Yatai sushi owner Eric Qian to open Shibuya Izakaya in Mackay CBD
Weeks after the first sign went up, more information has been revealed about a new restaurant aiming to bring a variety of Japanese cuisine, BBQ and karaoke to the CBD. SEE THE FIRST LOOK.
Mackay
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A new BBQ restaurant and karaoke venue is coming to the Mackay CBD as the owner of the long anticipated Shibuya Izakaya gives us a sneak peek at what’s to come.
Eric Qian, the man responsible for bringing Yatai Sushi to Caneland Central in 2015 and Cannonvale is now ready unveil his latest restaurant, Shibuya Izakaya.
Aiming to bring a broader variety of Japanese food and dining experiences to the Mackay CBD, Mr Qian and his staff are gearing up for a launch in the next few weeks.
“People in Mackay are very good at eating out … I think sushi is kind of the healthy food here,” Mr Qian said.
“More and more restaurants open, like the Asian cuisine, Malaysian, Vietnamese and Thai, I think this is quite good.”
The opening comes a year after the Real Korean Restaurant opened on MacAlister St and Aahar Indian opened on Wood St in November, 2024.
Shibuya Izakaya will feature a number of tables fitted with hotplates, where diners can grill their own meat in the Japanese barbecue style, as well as countertop seats where they can watch chefs cook and prepare food right in front of them.
“That’s the kind of Japanese grill or BBQ, people can sit around it at the table, do the BBQ and grill the meat by themselves,” Mr Qian said.
As well as having front of house staff taking orders, each table will also be fitted with it’s own QR code and orders will be delivered by a robotic machine carrying trays of food to each table.
Mr Qian also said customers who placed take away orders at the restaurants would be able to place their order at an electronic kiosk at the front of the store.
An exciting addition to the restaurant, and Mackay nightlife, will be its four karaoke rooms, which Mr Qian said was an idea from his chef Tony.
“He worked at a sushi restaurant in Japan for eight years … he thought a restaurant combined with karaoke might be a great attraction,” he said.
The rooms will be available for booking by groups for all sorts of occasions and customers will be able to enjoy food and drink with their music.
This will come as a replacement for the previous Japanese style karaoke venue Hibiki 22, which later transformed into a gentlemen’s club.
Mr Qian said his move into the CBD was motivated by his desire to have a business that could be open for dinner all nights of the week.
“In a shopping centre you can open for dinner only on Thursday because the centre shuts at 5.30,” he said.
“We can have more focus on the night and dinner which is good for the restaurant business.”
Far from being finished, much of Shibuya Izakaya’s furnishings are still being put together, but Mr Qian said he expected to have the restaurant open for business by mid April.
While staff from Yatai Sushi will be working in Shibuya Izakaya, Mr Qian is also looking to hire five front-of-house staff and five kitchen staff to fill out the new restaurant’s team.
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