Sushi Bay, Penrith
Sushi ? In Penrith ??
I know what you’re thinking: “Sushi? In Penrith?!” I had my misgivings as well the first time I went, but thought I shouldn’t really judge until I tried it.
Surprisingly, I really enjoyed it and several weeks later found myself oddly enough craving for sushi… in Penrith. Only it took me months to come back here, this time properly armed with a camera. Yay!
We ate quite a bit, so I’ll try to keep comments short and sweet.
Salmon Sashimi ($7)
I adore salmon sashimi and while I might not know how to spot a good sashimi cut like Howie does, I know what I like and I fancy that I can decently gauge its freshness. That said, this salmon sashimi was quite fresh and we finished it embarrassingly quick.
Crumbed Ebi Tempura ($5)
Nice and crunchy though there wasn’t nearly enough sauce as there should have been. *sigh*
Pink Lady - Fresh Salmon and Orange, Tuna and Avocado ($3.50)
I grabbed this because it looked a bit unusual. There was a nice zest to the sushi roll where the orange touched it and the tuna was wonderfully creamy. I wanted another one straight away, but thought I should save my stomach for other goodies.
Salmon with Avocado and Flying Fish Roe ($5)
Tastes pretty much how it looks: yummy! The roe (I quickly learnt) was only there for show as when I picked up one roll, most of it fell on to the plate. I resorted to squishing my roll over the fallen roe to pick them up. Hehe
Unagi - Marinated Fresh Water Eel ($5)
F’s never had eel before and was feeling game enough to try it “just this once”. While he didn’t dislike it, it’s not something he’d voluntarily pick up again citing that it tasted a bit too “fishy and weird”. I liked it though with the sweetish marinade and soft-yet-crispy texture.
Sweet Corn Salad ($2.50)
What wasn’t on the train could be ordered from the menu. F had to have the sweet corn salad and while I love corn, this didn’t quite hit the spot for me as I felt it was missing something but couldn’t quite put my finger on what.
Lobster Salad ($3)
The lobster salad wasn’t too bad, but it didn’t taste as fresh as some of the other ingredients in the previous dishes we had.
Egg Salad ($2.50)
What you would expect from an egg salad (only in a sushi roll form): creamy from the mayonnaise and egginess! Mmmmm yum.
Crumbed Chicken and Avocado ($4.00)
The chicken was a bit hard, but the flavours were really complimentary to each other.
Tobikko - Orange Flying Fish Roe ($3.50)
I remember the first time I had fish roe: it freaked me out and only ate it to shut my goading friend up. I’m glad for his goading though as I fell in love with the popping sensation when eating roe followed by a light salty taste. F, on the other hand, thinks that eating roe is too weird and I happily ended up eating both.
Takoyaki ($3.50)
People who have been to Japan keep telling me just how amazing takoyakis are over there. I still haven’t been so I have to make do with what Sydney has to offer (or in this case, Penrith hehe), which I thought tasted pretty darn good.
California - Crab Stick, Avocado, Cucumber, and Flying Fish Roe ($3.50)
I hate it when the avocado pieces or slices are hard in sushi rolls – I find it a bit unpleasant to eat. So I was glad that the avocados I have had here have been soft and wonderfully buttery. Though I think I mainly like california rolls because they look pretty – all that colour!
Grilled Hotate (Scallop) ($4.50)
The scallops were barely grilled so they were almost raw (and last time I had scallop sashimi, it didn’t quite agree with me), but I think the sauces saved it. It was so good. I wanted to have seconds, but I was feeling rather roly poly by this stage. I think the sauces used were Japanese mayonnaise, wasabi mayonnaise (or mustard? There was a sharpness to the sauce) and that dark sauce you get with takoyakis.
Crab Claw ($5)
I don’t think I’ve ever had a bad crab claw and this is not an exception to the case. Mmm deep fried goodness, though again I wished there was more mayonnaise to go around.
The damage
I twisted around to look at how much the plates were priced (they had hung them on the back wall) and noticed that the group of four behind us only had about 6 plates between them. I turned back to our table and was a tad bit embarrassed when I realised we went through about 15 plates between just the two of us.
Outside Sushi Bay
One of the dishes I was looking forward to eating again was the croquette. Sadly, we were informed that they had run out for the day.
Sushi Bay is a franchise with 8 restaurants in Sydney (mostly located out west) with one in Chatswood being built (or so their website says, I’m not sure how up-to-date it is). I don’t think there’s many sushi places way out around the Penrith area and I’m glad that there is at least one decent place to sate one’s sushi craving.
Sushi Bay
Shop R1, L01 Westfield Penrith Plaza, Riley St
Penrith, NSW, 2750
Ph: 02 4731 8788
Web: http://www.sushibay.com.au/
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By squishies
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This article was written on 20 Aug 2009, and is filed under Dinner, Japanese, Sydney, West.
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Oh I love Sushi Bay! Yeah I know it’s a franchise chain but I admit their sushi really hits the spot. I’m definitely spoilt out here with not 1 but 4 Sushi Bays within close proximity – Parramatta, Castle Hill, Blacktown and my favourite Rouse Hill. Needless to say I eat sushi quite a lot now lol.
Think I might grab some tomorrow actually…
.-= Karen´s last blog ..Winter feast and drinky poos at Mad Cow =-.
He he..don’t get embarrassed the wife & I tend to do the same amount of damage when going to Sushi Bay. It’s the tasting habits of the “Foodus Bloggerus” species.
.-= Shanks´s last blog ..CAFE SPLAT! Queenscliff =-.
Haha you don’t need to be embarrassed, I go nuts at sushi trains too. They are just the right type of eating, a small taste of many different things! Mm that grilled scallop looks good, I love them when they are almost raw!
.-= Steph´s last blog ..Mad Cow, Sydney (Merivale Winter Feasts) =-.
I’d like to see a sushi place with more creativity though… but I definitely don’t mind sushi places
my god, ‘sushi in penrith’ how ignorant can you be. from what level of society are you hailing from to sit and judge from high that penrith should not have nice eateries, if you actually raised your horizons a little you would find that there is a lot more to life and more in the world than you think
jb – i think you took that all wrong.. from what i read squishies is actually confirming the fact that the ‘stereotype’ that penrith or the west can’t produce good food is nonsense. if you read other posts from squishies – Vault 146, Windsor and many more – you’ll see what i mean
i agree with you that penrith has some of the better food around that ive tasted; thai place near the bowling, italian joint just behind the wicked ink tattoo place
squishies – lovely post, lovely pics and big ups for showcasing what penrith has to offer (there are more hidden gems out there). ive tried sushi bay in penrith, chatswood (yes its open), parramatta and blacktown and would have to say penrith tops the lot in freshness
p.s – salmon sashimi *droooooooooooooooooools*
Karen: Hehehe yeah they do hit the spot, don’t they? =D Oh wow! You are really spoilt for choice ^_^ niiiice
Shanks: lol That’s true. I’ll try and remind myself of that next time I start to feel guilty or embarrassed. Hehe
Steph: Definitely, all those yummy and delicious looking morsels are totally calling out for me to eat them =D Hehe
Albs: What kind of creativity were you after? *curious* Like presentation or wild, out-there combinations?
jb: I think the main point of a food blog is to show people places that they might not know of and would like (or should) try. In this instance, it’s not expected to have such fresh seafood in a place like Penrith because it’s so far inland, but in fact there is!
To be honest, I think you’re barking up the wrong tree. I never said that Penrith should not have nice eateries. I am actually really glad that there are good places to eat in the west (and I actually live out west) just to prove that very same stereotype you’ve mentioned to be completely false. Good food should be accessible and available to everyone, not just to those near the CBD or east Sydney.
abercrombie: Thanks =) I appreciate your support and glad you didn’t misconstrue my tongue-in-cheek introduction. It wasn’t meant to be taken so seriously. =P
You should tell me some of Penrith’s hidden gems! Would love to try them out one day. ^_^
At sushi trains, I always eat more than is the recommended volume for a person of my size. How can you resist all the good fare rotating by? Grilled scallop and soft shell crab sushi would have to amongst my favourites. Mmm..
.-= Forager´s last blog ..Oscillate Wildly with me =-.
I find the cup of tea in the background of some of your shots quite humorous. I would say “only in Penrith” but I’m sure inner city Japanese restaurants do the same thing. If you look hard enough. Maybe.
Wonder if that will stir up any more trouble?
Some of the sushi looks nice and they all look quite reasonably prices too.
Regarding takoyaki, if you find the right place in Japan, it’s fantastic!
Who is this F person and how can they not like fish roe or eel? Heathen!
.-= Reemski´s last blog ..Bootleg Bar + Italian Food, Potts Point =-.
i use to work out that way and was suprised they had it there,only because i thought there isnt many asians out there so will it make money? When i was there,there wasnt much busines but i was suprised that the quality was good and the service better than expected
I know there is a sushi bay in Liverpool now,when i went there recently, at 6pm on a saturday night, i was the ONLY one there!! Now i thought Penrith wouldnt last, im pretty sure Liverpool wont………..but i could be wrong!!
Forager: Haha I hear you. I find myself still eyeing dishes that trundle by, thinking that if I split it with someone I’ll be able to fit it in.
Simon: LOL! I actually had to go back and see what you were talking about. I think I’m kind of use to seeing stuff like that to give it a second glance
One day, I will go to Japan and gorge myself on these fantastic takoyakis hehehe
Reemski: I knooooow! I tell him that all the time. Hehe. My chastising doesn’t seem to work though =(
sydneyguyrojoe: There were quite a lot of …. umm non-Asians eating there and quite a few came to do take away. =) So hopefully business is not doing too bad.
[...] and to my smug satisfaction, he liked it. F thought it tasted much better than the eel he had at Sushi Bay, but my smugness was short-lived when he added, “but I wouldn’t go out of my way to [...]