HOW GOOD DOES THIS LOOK. Neat, colourful and healthy is just the way the Japanese like to do it and Suminoya at Hosking Place is no exception. While you may be venturing out to Suminoya to eat Japanese BBQ, you will also receive a generous bowl of rice, salad and miso soup with your meal which make it plenty substantial and delicious.
I was stoked when Kayla from Washoku Lovers invited me to try out the lunch set at Suminoya, after a great experience previously with the Oiden, Mappen and Derauma foodies meet! My partner in crime for devouring this meal today? Vanessa of course!
Suminoya is tucked away in a lane way behind Ivy. It has a casual and friendly vibe as the cheerful but soothing jazz music quietly plays in the background. All the furniture is simple, clean and wooden, and each table has its own grill and air ventilator. Thanks to this even as other diners around us begin their BBQ meals the same time as us, we all leave without smelling like smoke! We met with Kayla who had saved us a table and also given us some recommendations for her favourites to order. Thank you Kayla!
A waitress then took over after as we looked over the menu to confirm our choices.
There's pictures for everything on the menu which I LOVE. Out of all the options, Japanese BBQ is something you can't go by without ordering or trying at Suminoya. There is such a neat selection of meats/seafood for the grill all which sound great, so in the end Vanessa and I go with Kayla's recommendations.
The deal is $19.90 for 2 Choices BBQ Set, $26.90 for 3 Choices, and $32.90 for 4 Choices. We are each given $25 to spend so we choose the 2 choices along with some drinks. If you have a Washoku Lovers membership, you can get a free extra choice with your bbq set. So click here to sign up for Washoku Lovers (and check out all their other amazing offers for members as well)!
Peach Calpis & Melon Calpis
Calpis is a Japanese uncarbonated soft drink that tastes milky and similar to yogurt drinks such as Yakult. I think it goes great with any meal because it is quite light and sweet. I've never had any other flavour of Calpis besides the original so I find the peach and melon flavours really nice and refreshing!
Not too long after, our sides for the BBQ meal set are set on the table and we have a little taster before the meats arrive and the grill is switched on.
Japanese Salad
I love these salads offered in many Japanese eateries. It typically contains leafy greens, shredded carrots, sweet corn kernels, and grated onion in a sweet-soy dressing. So simple and delicious!
Bowl of Rice
This is a huge generous bowl of white short grained rice for each of us and part of what makes the meal so filling and substantial. The rice is fluffy, soft and sticky enough to pick up with chopsticks.
Miso Soup
The soup is in such a cute little bowl with its own lid! Be careful when you open it as a lot of steam will initially escape. The miso soup is warm and lovely with generous amounts of tofu skins, seaweed and green onions.
My 2 Choices: Wagyu Beef Rib Finger & Duck
I was not expecting much out of these choices because very rarely does "Wagyu" on a menu in Sydney translate to good, but THIS was amazing. The Wagyu beef rib fingers came in pre cut little chunks and seemed to be lightly marinated in a sweet soy. It cooked relatively quickly on the grill and basically MELTED in my mouth which made me fall in love with it. Highly recommend it and am so excited to come back for this! The duck was also really good but needed to be cooked for much longer as the cuts are very thick. Despite this they remain juicy and yet lean with a delightful taste of similar sweet soy marinade.
Vanessa's 2 Choices: Wagyu Beef Rib & Beef Tongue
Both of these meats were very thinly sliced allowing them to cook quickly and beautifully on the grill. The wagyu beef rib was marinated just like my rib fingers, and also melted in the mouth. Surprisingly the beef tongue was also tender and almost melty rather than being the overly chewy and thick slices like other BBQ places tend to offer. This plate had an additional wedge of lemon however there was no need for it as the meat was perfect on its own.
My beautiful dining partner!
Satisfying BBQ-ed meats on the grill. My tip is to leave it a little longer on there so the fatty parts develop a nice and crispy char!
Vanessa and I at first looked at the amount of food and honestly thought it was a little bit small but surprisingly we left this place extremely full and satisfied to the brim. The portions ended up being just right and well balanced. To add, it was all so delicious.
I highly recommend you make your way to Suminoya for your Japanese BBQ experience and the Lunch Set that we tried with your number of choices was absolutely perfect. A great deal if you ask me. Let me know in the comments below if you've been here and what your experience was like! :)
Again, a big thank you to Kayla at Washoku Lovers for this opportunity and I'm so happy to have discovered my new favourite JBBQ place! xx
TL;DR:
Price: Good value sets
Quality: High
Service: Friendly
Ambience: Casual and friendly
Suminoya
1 Hosking Place,
Sydney NSW 2000
Open 7 days a week
Weekday lunch: 12PM - 2:30PM
Weekday dinner: 6PM - 10:30PM
Weekends: 5:30PM - 10:30PM
Kimmiebites dined at Suminoya as a guest of Washoku Lovers. All opinions and thoughts expressed in this post are a genuine and honest representation of my true experience.
