Edo Japanese BBQ Restaurant

Every single night, I look forward to dinner.

Every single night, I hate deciding where to eat.

Judging by the amount of posts labelled under Japanese I have consumed, you'd think what I ask every night is "What do you feel like tonight? Japanese, Japanese or Japanese?"

I could, should and would. And I probably will.

Sashimi

I don't really know anybody who doesn't like sashimi. Those who don't, are usually misled by their own impressions of it being slimy and having a strong raw, fishy smell. To that, I would say DUH IT'S FISH but actually, quality sashimi has none of that.

Fish that doesn't smell like fish, is good fish.

Edo's sashimi offerings are fresh, thick-cut, lustrous pieces of gold in the form of salmon, tuna and snapper. The brilliance of the colours on the dish are bold, vibrant and is my type of eye candy. I could stare at this all day. IF I resist gobbling it up.

Rice

Calling the donburi version comes with a small heaped bowl of sesame seed studded steamed white rice.
A must.

Sashimi Donburi (Main + Rice)- $8.90

Intense colour adorning the raw fish slices with its white stripey embellishments, its a godsend that fish fat is actually so good for you. Edo lives up to its claims of providing sashimi that is fresh daily, proof when you taste a generous, melty, smooth consistency, buttery slab of these different versions of raw chickens of the sea.

Curry Vegetables Bento Lunch - $9.90

As much as I'll get shunned for this, I think Vegetarians are disadvantaged in the dining world. Because like I've read somewhere, "Becoming vegetarian is a big missed steak" and while anti-meaters will be disgusted with that and the thought of a big slice of delicious juicy steak, I couldn't agree more.

By no means am I anti-vegetarian and I love my meat-free meals and friends alike. I myself, am also pretty meatless and could do with a bit more on my figure. But life is already so full of mistakes that I just simply cannot afford yet another missed steak!

Curry Vegetables

J, as a vegetarian who can only choose Curry Tofu out of a meaty menu, hearing "sorry we've run out of tofu today!" is not a very pleasant experience. Did it mean no vegies no say no lunch today?

Instead of having to watch this carnivore devour her meal, we asked for an on-the-spot creation of a vegetarian dish with whatever meat-free leftovers ingredients they had lying around in their kitchen. Alas Edo whipped up a vegetarian curry compilation of cabbages, carrots, onions, cauliflower and whatever else healthy stuff I don't want to see.

Traditional Japanese curried vegetables among the usual Japanese bento box offerings form a vivid, colourful canvas of colour which sorta makes up for the lack of meat :P

Small Salmon Sashimi - $7.90

The freshness of the sashimi still fresh in my mind, a second time ordering their salmon reinforced this. With a softness that requires minimal chewing, these just about melt in the mouth with a sharp wasabi hit. I tend to deliberately hit myself with a level of spiciness I cannot handle every time I eat the stuff. Wasabi consumption just doesn't feel complete without crying.

Katsu Chicken Bento - $9.90

Considering how much you have to pay these days just to keep your stomach from grumbling, at $9.90 for an entire bento box is pretty damn good value. All their bento boxes come with rice, miso soup, dressed garden salad and assorted sushi (sometimes smoked salmon, other times Californian roll...a lot of the time, chicken).

Katsu Chicken

The Katsu Chicken variety features breadcrumbed and deep fried chicken fillets. Dribbled with that recognisable dark sauce, but even better combining these golden strips with the rich, creamy and absolutely MAGICAL Japanese mayo blob in the middle.

Wasabi Beef Bento - $9.90

Before my crazy food fanatic days, I'd come to Edo and seeing wasabi beef really excited me. The first time, they'd misheard my order and gave me Teriyaki beef instead. Upon sending it back, it seemed that they plopped this splatter of wasabi cream on top and sent it back to me as Wasabi beef. It musn't look like this, I thought.

The second time, it came out looking like the same splat on non-wasabi'ed sauce drenched marinated beef. I was still in doubt.

This third time, I finally accepted that this was indeed Edo's variant of wasabi beef. Usually I don't need very much, if any at all! convincing. Very different to my interpretation of wasabi beef, where the wasabi is stir-fried into the beef. This version is suited better to those who are a bit of a wasabi wuss, as the sauce isn't distributed evenly over everything. To me, this is everything a teriyaki beef with wasabi topping should be.

Salad, Miso Soup & Sushi

ANNNNNNNDDDDDDDD I'M BAAAAAAACKKKKKK! - about a week or so later. When coming for dinner, choosing teppanyaki is a no brainer and comes oh so naturally. It's one of the more affordable Japanese BBQ options I've spotted in Perth, if not the cheapest. This art of dining doesn't take up a lot of stomach space but your wallet ends up with a large dented space :(

Teppanyaki at Edo doesn't come with the personal theatrical cooking show or with talented chefs throwing your dinner at you. $25 can probably get you half a steak or so at fine-dining but here you are loaded with a set menu of salad, soup, steamed rice, teppan vegetables plus different entrees and barbeque mains, depending on your choice.

My choice? The Sakura.

Sushi Entree

The meal starts off with a sushi entree - simple, light, leaves you delirious for more.

Fillings aren't shabby or skimped on either, which is always good to see. On this occasion, prawn and tuna sashimi make extravagant appearances.

Fish Fillet

A small, lightly pan fried fish fillet is presented next, which you should savour really, really, really slowly while waiting for the rest of the dishes to come.

If you position yourself close enough to the cooking hotplate situated at the counter, you could still get your dose of entertainment of watching the chef's cooking that Teppanyaki is famous for. But if that's what you were really after, you could always just watch yourself cook, in your own kitchen.

Just not the same.

Beef Tenderloin

I don't know about you, but somehow beef becomes exquisite when it is done Teppanyaki style. Whether it is pure chef talent, my own bias, the addition of a secret untold ingredient or just a sprinkling of magic, I fall in love with these tender babies over and over and over again.

With this type of unconditional love, I never want to part ways with eating this. Which might mean I double, triple, quadruple, five-ple, laksjdflkwejvodklawejfkjlksdfj-ple my intended red meat intake in the one sitting.

Unbelievably soft and tender bite-sized cubes of grilled beef, full of aroma and flavour. Served with a pool of cloudy beef stocky sauce, the little juicy meaty pops has me love struck.

Teppan Vegetables

And to balance out a very proteiny meal, a side of stir-fried vegetables (read: mostly beansprouts) makes an appearance. Just cooked, crisp and full of simplicity is just what I ordered.

Teriyaki Chicken

The last to come was this alfalfa garnished, teriyaki glazed dish of chicken thigh meat chunks. All in all, a good balance of seafood, red meat and white meat.

The dishes initially come out slow then suddenly, bam bam bam your table is loaded and delightfully cramped with a feast of mini dishes. From afar, you look like a fatty who over ordered and up close, you feel like a fatty who under ordered.

You can never please everybody, so the best you could do is to please yourself :)

Stumbling around Subiaco, it is so difficult finding food options because there's just TOO MANY! Stumbling into Edo is one of my treasured finds that I often come back to. The place is of simple set up with neat and cute furnishings, with red and black as its dominant colours.

Large number of choices available in the menu with slight changes in prices when it comes round to dinner time. Takeaway also seems to be a popular option with a small availability of seating in the restaurant. And loving restaurants who stay open the whole day, readily available at your call. You get your whole range of Japanese fare at very delicious prices and delicious portions.

There is a casual atmosphere circulating the place with free water/tea, order and pay at the counter system and uniform-free waitresses. Staff are there to do what they are supposed to do, sort of like an inherent no-fuss policy in place. Fine by me.

I think me having 3 dates with Edo in a month is the beginning of something very real.

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(08) 9382 1608

Open 7 days: 11am to 9pm

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