Mietta's Review
This little gem, Darlinghurst meets the Ginza, is welcomingly tucked away from the roar of Oxford St. Recent renovations moved the dining room upstairs, paving the way for a groovy little bar at street level. The food is traditional but creatively presented. Bring a big crowd and share as many dishes as possible - the prices are low but you need quite a few to get broad diversity and to make a meal. Some of the eel plates are particularly rewarding.

Other published opinions

Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2010 Recommended Global Gem, "Modern Japanese The ground-floor bar offers a neat range of sakes, but nip upstairs to the narrow dining space lined with breezy gossamer screens and cartoon artworks for modern Japanese creations such as roasted miso and parmesan eggplant, seared beef "sashimi" with ponzu, and pan-fried barramundi with soy and rosemary butter on potato and edamame mash"

Sydney Morning Herald Kelsey Munro, 25-11-2008 "AT 10 years old, the Uchi Lounge is effectively a veteran of the Sydney restaurant scene. Tucked down a steep lane running off Oxford Street, it's long been known as a hidden gem for Japanese food. But its downstairs sake and cocktail bar - designed mainly for diners who are waiting for a table in the busy upstairs restaurant - is a pleasant drawcard in itself"

Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2009 Score: 13/20 "Whether following tradition or playing with it, new century Japanese eating is out and proud across Sydney. Yet this arty, bohemianfringed hideaway does its thing quietly, as it has for more than a decade, with strains of jazz and sake cocktails downstairs, bare boards and ethereal gauze room divider above"

Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2008 Score: 13/20 "When Uchi Lounge opened it could have fallen victim to faddism, but as a forerunner in funky Japanese fusion fare, Sydneystyle, t still heads the pack"

Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2007 Score: 14/20 "Uchi Lounge is a bit like a beautiful model with a uni degree: no matter what she does, people notice the look first. The funky, softly lit back-street interior, with a shimmering curtain across the length of the main dining room, feels more like a small Tokyo art gallery than a Sydney restaurant."

SMH Good Food Guide 2005 Score 14/20 "The upstairs dining room, with its shimmering fabric divider and peacock voodoo wall hangings, emits a too-cool-for-art-school atmosphere. It's clever, fun and most of all matched by the artistic morsels on the plate. Waif-like portions allow you to sample a crosssection of dishes."

Sydney Eats 2005 "In an area of the inner city now filled with places doing 'Asian with a modern twist', this is still one of the most unusual and enjoyable oriental dining experiences you're likely to have."

SMH GFG 2004,Score 14/20,'this smartly furnished backstreets gem still attracts the post-modern cool-cat crowd for a big night in...Service is way-cool.The bar downstairs is a popular perch for pre-dinner Japanese brewskis while waiting for a table (no bookings) as it crowds toward the week's end.'

Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Guuide Australia 2004, Good vegetarian options,'The Uchi lounge is one of those places that seems to fly under the radar...this restaurant is reliable without being boring, providing interesting food to interesting people...The menu is a modern take on Japenese food...The only disappointment...extremely scatty service'