My sense of adventure urged me to buy another Spreets voucher for a restaurant I had never heard of. This time it was a Japanese meal for two (entrée and main) plus wine for $49 at Wasabi Bistro. The reason I decided to try this restaurant out was that I liked their website. I know, that didn’t guarantee that the restaurant would be good but what can I say, a clean and consistent design does the trick for me.
Staff members were very young, friendly but still learning. They took our voucher and offered the menu options. I had noticed that sashimi was in a separate section but the deal description stated you could choose any entrée, including sushi, sashimi and cool tuna carpaccio. I double-checked with the waiter, he said no sashimi but I showed him the printout, he asked someone (I guess the manager) and came back saying “ok, you can have sashimi”.
We didn’t order sashimi. Just kidding! We ordered tuna sashimi and beef tataki to start. First arrived the tuna sashimi, along with a chilled bottle of Hardys Siegersdorf Riesling, on top of julienned daikon and with the typical wasabi and gari on the side. The only downside was that there were 5 pieces of fish, making it difficult for us to share.
Hardys Siegersdorf Riesling (normally $34)
Tuna Sashimi, 5pcs (normally $10.80)
The beef tataki was very disappointing. Instead of delicate slices of quickly seared meat we got what looked like pre-cut stir-fry beef. The serving was quite small, too: again 5 pieces. Alvaro was a true gentleman this time and let me choose between the extra piece of tuna and the extra piece of beef; I chose the fish (it was bigger!).
Beef tataki (normally $11.90)
Next arrived the complimentary miso soup, one of my favourite cheat meals (hey, at least miso is fermented!). The soup was good and piping hot.
Miso soup
For mains we asked for some gluten-free options to try to minimize the damage for the day (the provided soy sauce was not gluten-free and miso can have gluten in it). They said we could have the grilled salmon and the Wagyu steak without sauce, so that’s what we ordered.
Both portions were quite small. The grilled salmon was on the dry side (perhaps because they used sashimi-sized pieces?), and the Wagyu steak was not that fantastic (these days not all Wagyu is created equal) and they forgot to forget about the sauce. At least it was just on one side of the beef.
Grilled salmon (normally $16.50)
Wagyu steak (normally $28.00)
By the end of the meal I didn’t know whether to feel ripped-off because of the portion sizes and average quality of the food or to think it was good enough for the price. I guess I still don’t know.
Wasabi Bistro
Shop 6B-8, 417-431 Bourke Street
Surry Hills NSW 2010
(02) 9357 2076
www.wasabibistro.com.au
I also bought this deal and we went last year. I have to say our food was really nice – no complaints and generous serves. Maybe they are getting more and more stingy as they offer more and more deals.
That would make sense. They need to send the wait staff’s aprons to the dry cleaners more often, too… just saying…
I ate there last year sometime on a voucher as well and found the food to be ok. Nothing brilliant but still satisfactory. I loved the beef tataki but it resembled nothing like what you got. Yours looks terrible!
Mmmm! Everything looks so good!
Sadly I do judge a restaurant by their website. If it is a terrible website and no menu I will tend to move on to the next when browsing. I have had hit and misses with coupons. I think most of them tailor the menu for the cost of what the coupon actually is.
I think you’re right, I guess they figure out a catchy voucher price and then come up with the menu.