Lantern is the latest 'Izakaya' (type of Japanese drinking establishment which also serves Food to accompany the drinks) styled restaurant by Wagaya. It features little booths with touch screen menus or you can book a karaoke room so you can sing and eat at the same time.
I was lucky enough to get sponsored by Food Morning and got a $200 coupon to spend at Lantern by Wagaya~ so off I go to get a feast on Japanese food.
We started off with some drinks. The drink menu features drinks named with various gem stones for mocktails.
Garnet $5.90
Mango, kiwi, pineapple juice and grapefruit juice. I thought garnets are red in colour but with a quick google, I soon realised they come in colours of the rainbow with red being the most common. The drink itself was quite sour due to the grapefruit juice but goes quite well with sushi/sashimi.
Blue Lemonade $5.90
Blue Curaco, lemon juice and soda. A drink is found commonly at Japanese restaurants and the taste resembles Ramune.
Amethyst $5.90
Strawberry, calpis, mint and milk. The drink is like a strawberry milkshake with a refreshing tingle as it has a hint of mint. I really liked this drink and it was finished quite quickly.
Renkon Chips $6.50
I can never go past a crispy renkon chip. The menu had a little chili symbol next to this but I assure you it's not spicy at all.
Beef Tataki $9.90
Six slices of lightly seared beef tataki with a lemon soy on a bed of red onions.
Salmon Skin Age $5.50
I'm not a great fan of oily deep fried stuff but my family munched it up in no time. The Salmon skin was earth shattering crunchy and a plate of it only costs $5.50.
Scampi $7.50
Scampi!! My favourite sashimi that's closely followed by cuttlefish. Too bad my brother is allergic to crustaceans so both of them are mineeeeeeee!!
Wagyu Beef $11.50
Charcoal grilled wagyu beef skewers with a shio (salt) base.
Ox Tongue $6.30
Thickly cut ox tongue was grilled to a perfect golden brown with the insides tender and succulent. I wanted to order another serving but resisted since I want to cover as much variety of food as possible so I had to save room for others! :(
Lightly Grilled Salmon and Scallop Box Sushi $13.50
The sushi is topped half with salmon and half with Scallop then drizzled with Japanese mayo and garnished with roe.
Oyster with Mentaiko Gratin $15.50
One of the nicest grilled oysters I've tried. It may look ordinary on the outside but once you bite into the oozey cheese top, you'll find a generous scoop of mentaiko (marintated pollock roe) gratin along side with the oyster. For under $4 a pop, it's definitely worth your buck.
Assorted Sashimi and Sushi Roll (Large) $46.50
With $200 in hand and only 3 people to gobble, I went for the more expensive items on the menu. The large sushi/sashimi box seemed like a nice option. The box came out fairly quickly with super fresh ingredients.
The box had 2 tuna, 2 kingfish, 2 scallop, 2 prawn and 3 vegetarian sushi. Several slices of tuna, salmon, scallop sashimi, 2 prawns and egg rolls.
Assorted Sashimi and Sushi Roll (Large)
Green Tea Cheesecake and Green Tea Icecream $7.50
Home made Green Tea cheesecake was a bit dry and crumbly. I didn't really like it but the green tea ice cream was nice.
Creme Brulee and Ice Cream $7.50
The creme brulee had a slightly thicker glass than the average brulees' I've had. It is accompanied with a scoop of vanilla icecream and a squirt of cream.
It was an extremely difficult task to spend $200 between 3 people at Lantern. The food was fresh, fast, tasty and value for money. I was eating till belly up and only managed to spend just under $170.
Sugarpuffi dine as a guest of Lantern by Wagaya courtesy of Food Morning.
Lantern by Wagaya
Location: Level 2 Sun Tower, 591 George Street, Sydney NSW 2000
Phone: 02 9283 8828
Website: http://lantern-wagaya.com/
