I've heard many positive rants about Iwa. So, during last week's APEC chaos in the city, I decided to head north with my family to celebrate some new opportunities. Oh... and let me just say, I absolutely love Wagyu.

Iwa sits along Victoria Avenue in a sleek black building. The entrance is narrow but the interior is chic. Shiny copper exhaust fans hung above each table and looked striking against the dark wooden panels.

For starters, we were presented with tiny pots of pumpkin soup. It was creamy and rich with petite cubes of the vegetable.

And then I ordered the wagyu beef tataki salad. The serving size was small; however each slice of wagyu was identically perfect. The outside was grilled to a charcoal brown and the inside was succulently rare. Ooo, the tangy sauce complimented it so well.

Spider rolls have always been another favourite of mine. The tempura fried soft-shell crab was warm and was held closely together with avocado and nori. This was totally delicious when eaten alongside a large piping-hot plate of tempura. There was pumpkin, eggplant, carrot, zucchini and ofcourse prawns. So light, fluffy and crisp!

Unlike the spider roll, the California roll was slightly disappointing. Although it was generous with fish roe, the crab stick was overly moist with mayonnaise...

Iwa is unquestionably a modern piece of art. The exhaust fan when unused hung classily retracted and when the Yakiniku grill was taken out, it was conveniently pulled down to about 20cm above the mesh so that we didn't leave smelling like a BBQ.

When ordering mains, I was assured the wagyu tasting plate would be enough for at least 3; as you can see above, the portion size is somewhat doubtable. Luckily I had also called for king prawns (1 serve includes 2 large prawns, sliced and sprinkled with black pepper), a vegetable platter (a gorgeous monument of freshly sliced pumpkin, eggplant, onion, potatoes, sweet potato, carrot and mushrooms), scallops and logically, more wagyu.

Christina opted out of the yakiniku in favour of minimising the pain caused by her new braces... I snuck a small taste of her crusted sea bass and this too was tasty!

The dessert menu was limited to about 3 options. Ice-creams and another... but what stood out to me was the chocolate volcano. The chocolate cake was served with warm chocolate sauce exploding out of the tip... it was rich and satisfying, and was balanced well with the circular mould of cognac infused oranges and walnuts.

While Iwa is a classy and no a doubt lip-smacking Yakiniku restaurant, it's rather pricey for a hungry family of six.

Iwa, Japanese Yakiniku Dining Room
380 Victoria Ave Chatswood
Tel: 9419 7009

Open 7 days 11am - 3pm & 5pm - 10pm