Dragon roll
When we had dinner out in Townsville over the Easter weekend, I instgrammed a photo of the sake-tini that Panu had and when someone asked where it was from, I said “a Japanese restaurant in a little town.” My sis-in-law jumped all over that in a second claiming that Townsville is in fact a “city”. But then, why call it TOWNsville?
Heh. I digress.
Sunday night, Easter weekend, which also happened to be Panu’s 34th birthday.
We spent the day cruising around Magnetic Island on our little two stroke scooter, beach hopping from perfection to more perfection. I mean, our day basically looked like this:
And we looked like this:
Happy.
But by the time we got back from the island and had another dip in my brother’s pool (as you do), we were famished and thank goodness the sis-in-law booked us into one of the top restaurants in Townsville, Gyo Japanese Restaurant.
They don’t have a website (what restaurant doesn’t have a website in this day and age?) but let me tell you, we loved this place. My brother and sis-in-law kept saying it was pretty good for Townsville standards, but I can vouch that Gyo’s food is fantastic by any standards – Townsville, Sydney or London. Ok but maybe not compared to say, Tokyo.
Japanese version of the Korean yook hwei – raw, marinated beef
I was surprised to see yook hwei on the menu, a traditionally Korean dish. It’s always one of my favourites and though Gyo didn’t use any nashi pear, it was still delicious.
Beef tataki
Sorry you can’t actually see the beef, it’s covered in fried onions and garlic (yay!) and is that cheese? I can’t even remember but it too was fantastic.
Agedashi tofu
Sushi & sashimi platter
Soft shelled crab
This and the chicken karaage impressed my boots off. Too often I find that these fried dishes are luke warm and soggy by the time they reach your table, but at Gyo, they are served steaming hot and extra crunchy. Love.
Tempura vegetables
Nasu dengaku (miso eggplant)
Chicken karaage
Ordered as an after thought because the above hadn’t been enough (yes, we are all porkers) we ordered a chicken karaage to finish and I’m glad we did. It was fresh, hot, crunchy, meaty. All the attributes of a good karaage.
So there you go. Looking for good Asian food in Townsville? There aren’t too many great Asian places so get your butt to Gyo, or maybe if you are nice enough, my brother will invite you over for a delicious home grown and home cooked meal, like this chicken curry with okra and eggplant (both home grown):
Gyo Japanese Restaurant
2/48 Gregory Street
Townsville, QLD, 4810
(07) 4771 5151
