Asagao

Now this is the kind of food I’ll always be happy to eat in a food court! While living smack bang in the middle of Sydney Chinatown, I had the fortune of having pretty much everything I needed within walking distance, and Market City shopping centre was practically my playground, and its food court my dining room most days of the week.
If you’ve been to this part of inner Sydney, you’ll know that the area has no shortage of food court cheap eats that are more often than not also pretty authentic, and most of them happen to be Asian cuisines –surprise!-. But as a former longtime area resident, I can tell you that Asagao was one of my very favourites. In fact, since I’ve never been a great cook, I would come here up to 6~7 days a week!
Asagao is one of those Korean-​run Japanese chains, just like Asakaze, but I personally prefer Asagao, and this particular location. Their speciality is sushi rolls, and unless you’re familiar with the sushi culture in Australia, this needs some explaining: in the U.S., restaurants have «specialty rolls» on the menu. These are distinct from what Aussies consider «sushi rolls» in many ways, including pricing and serving size. Specialty rolls in the U.S. are usually made to order and typically set you back anywhere from $ 10 to $ 17+, and they are usually, but certainly and disappointingly not always, longer with 6~10 pieces. They have interesting names such as Sexy Mama, Gator, Dynamite, and Da Bomb. There are regionally inspired specialty rolls as well, such as DC roll and Tampa roll.
Now, in Australia, sushi rolls are much more affordable and accessible, and the culture more casual, and I say this because heaps of takeaway shops will have a whole variety of rolls of all different fillings and sizes, pre-​made and ready to pick up and eat anytime anyplace. Some restaurants and sushi train vendors are exceptions, as you can have your choice of rolls made to order in these settings.
Well back to Asagao, what I really meant to say was that I miss the sushi culture back in Australia –all you Aussies, don’t ever take street sushi for granted!!!-. For less than $ 10, for example, I could come to Asagao and get a handful of sushi rolls to stuff my face. Their rolls are about half the length of a typical specialty roll and indiviually cling wrapped. My favourites include tuna cucumber, spicy pork, seaweed, tomago, and raw salmon and veggies.
There are other standouts on their menu board that I’ve tried and would recommend, as well:
— Fish bibim rice: a bowl of steamed rice topped with fresh, raw fish and mixed veggies. They serve this with a bowl of miso soup and a tangy dressing which you MUST try and pour and mix thoroughly before serve.
— Oyako don: a bowl of marinated steamed rice and chicken strips mixed with egg scramble. You’ll taste a hint of teriyaki sauce and soy sauce, but you really need to try to see what I mean. I prefer this to their plain chicken teriyaki bowl because the chicken strips for Oyako don are always more tender and flavourful.
— Beef bibim bowl: it’s a Korean staple, and for a little over $ 10, this is one of the best in town, unless you’re willing to ‘splurge’ a bit at Bibim to Mix on William Street.
A bonus point comes from the fact that towards the end of day, they put most of the unsold pre-​made foods on top of the display case on sale, and you could get a deal on everything from agedashi tofu and okonomiyaki to seaweed salad and kimchi.
Hello Asagao~!!!

While browsing Paddy’s Market for tacky and cliché souvenirs, hunger started to kick in. None of the fast food offered at Paddy’s looked appealing, so I headed upstairs to the food court in Market City.
Although I craved Japanese food, the westernized rolls and teriyaki bento boxes at Asagao weren’t really what I had in mind. And I wasn’t sure how fresh the pre-​packaged nigiri was either. In the end, I settled for a seafood okonomiyaki and a soft shell crab roll. The seafood okonomiyaki was cold. It was premade and on display, but wouldn’t it hurt for them to heat it up for me? Other than the temperature, I thought the portion size was fairly large, and with plenty of squid. The soft shell crab roll was decent. It had very crispy battered soft shell crab, imitation crab, and cucumber. The rolls were large, so it was very awkward and messy to eat.
Aside from all the pre-​packaged food on display, the other food is made fresh when ordered. Service was very quick and friendly. If you want a cheap Japanese meal, Asagao is a good option. But if you want real Japanese food, look elsewhere.

Le sigh… I was really hoping to give this place more stars…
This was my second time visiting Asagao for lunch. First time was a few weeks ago when I had this delicious sizzling platter of Pork Belly and Rice. Although it hit the spot, it was a little on the greasy side. Today I tried the Chicken Katsu Don.
For $ 10.80 ($ 1 more than Asakaze downstairs), I was happy to see the generous portion size. But just like life, size ain’t everything. Right Ladies??? ;)
The chicken was all sorts of wrong. Chicken Katsu should be crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. It was soggy on the outside and rubbery on the inside. Even the fried egg didn’t make much of a difference. To top off my mediocre lunch, the Miso Soup was luke warm. Bummer!
Maybe their Chicken Teriyaki Bento Box is better… I’ll give that a try next. But if you want yummy Chicken Katsu Don for $ 1 less, head downstairs to Asakaze.

I got the chicken dosirak and it was delicious! It came with a lot of food and small items. This is a great place to go to for a quick fix!

Pretty good rolls here, there are many choices int he city for hand rolls, many are cheaper, but these seem to be pretty good. I would recommend this place to my friends, worth a try if you’re in the area.

This shopfront in the level four food court in Marketcity is one of the only places I will choose to eat when I’m there. First of all, their food is always presented beautifully so it always looks appetizing to eat, and secondly, their food is always cooked fresh to order. They make really delicious barbecue dishes here (served with rice of course) and you can still hear them sizzling when you bring them to your table.
The place is usually busy, but still it doesn’t take forever to get your meal. If you want something more along the lines of a snack, they have prepared sushi rolls and sashimi packs ready to go. The prices here are average but not top dollar, and definitely worth the food you’re getting.