Tokyo Chubo - Sunnybank

So at the end of last year, there have been quite a few low key openings of Japanese Restaurants around the outer suburbs of Brisbane. There wasn't too much fanfare by way of social media or promotions and I had mainly heard about these through word of mouth from friends. Quite intrigued, I went to the closest from this list, Tokyo Chubo at Sunnybank. Situated at the same complex as Bull Bar, it is definitely a less popular area in the suburb and you'd miss it if you weren't looking for it.

 

 The restaurant itself was quite small and seats probably under 30 people. Service was friendly but extremely slow, apparently they had just lost their chef and was in the process of recruiting a new one the night we were having dinner. It was still fairly popular in the sense that quite a few people who didn't have a table reservation were turned away at the door that night. The menu had a good selection of set meals as well as sushi.

First dish we tried that night was the Signature Beef Tataki, which was recommended to me. Paper thin, doused in sesame oil and topped with turnip, garlic chips and shallots, it was as decadent as it was abundant in flavour. I loved the contrast of the tender beef with the crunchy garlic, a definite winner in my books.

We also ordered a sushi roll to share, this was the chirashi roll. Although this was a large roll, there was only five pieces which was a bit small for the price. Comprising of kingfish, tuna, salmon, avocado and cucumber, it was also wrapped in nori and thinly sliced turnip. The fish was fresh, but I thought the fish to rice ratio could have been a little more generous and I'm not entirely convinced that turnip is a compatible as a sushi wrapper.

In terms of mains, we had three to share. This was the Chicken Curry Katsu Don. It took a long time to come out but the chicken was freshly fried, moist and had a wonderful crunchy panko coating. The rice had a good texture and the curry sauce was fragrant and warming. I only wish the dish were a bit larger.

This was the Prawn Tempura Udon. Again the portion wasn't particularly big, but the prawn was freshly fried and really hot. The highlight for me was the udon which was tender and delicious served in wholesome dashi broth.

Last main was of course my favourite Chirashi Don. The fish was thick cut, fresh and fairly generous, in my opinion, the best cut of fish in the bowl was without a doubt the fatty salmon belly which was wonderfully smooth and melted in my mouth. The rice was tender and well seasoned, I definitely enjoyed this dish.

Price Range: $30 - $40pp

Taste: 8.5/10
Value: 8/10
Service: 6/10 (slow service)
Environment: 8/10