Best Japanese Restaurants in Sydney

Sydney has some incredible Japanese restaurants that feel like they transport you straight to Japan.

Tiny izakayas hidden behind noren curtains, ramen shops with vending machines and tatami seating, smoky yakitori bars and intimate counter restaurants lined with sake bottles and charcoal smoke.

From comforting bowls of tonkotsu to delicate omakase and grilled skewers, these are some of Sydney’s best Japanese restaurants right now.

Best Japanese Restaurants in Sydney

Amuro

Darlinghurst | Izakaya

A tiny Japanese izakaya and sake bar hidden just off Crown Street, with warm timber interiors, concrete walls and shelves lined with rare sake bottles. The menu leans into seasonal small plates, from delicate Hokkaido scallop sashimi with ume and white soy to crispy karaage and rich, comforting beef and onion udon topped with egg yolk.

It feels like the kind of Tokyo backstreet spot you accidentally stumble into and never want to leave. Check out our review here.

Moku

Darlinghurst | Japanese Restaurant

Behind a red noren curtain on Crown Street, Moku is a small Japanese restaurant tucked inside a heritage sandstone building. The menu blends Japanese technique with native Australian ingredients, from oysters with finger lime and ponzu to smoked duck over hojicha and chicken tsukune with raw egg yolk.

Haco

Sydney CBD | Tempura + Omakase

Hidden inside a quiet laneway off Alberta Street, Haco is a tiny Japanese restaurant centred around charcoal cooking and tempura omakase, with just twelve seats surrounding a single counter. The menu moves from delicate tempura seafood and vegetables to dishes finished over charcoal, all prepared directly in front of you.

There’s also a more casual lunch offering built around beautifully executed tempura sets. The calm space, framed by a raw concrete entrance and moody counter seating, feels worlds away from the CBD outside.

TenTo

Surry Hills

Tucked inside an open-air courtyard off Hill Street, TenTo is a Japanese café and restaurant centred around ramen, ochazuke and handmade ceramics. The menu moves from comforting brothy bowls to delicate rice dishes topped with eel, scallop or salmon sashimi, alongside excellent matcha and traditional teas.

Every dish arrives in hand-thrown pottery that feels more like functional art, turning even simple bowls of ramen or tea into something special.

TenTo has one of the most delicious Matcha's in Sydney, check out our best Matcha in Sydney guide here.

Chaco Bar

Potts Point | Yakitori

A tiny yakitori bar filled with charcoal smoke, low lighting and the sound of skewers hitting the grill. Chaco Bar centres around binchotan-fired yakitori, from chicken thigh and pork belly to tsukune and okra, alongside rich bowls of ramen and excellent sake.

Tight tables, handwritten specials and chefs working over smoking charcoal grills give the whole place the feeling of a proper late-night Tokyo yakitori bar.

Ramen Auru

Crows Nest | Ramen Shop

One of the closest things in Sydney to a neighbourhood ramen shop in Japan. At Ramen Auru, you order from a vending machine before stepping into a tatami dining room with low tables, warm towels and glasses of iced barley tea.

The menu centres around rich tonkotsu ramen with customisable noodle firmness and broth richness, alongside lighter bowls like yuzu shio ramen. Even the small details, right down to the bidet in the bathroom, feel distinctly Japanese.

Nomidokoro Indigo

Darlinghurst | Sake Bar + Izakaya

A tiny Japanese sake bar and izakaya that feels like it’s been lifted straight from a Tokyo side street. The door sits half open beneath a noren curtain, warm towels arrive as you sit down, and the menu is built around small plates made for sake drinking, from dashimaki tamago to their signature Indigo croquette and grilled skewers. Inside, there are only a handful of seats, shelves lined with sake bottles and the constant hum of conversation spilling across the counter.

Ryo's Noodles

Crows Nest | Ramen

One of Sydney’s most iconic ramen spots, with queues regularly stretching down Falcon Street before the doors even open. Ryo’s keeps things simple: a small yellow-walled room, handwritten specials, fast service and deeply rich tonkotsu ramen that people have been coming back for for years.

The menu centres around thick pork-bone broth ramen with different richness levels and toppings, alongside excellent pork buns stuffed with ginger-spiked filling. It’s loud, busy and unapologetically old-school in a way that feels straight out of Japan.

Yakitori Yurippi

Crows Nest | Yakitori

One of Sydney’s best yakitori spots, built around a smoky charcoal grill and a tightly packed horseshoe-shaped counter. Skewers of chicken thigh, tsukune, wings and chicken skin are grilled over binchotan charcoal, alongside cold Orion beers, whisky highballs and sake.

Orders are still taken with pen and paper, the grill runs nonstop through the night, and the whole room has the energy of a busy Osaka yakitori spot, loud conversations, smoke in the air and skewers flying across the counter.

Senkatsu Japanese Restaurant

Sydney CBD | Katsu

A modern Japanese katsu restaurant with low lighting, jazz playing softly and timber booths fitted with optional dividers that recreate the feeling of the solo dining booths found across Japan. The menu centres around thick-cut tonkatsu and fried salmon katsu, served crisp, golden and incredibly juicy alongside whisky highballs and matcha desserts.

Kuon Omakase

Haymarket | Omakase

An 11-seat omakase tucked inside Darling Square, and one of Sydney’s most sought-after Japanese dining experiences. Diners sit directly at the counter while chefs prepare each course in front of them, with the menu changing daily depending on what arrives from the fish market. Expect seasonal sashimi, nigiri and premium seafood sourced from Japan, all served across an intimate multi-course sitting.

Gaku Robata Grill

Darlinghurst

A small Japanese restaurant built around a robata charcoal grill, tucked along Darlinghurst Road. By day, locals line up for the limited ramen service, while dinner shifts into grilled seafood, skewers, hand rolls and seasonal plates cooked over white oak binchotan charcoal.

With smoke drifting from the grill, chefs working behind the counter and groups gathered over beers and sake late into the night, the whole place has the feeling of a modern Tokyo salaryman spot hidden down a side street.

Bones

Darlinghurst | Ramen

One of Sydney’s cult ramen spots, now reopened on Stanley Street with a larger space and an expanded menu beyond just noodles. Alongside rich ramen bowls, there’s their famous prawn toast, claypot rice, grilled fish and seasonal small plates, all served inside a dark timber space with jazz playing through the room and chefs working behind the open kitchen.

For more new openings, here are the new Sydney restaurants worth knowing.

Craving a sando? Here are the best sandwiches in Sydney.