Saying that the Japanese food scene in Australia is popular is an understatement. It’s seemingly remarkable how Japanese cuisine has established a threshold for Australian food lovers with almost impossible to book restaurants and top Sushi chefs from around the world.
With restaurants such as Sushi E in Sydney, it is clear that sushi is widely enjoyed by food lovers in Australia and will carry on thriving with tastefully traditional and authentic dining. Although Japanese cuisine has not always been popular in Australia, more individuals are turning towards Japanese cuisine as the ultimate dining experience showcasing culture and traditions.
It is said that the first Japanese restaurant started to operate in the 1960s, but there is evidence of other Japanese dining establishments that have been operating since the 50s. Food historians believe that the first Japanese restaurant in Australia was the Sukiyaki Room pop-up that was established by Chieko Yamasaki in 1957 in Martin Place, Sydney.
They later moved to Kings Cross, and in 1961 it was rebranded as Sukiyaki House, which saw the brand developing into a fully fletched Japanese cuisine restaurant serving tasteful authentic dishes.
The 60s quickly saw a blast of Japanese restaurants opening up around the major city centres such as Little Tokyo, Sukiyaki in Melbourne and Perth, and Samurai in Adelaide. Some of these restaurants that were opened throughout the 60s and 70s are still operating and providing food lovers with tasteful traditional Japanese cuisine.
The start of it all was also not the easiest journey for Japanese chefs as Australia lacked in fresh produce that the chefs were used to in preparing their dishes. Produce that is now seen as popular and easily found ingredients, such as broccoli and green beans, were not as readily available back then, which caused chefs to do the best with what they could get.
This lack of ingredients was the reason for the majority of Japanese restaurants fusing Australian-Japanese cuisine and seeing interesting varietiygieis of Japanese meals. With the popularity of Japanese cuisine not showing any slowing down and more chefs becoming well known throughout the country for their spectacular abilities in crafting authentic cuisine, there is still a lot to look forward to.