Iku Sushi, Perth

If you've been following us on twitter or reading this blog quite frequently, you may remember that in early October I tagged along with Cheesecake Boy on his business trip to Perth.  While Cheesecake Boy was working hard, I was busy munching and exploring.  Like any good food blogger, I had to do some eating research.  That's how I stumbled upon Iku Sushi, the home of the deep fried cheeseburger sushi.

In Sydney we have many deep fried foods available thanks to The Abercrombie, but deep fried cheeseburger sushi is something that I have not heard or seen in Sydney, and if someone can let me know otherwise, I'd be more than intrigued to compare them.  I initially came here by myself, but later discovered this place was near Cheesecake Boy's work and as the prices were more than reasonable than other establishments around, so we met up here for a couple of lunches.

It's not all about the cheeseburger sushi here, they do have obento boxes and fresh sushi made daily that's available in the fridge section from 7.30am on weekdays to allow commuters on their way to work to drop in to buy a sushi lunch all ready for the fridge.  All the packaging here is cutesy and disposable, so great for convenience, but not so good for the environment.  However, they do have a recycling system implemented here.

On my first visit without Cheesecake Boy, I ordered the small teriyaki chicken obento.  It was actually the perfect size, especially when you're not too hungry.  The teriyaki chicken was pleasantly sweet and not dry, but nothing to write home about.  It was a nice start, but I was still too amused by the gimmicky cuteness of this place.  Anyway, see what I mean by the adorable packaging.

Teriyaki chicken (small), $5.95

I had to order the cheeseburger sushi because at that stage I had no idea if I was coming back.  I decided to try the regular cheeseburger sushi that consisted of teriyaki beef and mozzarella cheese.  The crunchy crumbed exterior and rice inside reminded me of arancini, but even with the melting mozzarella the teriyaki beef was slightly dry and bland and I was left underwhelmed even with the accompanying spicy mayonnaise that was more sweet than spicy.

Cheeseburger sushi (4 pieces), $5.50

I was telling Cheesecake Boy about my cheeseburger sushi experience and he decided that he needed to try it too.  Except, Cheesecake Boy decided that we should go all out.  I've glad thinking back on this that I was walking at least five hours a day.  However, I'm sure we visited another two times together, so don't be alarmed we did not consume all this in just one visit.

Cheesecake Boy ordered the large chicken katsu obento.  The chicken katsu was bordering on the dry side and was quite plain, so the tonkatsu sauce and mayonnaise gave the chicken a lift.  The simple tuna and cucumber sushi rolls were nice and fresh, and it was a nice break between the fried offerings of the katsu chicken and cabbage filled spring rolls.

Chicken katsu obento (large), $11.95

Cheesecake Boy loves popcorn, popcorn chicken and all things popcorn including popcorn shrimp, so ordering the karaage popcorn chicken was a must.  The karaage popcorn chicken were bite size chicken pieces that were lightly drizzled with mayonnaise and a sweet barbeque like sauce.  The chicken bits were really succulent and the batter had a nice even consistency that provided a good crispy coat.

Karaage popcorn chicken, $5.95

I was getting a bit bored with all things rice, and decided I needed some udon to shake things up.  I liked the addition of raw carrots, shallots and seaweed in my udon.  Although, they were not generous with the serving of udon, I definitely thought they made up for it with my portion of tempura.  The tempura was nice and crisp with a nice selection of prawns, fish, zucchini, pumpkin and eggplant to choose from.

Tempura udon, $9.95

Where Cheesecake Boy has a love for popcorn, I feel the same about onion rings and chicken nuggets.  Onions rings always take me back to my Hungry Jacks days with a Whopper in one hand and some onion rings with ketchup in another.  The panko onion rings had a nice crunch to them, I just wished that they were coated more evenly with panko crumbs.  As the inconsistency of the crumbs led to some of them being slightly too greasy.

Panko onion rings, $4.95

Cheesecake Boy is in the school of thought where everything tastes better if you add bacon, whereas I don't necessarily agree with this, and tend to look like the Grinch when I discourage it from appearing on our grocery list.  However, I have to say the bacon actually completed the cheeseburger sushi experience, as the bacon gave the sushi that much needed greasy saltiness against the melted mozzarella and teriyaki beef.  This time round with the sweet flavoured spicy mayonnaise the cheeseburger sushi pieces were almost addictive.

Bacon cheeseburger (6 pieces) , $7.95

I could definitely see this concept working well with Sydney's CBD lunch crowd with it's swift ninja-like service and menu consisting of firm favourites and the fun cheeseburger sushi series.  Iku Sushi is really a fun Japanese fast food joint, and for what it is, it is rather quite good especially taking in the prices that I think are quite reasonable for Perth CBD standards. 

Munching away, Dumpling Girl.


Iku Sushi
Shop WG.07
140 William Street
Perth WA 6000
Ph: (08) 9322 6008
http://www.ikusushi.com/