Koh-Ya Yakiniku Japanese BBQ Restaurant, Neutral Bay

Beef loin, beef harami and chicken

Four words that elicit thrill yet terror: all you can eat.

For ninety minutes you can order and eat all you like at Koh-Ya. The seafood and yakiniku buffet will set you back $39.80; 44 different dishes and two desserts may set you back three belt holes or more.


Ox tongue

We revel in the Japanese tavern style atmosphere at Koh-Ya, the front room furnished with a giant fish tank, palm trees, bottles of imported beer lined up on the counter and, for some reason, a bicycle hung on one wall.

The all-you-can-eat option comes with a laminated menu, each option helpfully illustrated with photos. It's all-you-can-order in ninety minutes. Rattling off a gluttony of dishes to our waiter, we're soon feasting on salted edamame soy bean pods, spicy kimchee and salad. Still-frozen prawns are whacked on the grill, joined quickly by marinated beef loin, strips of chicken and paper-thin slices of tender ox tongue.


Chinese cabbage kimchee

A silver foil cup holds buttered corn kernels; another holds chunks of mushroom topped with a triangle of butter. Both are cooked on the grill until corn and mushroom are consumed in a bubbling cesspit of golden sunshine.


Prawn cocktail salad

We continue with grilled sardines, velvety shavings of beef sashimi, marinated octopus and a cod roe and egg porridge. Miso soup and jako rice round out the savouries and tip us well over the edge.


Octopus


Beef sashimi

It's a sad moment when we realise there's no room for yukke (raw tartare of beef), dried ray wings, satsuma-age fish cakes or garlic cloves in butter or sesame oil.


Yakiniku - cooking our meat on the grill


Spinach and almond salad

There's always room for dessert though. A platter of rockmelon slices, orange quarters and a cluster of grapes cleanse the palate.

It clears the way for a soft-serve ice cream cone.

And we all loosen our belts another notch with a sigh.



Koh-Ya Yakiniku Japanese BBQ Restaurant
Shop 1, 9-17 Young St, Neutral Bay, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9904 5036

Lunch
Saturday and Sunday 12.00pm - 3.00pm (last order 2.30pm)

Dinner
Wednesday to Monday 6.00pm-10.30pm (last order 9.30pm)
(closed Tuesdays)

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