Sizzle sizzle sizzle

Small dinner gathering with the gang at Artarmon, Sydney last night. Right! So I travelled all the way from Eastwood to Artarmon; I know some people who drive may say "well, it's 20 minutes drive! Not that far!". Yea, true it's not that far if you drive but I was taking public transport which took me more than double the driving time (there's no direct transport so I had to take a bus from my house and then take train from Chatswood)! I don't mind travelling far for GOOD FOOD though =)

So the restaurant I was heading was Yakiniku Restaurant Wakana. Yakiniku - grilled meat on a smoking hot grill. I've tried Korean BBQ for n times but this was the first time I had Japanese BBQ. Wakana is a side street off Artarmon's main strip Hampden Road (opposite the Artarmon train station); it's a small restaurant so it  will be wise if you have a big group of people to dine in (they open 6pm but it becomes full house really quick!).

The built in hot grill.
Everyone has a plate of 3 different dipping sauces - sesame, peanut and not sure what's the last one (it tastes like soy sauce but a little sour, maybe it's just vinegar).

Tanya and HD were the first people to arrive. Like me, they are very punctual =P

Complimentary salad

Some chit chat while Rina was ordering the food.

Beef tongue
Again, I'm not eating it. These were just theirs!!!

Pork belly

Beef tongue and pork belly sizzled in the grill.

Chicken with some marinated sauce (not sure what's that sauce though lol)

Wagyu beef
Ok so, this was the reason they like to come to Wakana (my first time but not theirs)!
Basically they had wagyu beef for the whole dinner. Everyone was just eating the beef except for me eating chicken and pork!

Wagyu beef curry rice
They ordered  two of this to share between two tables (except for me again lol)

Tanya showing her very satisfying look after eating her wagyu beef!
She was like "Mmmmmm, yummy!"

Pork belly
This was really yummy!!! I like to eat it with the sesame sauce also without dipping any sauces (it already tastes good without dipping anything!!!)

I heard Yoyo saying that Wakana is popular with locals for its excellent value for the amazing wagyu. I'm not sure with that, you know the reason... But I'll also recommend for its great pork belly and chicken =D

Here's the address and phone number if you feel like a yakiniku~

Wakana Yakiniku Restaurant
2A Broughton Road, Artarmon, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9419 7499

Opening hours:
Tuesday to Saturday 12pm-3pm and 6pm-9.30pm (Friday and Saturday til late)
Sunday 6pm-9.30pm
Closed on Mondays

Naughty lunch from Eastwood BBQ Kitchen

Took away lunch from Eastwood BBQ Kitchen (好上好烧腊小厨) - A Hong Kong style BBQ. I know there's a new restaurant started operating recently in Eastwood (location: previously De Macao Cafe) but they have a small shop at the same roll as Super Fresh Supermarket (next to a DVD store) and the shop is only for take away order (I guess this is for the convenience of the customers as they won't be a big crowd waiting in the restaurant to order take away BBQ). And since they have good business, it's really wise to keep this small shop =)

Haven't really dine in the restaurant after it started operating but I have been taking away BBQ from the small shop since their opening in Eastwood earlier this year (another branch is at Chatswood). Honestly, their BBQ are really great! I used to take away BBQ from another BBQ shop in Eastwood (not gonna mention the name here); and since I tried the BBQ from Eastwood BBQ Kitchen, I don't take away BBQ from that shop anymore (what does this mean? Means the BBQ from Eastwood BBQ Kitchen taste better than the other one!).

Let's see what've I taken away today~
It's on the special menu and I don't see this at the Chatswood branch.

咸蛋三寳飯
Erm... I have no idea how to translate this...
Salted egg with three treasure rice (crap -_-|||)???

It has really big serve! And I normally divide into 2 meals.

Yum yum, very attractive （¯﹃¯）

So, what's the three treasure?
Salted egg with 3 different BBQ - soy sauce chicken, char siew and lub cheong
I ❤ the chicken ALOT!!! We don't have this kind of chicken in Malaysia.
In Malaysia, we normally have the steam chicken (白斩鷄) and roasted chicken (烧鷄) while Hong Kong style BBQ do not have roasted chicken (they have dried scallop steamed chicken and soy sauce chicken).
One of the reasons I love the chilcken is because of the ginger and shallot which meant to be eaten with the chicken. Don't think it's JUST ginger and shallot!!! It just tastes more than that!

OK I know it's so FATTENING to have BBQ as lunch!!! BUT BUT BUT I only have it once in a while so I won't gain too much weight from that *finger crossed*

Hopefully I'll get to visit the restaurant soon (not as soon though)! If you are a big fan of BBQ, I'll recommend you to try EASTWOOD BBQ KITCHEN / CHATSWOOD BBQ KITCHEN ^^