One of the benefits of living in a tourist destination is being around after the day-trippers have gone home. Finally, when buses and boats have pulled away, carrying their camera-toting guests, we are left with the locale that we love, the reason that we settled there in the first place. That’s exactly how we feel...

NOTE: In 2023, Izakaya Midori gained new owners. … It takes courage to open a ‘destination’ restaurant, one so out of the way that diners must ‘seek to find’ it. Without walk-by foot traffic, destination restaurants depend on reputation and recommendation, other diners spreading the word about great food and service. Izakaya Midori is one...

For a culturally ‘mish mash’ dish, ramen is unrivalled in its ability to gain fans. Talk ramen and its converts will espouse the beauty of their favourite bowl, not to mention their preferred ramen house. Among its lovers is former Japanese professional rugby player Hiroshi Takeyama, whose dream of opening a ramen restaurant in his...

It’s always fascinating to find out the story behind a restaurant – how the owners came to be here, the concept they envisaged and how that translates into the restaurant’s menu and daily life. No journey is more interesting than that of Kemuri’s owners, Hiroyuki Okubo and his wife Yuki. After coming to Australia twenty...

Pacific Fair is well on the way to creating an ‘eat or shop’ dilemma. As part of a $670 million redevelopment, high end fashion shops with huge investment fit outs have been opening along the boulevard attracting international shoppers and lots of onlookers. The centre is also well on the way to establishing itself as...

From a working man’s dish in China to Japan in the 19th century, to being given ‘haute cuisine’ status in America by chef David Chang, ramen has journeyed along trade routes and survived world wars. Despite being a cultural ‘mish mash’, ramen is unrivalled in its ability to gain fans #noramennolife. Talk ramen and its...

When you’re looking for food on the run, poke bowls are one of the healthiest, most convenient fast food meals in town. The name ‘poke’ (pronounced ‘po-kay’, and written without an acute accent on the ‘e’) comes from the Hawaiian word meaning ‘to slice’ or ‘cut crosswise into pieces’, referring to the leftover pieces of...

Named after the ancient title of Japan, Zipang, Chef Atsushi Mizushima’s cafe has a split personality. By day, it’s a tiny ‘dine in’ or quick ‘grab and go’ eatery where workers stop in to get lunch. By night it’s a romantic laneway restaurant guarded at two entrances by ancient warriors. We first dined at Zipang...

The Gold Coast has been one of our holiday playgrounds, a major decision maker in our choice of a place to settle.  Living here since 1998, Itoshin, owned by Tomy Ito and chef husband Shin, was one of our first dining discoveries, an obvious choice to review for Mietta’s Eating & Drinking in Australia 2001....

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...