fresh grapefruit mmm nice.. but where’s the alcohol?” Then after sipping half the cocktail, the alcohol kicked in! I like it when the juice disguises the alcohol in cocktails. And Candice being a lychee lover chose the Lychee Mojito, it was nice but the alcohol gave her a minor hangover the next day.

Overall, I would come back to Ippudo without a doubt – especially for their fried camembert! The service was terrific and the price was not too expensive for their quality.

So.. Has anyone tried delicious fried cheese anywhere else?

Xx
Feli