Dinner at Osaka Trading Co., Forest Lodge, Sydney

Date attended: 17 October 2016 Style: Restaurant/Izakaya Cuisine: Japanese What to look out for: The kingfish sashimi – and their cocktails!

“Osaka Trading Co. was an intimately cosy place that had a lot of character, great food and amazing cocktails!”

My couple roommates and I recently moved into the Forest Lodge area. As young professionals having confidently navigated other parts of the big, blue world, we weren't too familiar with Forest Lodge. However we did quickly discover our local shop - Tramsheds - which is a stylish retail hub with hip eateries. And to be frank, it was a place we would frequent.

One night, my roommate and I were up for a girl's night in - and by in, I mean visiting Tramsheds for dinner. Even though we lived around the area, we decided to make it a date and try out Osaka Trading Co. - a Japanese izakaya-style restaurant and bar (the same guys by the owner-operators of their sister venue in Surry Hills, Tokyo Bird).

This place was too good not to take snaps of the joint, so there will be a nice mix between interior and food.

The bar and inside seating area

The kitchen and seating

Little Swanport Pacific Oysters, Nori, Dashi

Kingfish Sashimi, Fragrant Ponzu Sauce

Grilled Hokkaido Scallops, Sweet Soy Onion Butter

The cocktails finally come! Left: Kansai Bloom – Right: Orchid Rose

Octopus, Shiso Pesto, Crisp Potato

Angus Striploin, Japone Sauce, Mushroom with Salad

Matcha Parfait, White Chocolate Blancmange, Chocolate Soil

Their feature wall consisting of Japanese alcohol

The seating interior of Osaka Trading Co.

What Lexxie Says: Osaka Trading Co. was an intimately cosy place that had a lot of character, great food and amazing cocktails! They have an amazing bar and their mixologists are so rad. Compared to it's sister venue, Tokyo Bird, where it is quite dark (and at times, so crowded where you could be shoulder-to-shoulder with others), Osaka Trading Co. is definitely a restaurant where you can consider having your next date night. In fact, when we were there, there were 2 couples there at the same time that were on a date!

Anyway, let's talk about their food. Little Swanport Pacific Oysters, Nori, Dashi dish - I am not an oysters person. Maybe because of it's viscosity in the mouth or maybe it's the general taste. All I know is that I'm not the type of person you'd impress with oysters on a first date (or any date) with. But as this was part of the course menu, I had to give it a go. Suprisingly, the flavours they put together with the pacific oysters was just the right stuff.

My favourite dish of the night was the Kingfish Sashimi, Fragrant Ponzu Sauce. Nothing else to say except it was fresh, beautifully prepared and plated up.

All their seafood dishes were exceptional and all cooked to perfection! Their Grilled Hokkaido Scallops in Sweet Soy Onion Butter wasn't overcooked and their Octopus, Shiso Pesto, Crisp Potato dish was so good! I remember discussing with my roommate when we saw this dish that the potatoes were a cop out (also we were trying to eat 'healthy' and saw carbs as an enemy of the state to us). But they were so crispy and tasty with the octopus - and the octopus wasn't overcooked or chewy at all.

When we saw the Angus Striploin, Japone Sauce, Mushroom with Salad dish come out, we were slightly underwhelmed. Maybe because it was just another typical meat dish (or maybe because we were really into the amazing cocktails we got). But as soon as we took a bite into the striploin, it was cooked well and the flavours were there.

Whilst I love dessert, I wasn't keen on dessert - said no one ever! It was a good dessert, however there were other dessert places you could try at Tramsheds - like Messina.

If you are ever in Forest Lodge visiting Tramsheds, then Osaka Trading Co. is definitely a safe date-approved place to go for lunch or dinner.