Father’s Day lands on Sunday 6 September this year.
Have you worked out what you’re doing yet?
A nice lunch is always an option. But if what your dad really wants is a long, unhurried evening with a cold drink in hand, there’s another way to do it.
The Japanese call it izakaya — and at our Sydney City store, it’s not just ramen on the menu.
1. An izakaya isn’t about the food. It’s about the hours.
Here’s the thing about a Japanese izakaya: the food doesn’t all turn up at once.
You start with a drink and something small to pick at. Then a dish arrives. You talk. Another dish arrives. You talk some more. Before you know it, two hours have gone by and nobody’s looked at their phone.
No rush. No three-course timer. Just good food, good drinks, and enough time to actually have a conversation.
For Father’s Day, that’s hard to beat.
2. Start with a drink
Every izakaya night begins the same way — someone orders the first round.
We pour Asahi on tap, and we’ve got wine and sake to go with it.
If you’re after something with a bit of occasion to it, ask for our Junmai Daiginjo, bottled under our own Ichi-ban Boshi label.
Junmai Daiginjo is the top grade of sake — the rice is polished right back before brewing, which gives it a soft, almost floral aroma and a clean finish. You’ll only find it under this label here with us.
It’s a good one to start with even if you’ve never had sake before. Serve it chilled, pour a cup for your dad, and get the night going properly.
3. Order a few things and share them
Izakaya food is made for the middle of the table. Order a few dishes, put them in the centre, and keep going as the night rolls on.
Here’s where we’d start.
Gyoza
We’ve wrapped every single one of these by hand since the day we opened. The wrappers and the filling are both made in-house, and we fry them in a purpose-built pan so each one gets the same golden base.
Shatteringly crisp on the bottom, juicy the moment you bite in.
Plenty of our regulars tell us it’s the best gyoza in Australia. We’re not going to argue with them.
Order these with a cold beer. That’s the way.
Takoyaki
Crisp on the outside, molten in the middle, with octopus tucked inside. We finish them with takoyaki sauce, Japanese mayo and a heavy shower of aonori seaweed.
Eat them hot. Fight over the last one.
Edamame
The first thing on the table at any izakaya in Japan. Salted, still warm, and impossible to stop eating.
It looks like the simplest dish on the menu, and it is — which is exactly why the salt and the timing have to be right.
Kingfish carpaccio
Australian kingfish, sliced thin and dressed with our house sauce, toasted sesame and a generous scatter of spring onion.
Clean, fresh and a little bit special — and the dish we’d point to if you’ve ordered the sake. It’s also the one that makes the table look like an occasion.
Dashimaki tamago
Japanese rolled omelette, layered thin and soaked with dashi stock. Bite into it and the stock runs.
Gentle, savoury and comforting — the dish you reach for between the bigger flavours.
There’s more where that came from: kara-age, okonomiyaki and beef tataki are all on the list too.
4. Finish with noodles
In Japan there’s a word for the last dish of the night: shime. It means “the close”.
After the drinks and the small plates, you finish with something filling — usually noodles or rice. Skip it and the night feels unfinished. Ask any Japanese person and they’ll tell you the same thing.
We’ve been making ramen in Sydney for over 20 years, and our noodles are made in-house every single day. They’re adjusted to the conditions of the day, which is why they hold the broth the way they do.
So finish with a bowl of ramen. Or go for abura soba — our brothless bowl.
No soup — just a rich tare sauce at the bottom of the bowl that you mix through the noodles yourself. Topped with chashu pork, bean sprouts, bamboo shoots and spring onion.
Exactly the right amount of food to end on.
5. Give him a proper night out
A drink to start. A table full of small plates. A couple of hours of actual conversation. Noodles to finish.
It’s an ordinary Friday night in Tokyo — and a genuinely different way to spend Father’s Day in Sydney.
Bring your dad in on 6 September. We’ll take care of the rest.
Where to find each dish
■ Izakaya menu (drinks & small plates)
Sydney City store only.
Level 2, The Galeries, 500 George Street, Sydney
■ Gyoza
Available at Sydney City and Bondi Junction.
■ Ramen & abura soba
Available at all three stores — Sydney City, Bondi Junction and Sydney Express.
See you on Father’s Day.
Our Restaurants
Sydney City
Bondi Junction
Sydney Express