Located in the heart of Leeming is Ichirin Japanese. As we could not decide where we should go for dinner after church, we decided to head to Ichirin Japanese. We were lucky to book a table 2 hours before arriving.

 We started off with the agedashi tofu ($8) which is a deep fried tofu with Tentsuyu sauce. The agedashi tofu had a lovely crisp texture on the outside followed by the smooth, silky tofu. The Tentsuyu sauce gave a hint of sweetness to the agedashi tofu.

Our next starter was the octopus kara-age($15) which is a deep fried Fremantle octopus served with Ume Ponzu sauce. Deep fried to perfectly crispy on the outside, the octopus was well cooked to a chewy texture.

The sashimi carpaccio ($15) with sashimi and yellowtail with yuzu miso dressing was bursting with fresh flavours. I love how the yuzu miso dressing gives a hint of sweetness to the fresh sashimi.

In addition to the sashimi carpaccio, we ordered an assorted sashimi ($27). The assorted sashimi was presented very neatly, bursting full of freshness and a pop of colour from the juicy salmon belly to the fresh scallops.

If you like to try a bit of everything, the Ichirin bento ($35) is perfect for you. There’s four pieces of fresh nigiri sushi, crispy tempura, kara-age chicken, beef croquettes, potato salad, omelette, miso soup and salad. Such a diverse variety of goodies in a bento box!

For our mains, mum had the teriyaki salmon ($22) which was tender in texture with a lovely grilled flavour. The teriyaki sauce adds sweetness and acidity to the salmon.

Dad had the teriyaki beef fillet ($22).  The beef fillet was cooked perfectly to medium and it was deliciously juicy in flavour complementing well with the sweetness of the teriyaki sauce.

I had the duck with passion fruit miso sauce ($18), which was one of the special dishes on the night. Cooked to a pink middle, the duck was so tender with a slight grilled flavour on the skin. There’s a thin layer of fat giving the duck its juicy flavours. We were told to eat the duck together with the passion fruit miso sauce. The passion fruit miso sauce gave the duck a punch of acidity and sweet flavours, complementing well with the lovely duck.

For desserts, we shared a green tea chiffon cake ($6.50). The green tea chiffon cake was light and fluffy with a strong green tea flavour.

After a 30 minute drive, Ichirin Japanese was definitely worth the visit. Bookings are essential as the restaurant is small. Ichirin also does an excellent omakase/degustation for $60 per person where you have to book two days in advance.