The Modern Eatery - Mount Lawley

Head up Beaufort Street from the CBD until you’re a couple of blocks south from Mount Lawley’s Astor Theatre and you’re almost at The Home of Aburi Sushi, in fact one of two such shrines to Japanese cuisine in the Perth and Fremantle area. This branch of the The Modern Eatery specialises, like its sibling, in flame-seared nigiri sushi, but in reality boasts a menu that goes far beyond the confines of hand-pressed rice loaded with premium toppings. There are set menus like the ‘Zen’ – Miyazaki chicken with a simple green salad and miso soup – and hearty hot dishes that Japanese food fans the city wide will savour. And for novices the menu comes with a glossary of Japanese food terms!

Irrashaimase – ‘Irra-shai-ma-se’ – Japanese for ‘welcome’.

If you’ve booked a table to sample The Modern Eatery’s impressive range of fresh sushi with a few other tidbits, especially if you’re with a larger group, we recommend you order at least one of the Sumo platters. The first cleaves closer to Japanese tradition, featuring thirty-one assorted pieces of sweet potato tempura roll, salmon nigiri, tuna nigiri, hamachi nigiri (for this the kitchen uses only South Australian Hiramasa kingfish), colourful California roll and the signature Kamikaze roll. Even more traditional is the signature aburi nigiri combo, with a good selection of the flame-seared sushi that is this unique Perth restaurant’s trademark.

Kaisou – a type of seaweed used in Japanese cookery.

If you like your sushi inside out, go for The Modern Eatery’s selection of uramaki, made with the premium ingredients that characterise every dish at one of Mount Lawley’s best Japanese restaurants. The spicy tuna roll is made with Western Australian bigeye tuna with cucumber and a spicy sauce, you can get a classic pairing of New Zealand king salmon and avocado with mayo, a veggie roll with avo, cucumber,lettuce and capsicum with a sweet chilli mayo, and anther moreish vegetarian morsel in the form of the deep-fried sweet potato tempura roll. For a more Australian-Japanese fusion experience, opt for one of the many, colourfully named ‘craft rolls’ – Fry Me To The Moon, The Green Leaf, Ayer’s Rock ‘n’ Roll, the Kamikaze and the Baby Dragon. Whatever you do, don’t forget to book a table at The Modern Eatery’s Beaufort Street restaurant in advance – this place packs out tighter than an oshi sushi.

Uramaki – a type of sushi where the rice is on the outside of the roll.

Check out The Modern Eatery’s Fremantle branch.