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Izakaya Umakamon

If approachability is the mark of a true izakaya, then Izakaya Umakamon has it in bucketloads. Tucked opposite the Novotel Surfers Paradise and a few doors away from The Island Hotel, this tiny izakaya is located close to the heart of party central. Seigo Hakata, former Head Chef and Manager of JFX, opened the 22-seat...
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Tonight, Kemuri Japanese held the first of its Izakaya Omakase share menu of eight exceptional courses for a minimum of two people at $45pp. Wine, sake and beer can be purchased by the glass, or chosen by Sommelier Hiro (ex-Paper Daisy and Ten Japanese) to match the courses. The restaurant is decorated in izakaya style...
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Australia is a land of immigrants, all of whom have put a bowl on the Australian dining table. The Greater Ipswich area is home to immigrants from many countries, each one bringing with them their national specialty dishes. We don’t need to travel to try the cuisine of other countries. It has come to us!...
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Cafoo Izakaya has settled quietly into the space that held the Blue Door on 5th in Palm Beach. With burnt timber and black painted walls, driftwood chandeliers and iron lanterns, the rear dining room hung with fairy lights, the venue has sprung into new life as an izakaya. And why shouldn’t it! After all, owner...
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The back streets of Japanese cities are filled with tiny eateries, each specialising in different dishes. They’re the inspiration for travellers who have gone home to create their own version of Japanese culture with ramen and yakitori bars, sushi and teppanyaki restaurants, shabu-shabu and izakaya popping up around the world, the latter being one of...
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What do you do when your favourite bar is about to close? You buy it! That’s exactly what Dave Rane and Gavin White, new owners of the Backbone Bar did. With both men working in the construction industry, they took the opportunity to keep the bar alive by purchasing it from former owners Chris Wormald...
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For 25 years, even before Japanese food became trendy, You Japanese Restaurant has been operating on the Gold Coast. It’s an unassuming little izikaya on the Cavill Street end of an arcade overlooking Cavill Park, the sort of restaurant frequented by regulars, or by Japanese tourists who’ve heard about it by word of mouth; a...
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Yamagen’s ‘Friday Lunch by Asahi’ is an introduction to delight; a finely nuanced mini-degustation of the best of the best. I’m a huge fan of the long lunch. There’s no better start to the weekend than the Friday afternoon ‘flex’. As you leave work early to slip away for a sneaky lunch, there’s a hint...
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Get on your ‘little Japanese dumplings of happy’ and get down to Harajuku Gyoza in the Broadbeach Mall. If the combination of beer and gyoza is not enough to put you into a spin, add the zany elements of ‘Harajuku’ and you’ll be doubly happy! The largest of seven outlets of the phenomenally successful chain...
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I have a personal affinity for gyoza. Perhaps it’s my love of the underdog, a sentimental identification with that misshapen parcel of ugliness that hides a hidden goodness. Or maybe it’s my sympathy for the traveller in all of us, for the stereotyped migrant who’s an individual in their own right. Whatever! There’s no hiding...