Feeling a little more COVID optimistic, I recently joined some work colleagues for lunch and a chat at Nazimi. Nazimi is situated opposite the QVB building close to Town Hall Railway Station in the Sydney CBD.
Nazimi: The Restaurant
Nazimi is in style and layout a direct descendant of the salary man restaurants which proliferate under major railway stations, or nearby, in Japan. They are the sort of places where everyone can meet after work before catching the train home and have a meal and a beer with friends. They are usually small, intimate places. The kitchen is miniscule. Somehow, delicate and delicious meals appear and a cold Kirin or Asahi, or three, eases the tension of a long day and fortifies you for the long train ride home. So it is at Nazimi. If you long for a flavour of the real Japan, but at a reduced price, then Nazimi is for you. (Note you need to negotiate stairs down into the restaurant).
Whilst it is relatively small, we managed to get a table which accommodated eight with ease.
Cocktails
A large cold frosty Asahi was my first order of the day. It was on tap and was very refreshing on a hot and steamy Sydney day.
Entrees
We started with a bowl of homemade miso soup, with seaweed and tofu. This is a universal pick me up in my view.
After our soup, we ordered a serving of fried pork gyoza dumplings and ebi gyoza (prawn gyoza in a ponzu sauce). The gyoza were as good as I have had in any Japanese Izakaya. Superb.
Main Courses
Our next selection was tempura prawns. The tempura batter was delicate and golden, the prawns were clearly fresh and were large king prawns. Amazing.
We then ordered the special of the day – chicken yakitori (grilled chicken on skewers with a sweet soy sauce), as well as katsu-don (crumbed pork with a Japanese curry sauce with rice).
Still feeling a little bit peckish, we also ordered a serving of chicken teriyaki (chicken thighs marinated in a thick teriyaki sauce).
Wine
It was a BYO bottle of Pinot Grigio from the local pub. Not bad but nothing to write home to Venezia about.
The Review – 3 ½ Stars
This is a great little good restaurant which excels in so many areas. How they produce meals of the quality that they do, at the price they charge, is nothing short of sensational.
Nazimi Restaurant Sydney
- Address: 141 York Street, Sydney NSW 2000
- Phone: (02) 9283 2990
- Website: https://www.nazimi.com.au/
