Dining review: Tamagawa serves Japanese food in Balgowlah on Sydney’s northern beaches

Tamagawa is a locals’ favourite. They come to Balgowlah for sushi, teriyaki, bento boxes and surfing DVDs.

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Tamagawa is a hive of industry.

It’s Friday evening and the orders are flying out of the kitchen. Customers are sitting on the brick wall opposite waiting for their takeaways, while regulars wait for their allotted tables.

A nod here, a wave across the restaurant ... everyone knows each other here.

This place is full of locals who have come along for a quick, casual and relatively cheap feed.

Tamagawa is part of Balgowlah’s infrastructure.

It’s a stayer too and has been around for 18 years, co- owner Kayoko Tanaka says.

The original restaurant was on Condamine St, near the old Totem Shopping Centre, for nine years.

Square meal: the shokado bento. Picture: Braden Fastier

Tamagawa mark II has now clocked up another nine years in its current location, tucked off the main drag.

Pre-Google Maps and you’d have to know where it was, or rely on a local’s recommendation.

Doors open daily — apart from Mondays — at 11.30am.

Tamagawa has lunch box specials named after three local beaches, and if leaving the beach on a lunch break is just too hard, Tamagawa has surfing DVDs playing.

Japanese food is light, clean and healthy and suits the beaches’ lifestyle.

Teriyaki chicken, was and always will be, one of the must-haves on the menu.

Salmon deluxe for two. Picture: Braden Fastier.

But Tamagawa also has a version that comes with spicy Japanese mayonnaise, Tanaka explains.

For customers who want to be more adventurous, there’s sea urchin sashimi and sushi, barbecued eel and octopus-flavoured dumplings on the menu, as well as numerous vegetarian options like saucy tofu yasi anake.

Play it safe and the gyozas, although they’re not homemade, go nicely with eight pieces of mixed sashimi.

Fish changes daily and tonight we are eating a combination of beautifully fresh salmon, kingfish and tuna, shredded daikon, a squeeze of lemon and powerhouse blast of wasabi.

Japanese curries can be bland, not Tamagawa’s beef curry and rice, another of our choices.

It’s got a rich sauce that has a peppery punch to it. Add an assortment of light and crispy tempura, sushi rolls or soba noodles and dinner time keeps everyone happy.

A liquor licence is coming, and then Japanese beer and sake will be on the menu, but customers will still be able to bring their own wine.

After 18 years, some things have to change.

Mayuko Kobayashi with the shokado bento. Picture: Braden Fastier.

Twitter: @beverley_hudec

Essentials

Tamagawa Japanese Restaurant, 318 Sydney Rd, Balgowlah

Phone: [phone]

Open: Tuesday to Sunday from 11.30am, closed on Mondays

Go for: sashimi teishoku with rice and miso soup, $16; mixed sashimi, $13.80; selection of party sushi platters, from $37.50

BYO, wine, corkage $3 a head

Vibe: Laid back and casual

Bottom line: $78 for two