Makanai Chatswood

Finally, after the ever-mounting number of Japanese eateries I’ve eaten at on Sydney’s lower North Shore, Chatswood finally has its own ramen joint! Makanai occupies the Westfield shop space vacated by Korean bakery chain Hello Happy (and Starbucks before them) and has brought with them not only ramen, but also a front display window impressively stocked with about ten varieties of onigiri on a daily basis.

Ichimaru

Sydney’s lower north shore is abundant in Japanese eats, which is quite serendipitous for Monsieur Poisson as it means he has easy access to his beloved cuisine on a whim’s notice. Ichimaru opened more than a few months ago now, and was stumbled across accidentally whilst on travels to seek out something else.

The gyoza are nothing to write home about, being of the deep-fried variety which I wish would be advertised explicitly on menus so that I could avoid ordering them as I’m a pan-fried purist. However the soft-shell crab salad proves to be excellent value – for $14 you are rewarded with two crabs which are a little on the heavily-battered side, but thankfully aren’t greasy. A mound of mixed greens and tomato wedges underneath help to make the dish a meal in its own right but the carrot threads, also seen later, are a little unnecessary.

Food to nurse hangovers

It’s hot and stuffy. The sun is blazing outside and rudely creeping in through the blinds. Oh, my eyes! Why is it so bright? You move to roll over. Whoa…the bed, or wherever you parked yourself last night/this morning, feels like a tiny dinghy bobbing about on rough seas. *Bob, bob, bob, bob…* It’s too hot to keep sleeping and you really need something to settle down the party which has been continuing in your stomach and bloodstream despite you stopping hours ago.

Good morning (or afternoon), and a happy new year to you, your stomach, your pounding headache and…so nice of you to join us, Hangover!

Although there are no foods which can miraculously cure hangovers, there are certain foods that somehow make you feel better through nothing other than comfort or placebo effect. If you’re wanting something fast-food yet can’t bear the usual international chains, then Ocean Foods has many deep-fried and more virtuous non-deep fried options. The grilled barramundi with chips (below) is just one of them – it is unbattered and cooked on the spot like all their hot foods. Paired with some sweet, crunchy and not-at-all greasy crab claws as well as a small tub of salad (coleslaw in this instance, pictured below) and you can soothe that hangover whilst having a balanced meal. For something in a more central location, there’s that famous soft-shell crab omelette (unpictured) from Café Ish which the husband keeps raving to everyone about.

Or perhaps you want something a little more pure and soothing. Pho An has any combination of beef, fatty beef, beef meatballs, beef tendon, tripe, chicken, etc in a fragrant Vietnamese beef or chicken broth with slippery flat rice noodles where chewing isn’t even required. Topped with fresh herbs to awaken the senses, stir in chopped chillies for warmth and slurp to restore some much-needed hydration. Noodle bowls are available in small (regular) and large sizes, and your food will appear almost instantly by magic. Peruse the menu at the doorway or ask for a printed menu when seated, as the wall menus are in Vietnamese and Chinese only.

To combine the best of both worlds Ton Ton Regent has ramen, karaage chicken, gyoza and tempura amongst other things, whilst Menya Mappen has udon, soba, lots of fresh crunchy tempura and kakiage, poached egg and small rice bowls all for very affordable prices. And runny eggs always make things better.

Gumshara will give you a thick, sticky, flavoursome and soul-restoring soup where each bowl is taste-tested by the master himself before being served. The noodles are springy and the pork is plentiful. Add a soft-boiled egg and you’re absolutely set for the day. If you want an alternate to noodles the ‘Special Rice’ bowl is serious value at around $8 with a foundation of rice mixed with sesame seeds, soft-boiled egg and vegetables topped with roast pork, and then the whole thing repeated on top of it again – it will satisfy the most ravenous of hangover hungers.

For a variety of eats including deep-fried things, rice, noodles, soups and Hong Kong fusion-style pastas then you simply cannot go past a “cha chaan teng” (茶餐廳). Iced lemon tea rates highly on my long-time loves even though it’s only black tea, sugar syrup and fresh lemon slices. You’ll find sweet drinks incorporating azuki (red) beans and grass jelly as well as Hong Kong-style French toast “sai dor see” (西多士) – typically two slices of white bread sandwiched with peanut butter, deep-fried in eggy batter before being served with butter and golden syrup. Trolley/cart noodles used to be street food sold, well, from a mobile cooking trolley, allowing for personalisation of soup noodles (flat rice noodles, rice vermicelli, Hokkien noodles, flat egg noodles, thin egg noodles, etc) and toppings (dried squid, fish balls, fried fish skin, luncheon meat, ham, pig’s blood jelly, beef meatballs, pork meatballs, chicken wings, mushrooms, etc and an array of vegetables). Not available at many Hong Kong fusion-style cafés in Sydney, Victoria Noodle Restaurant offers a great selection of noodles and toppings as well as other menu items. Try their salt and chilli chicken wings with rice – hangover or no hangover – if you get a chance.

For something healthy and sweet, wowcow serves 98% fat-free yoghurt with active cultures that is smooth and slides easily down the throat. One of Sydney’s earlier frozen yoghurt chains, mix in whatever toppings take your fancy from their display window and pair with cinnamon-sugared wow-sticks (baked churros) for dipping. I spotted Joh Bailey bringing a group of friends here late one night, and don’t forget to crane your head back (provided it doesn't induce too much dizziness) to marvel at the cow feature adorning the ceiling!

Ocean Foods

Corner of Lyons Rd & Gipps St, Drummoyne NSW

Tel: (02) 9181 4336

Opening Hours:  7 days  9am-9pm

Café Ish

82 Campbell St (cnr Foster St), Surry Hills NSW

Tel: (02) 9281 1688

Opening Hours:  Mon-Tues  7am-4pm

                        Wed-Fri  7am-10pm

Sat  9am-10pm

Sun  9am-2:30pm

Pho An

27 Greenfield Pde (near cnr Stewart Ln), Bankstown NSW

Tel: (02) 9796 7826

Opening Hours:  7 days  7am-9pm

Ton Ton Regent

Shop 10.16, Ground floor of Regent Place, 501 George St (cnr Bathurst St), Sydney NSW

Tel: (02) 9267 1313

Opening Hours:  7 days  11:30am-10pm

Menya Mappen

Shop 11, Ground Floor of Meriton Tower – Skyview Shopping Plaza, 537-551 George St (near cnr Liverpool St), Sydney NSW

Tel: (02) 9283 5525

Opening Hours:  Sun-Wed  11:30am-10pm

                        Thurs-Sat  11:30am-10:30pm

Gumshara

Shop 209, Lower Ground Level, Harbour Plaza, 25-29 Dixon St (Chinatown), Haymarket NSW

Tel: 0410 253 180

Opening Hours:  Mon  CLOSED

                        Tues-Sun  10am-10pm

Victoria Noodle Restaurant

Shop A8, Lower level of Victoria Plaza, 369 Victoria Ave, Chatswood NSW

Tel: (02) 9410 1822

Opening Hours:  7 days…11am-10pm

wowcow

Shop 2, 304-308 Victoria St, Darlinghurst NSW

Tel: (02) 9326 0400

Opening Hours:  Mon-Thurs  11:30am-11pm

                        Fri  11:30am-12 midnight

                        Sat  11am-12 midnight

                        Sun  11am-11pm

happy eating!

Ju Ge Mu & Shimbashi (again!), 25 March 2010

It had been too long since our last meal at Ju Ge Mu & Shimbashi and we missed the slippery smooth texture of their handmade soba as well as their okonomiyaki. Monsieur Poisson suggested it as a catch-up location when his friend was back in Sydney for a brief stint from London, and the place was most accommodating when we had last minute additions (2 adults and 2 young children, no less) to our dining party.

Once we have everyone assembled, we settle in with some soba chips which are a hit with the kids and allow the rest of us some time to peruse the menu.

I’m surprised when the soba chips arrive as a tangle of deep-fried stringy noodles, as I’m sure I’ve seen photos of it somewhere as flat, potato chip-style things? They’re crunchy and not at all greasy, but could do with some liberal salting in my opinion.

Next up we have some more nibbling-type food in the form of edamame, which turn out to be quite a revelation for me. I am normally not a fan of these boiled, young soy beans as the squishy texture of the overcooked pods – although discarded and not eaten themselves – are a bit of a turn-off for me. But the edamame here are just cooked enough for the sweet little gems within to be popped through and, in contrast to the soba chips, are very well seasoned.

We’ve also ordered a serve each of chicken and pork gyoza to share. They’ve been split so that four of each appear on each plate and there is an initial confusion as how to tell, and taste, the two apart. It transpires that the chicken ones are sweeter and juicier, whilst the pork ones have a meatier flavour. Nevertheless, both are enclosed in thin dumpling wrappers and are fried to golden-bottomed crispiness.

Once again Monsieur Poisson and I find it hard to go past ordering something from the specials menu, especially when our attention is caught by the promise of flavoured soba. In this case it’s the ‘Three-flavoured tori & kinoko seiro soba’ with green tea, Earl Grey and plain soba served cold accompanied by a hot chicken and mushroom dipping broth. The soba is wonderful without even a hint of graininess and the tea flavoured ones are most refreshing, with the Earl Grey being much more subtle in taste than the green tea variety. As with our last visit, the staff considerately split this serve of soba in two when Monsieur Poisson indicates that we will be sharing it between us.

And then we have the okonomiyaki. It’s the ‘Ju Ge Mu Special’ which features such wonderful things as bacon, scallops, prawns and calamari covered in a tangy barbecue sauce, spring onions and squiggles of mayonnaise. As always served with a tin of nori flakes and bonito shavings (AKA sawdust, by one Dr King) alongside for sprinkling, the okonomiyaki is savoury, sweet, salty and tangy all at once – should rate highly on the umami scale, yes?

Monsieur Poisson and I do not pass up on dessert this time. He goes for the ‘Zenzai ice-cream’ which has the simple combination of green tea ice-cream, azuki beans and ‘slippery dumplings’. Actually, at first, he orders this entirely out of curiosity for what the ‘slippery dumplings’ could be, and all is revealed when the dessert arrives with flat discs of unfilled mochi – chewy glutinous goodness!

As for me, I revisit the ‘Ice-cream Tempura’ fondly remembered from a previous visit. There’s actually not a lot of ice-cream within, but I’m quite taken by the hidden raspberries and their tartness contrasted by the chocolate sauce. The tempura coating is crisp and any possible greasiness is negated by the pieces of fresh fruit alongside.

Ju Ge Mu & Shimbashi

246 Military Rd, Neutral Bay NSW

Tel: (02) 9904 3011

Opening Hours:  Mon  CLOSED

Tue-Sat  12pm-2pm (lunch)

Tue-Sun  6pm-9:30pm (dinner)

happy eating!

Wagaya, 7 Dec 2009

We find ourselves gathered at Wagaya for a combined birthday for Ms Selective and Mr Awesome. We have had group gatherings here previously, sometimes with so many of us that it warrants one of the private rooms with its own TV. We’ve even discussed in the past whether it’s possible to cart in our own gaming console and hook it up to said TV.

But this evening we are only a group of six and Ms Selective manages to procure one of Wagaya’s free birthday mocktails even though it’s not the exact date of her birthday. The mocktail is simply known as ‘December’, doesn’t come with a menu description and is a deep shade of emerald green. She takes a sip and declares it’s not very nice before the rest of the girls do the taste test to decide for ourselves. I claim that it tastes a bit like toothpaste or mouthwash, before Ms Sourdough hits the nail on the head by announcing the flavour resembles that of Listerine strips. Before long, we decide to order various fruit-flavoured chuhai instead to combat our minty freshness.

And then the barrage of food begins! We start with a dish of shark fin and jelly fish with its sesame oil fragrance and flecks of occasional chilli sitting on a bed of wilted but still crunchy mung bean sprouts. There’s agedashi soft-shell crab featuring a beautiful marriage of tofu in the thinnest of stretchy batters and a crunchy whole soft-shell crab perched atop.

Weirdo’s favourite renkon chips arrive well drained and evenly seasoned. Then there’s Mr Awesome’s tako-wasa which has chopped baby octopus pieces in a wasabi dressing. This is soon followed by the assorted tempura which are coated in a light batter, although it’s not the fluffiest I’ve seen.

The grilled ox tongue skewers are charred, shiny and meaty with only a couple of chewier pieces to give us a jaw workout. The salmon skewers are coated in a teriyaki-type sauce and given a smattering of sesame seeds before they make their entrance.

The grilled scampi are actually sweeter than I expect and easy to peel. The sea urchin chawanmushi provides uni for my sea urchin-loving husband whilst leaving some silken steamed egg innards for the rest of us.

The housemade gyoza have thin skins, juicy fillings and are pan-fried to crisp-bottomed goldenness. The squid mentai pizza has a thin but slightly soggy base which is wanting to stick to the pan, and is topped with almost fluorescent pink mentai.

The Wagyu steak comes chopped in small pieces and taste of being tossed in butter. The deep-fried salmon skin is a little disappointing for me because they haven’t been seasoned. They are suitably crunchy but not oily though, and are served with a bowl of dipping sauce alongside. However what I would really prefer is a selection of salts like at Azuma Kushiyaki.

And then, because it is a double birthday we have brought along cake – a green tea gâteau from Breadtop with two layers of green tea sponge and green tea cream sandwiched in between and spread over the top and sides. Splodges of azuki bean purée are hidden amongst the layer of green tea cream and the whole lot is given a generous coverage of matcha powder over the top.

Hooray for friends, great food, birthdays and cake!

Wagaya

78 Harbour St, Haymarket NSW

Tel: (02) 9212 6068

Opening Hours:  7 days  5pm til late

happy eating!

Ju Ju, 25 Aug 2009

Sydney’s Kings Cross is famed for many things, one of those being the massive Coca-Cola sign located where William Street meets Darlinghurst Road. Just around the corner from this famous sign, along Bayswater Road, is where you will find the entrance to Ju Ju. Down a set of stairs friendly staff greet customers before smilingly handing over plastic bags to each patron. Why? Because it’s a strict no-shoes policy at Ju Ju, but at least they’re nice enough to provide you means to house your footwear whilst you dine. (Note: Plan ahead and be kind to your fellow diners by avoiding hole-y socks and funky foot odour!)

The reason behind the shoe-ban is due to the entirely floorboarded interior with 'hole-in-the-ground' seating. It is a bit of a novelty however seat cushions are provided. A few tables are contained within each fenced area and I always get the strange sensation of sitting in a farm pen when I dine at Ju Ju! The fences serve as a place for each table’s order to hang from a small clipboard.

Monsieur Poisson and I are being taken out for a combined birthday dinner by Weirdo and Ms Selective (thanks again, guys!) and decide on Ju Ju as it’s another one of those Japanese places that I expect Monsieur Poisson to have visited, but strangely hasn’t. He is excited to discover on the menu glass-bottled, bottle-capped Coke though. To essentially a non-cola drinker like myself, I don’t quite understand the fuss but he asserts that it is mildly sweeter, less gassy and overall better-tasting than canned or plastic-bottled Coke. Weirdo indulges his love of sake by ordering a serve that comes warmed, while I’m disappointed that I can’t order a chuhai due to being on medication for the tail end of a head cold.

We order a few crowd-pleasers to share: crispy-bottomed yaki gyoza, okonomiyaki and Ms Selective’s favourite agedashi tofu. There is only one variant of okonomiyaki on the menu, which contains a mixture of various things and comes topped with a couple of fried eggs. It’s nice but I have yet to try an okonomiyaki that pips those at Ju Ge Mu & Shimbashi. The tofu has a light and crispy coating and comes with shiitake mushroom slices but no bonito flakes to dance around in the emanating heat.

Next up is a serve of Ju Ju’s ‘Tempura Mix’ consisting of prawns and a selection of vegetables. The batter is a little heavier than I’d like but at least it has a satisfying crunch and is not overfried.

To round off the meal, we have ordered a sukiyaki for two to be shared between the four of us. Thinly cut ‘steaks’ of beef are brought out on a plate, along with a platter of tofu, vegetables, the requisite eggs and a gas burner. The young waiter starts the cooking off for us by pouring a small jug of sweet soy into the shallow pan, leaving us to cook the components in this liquid as we please. As this is a little different to the sukiyaki procedure to which I am accustomed, a bit of post-meal research tells me that this is the eastern Japanese style of sukiyaki whereas I am far more familiar with the western Japanese style of frying the beef first in the pan with a little fat before pouring over the sweet soy. In either case, it’s sticky, sweet and warming.

I have heard that Ju Ju has karaoke on Friday and Saturday nights but, without knowing what time it starts, I’ve never been present to witness the exhibition or to partake in the fun. And, um, I’m not about to either!

Ju Ju

Shop 301, Kings Cross Centre, 82-94 Darlinghurst Rd (entrance on Bayswater Rd), Kings Cross NSW

Tel: (02) 9357 7100

Opening Hours:  Mon  CLOSED

Tues-Thurs  6:30pm-11:30pm

Fri & Sat  6:30pm-1am

Sun  6:30pm-11:30pm

happy eating!

Ryo-Tei (aka Ryo’s Noodles), 22 Aug 2009

A few years ago Monsieur Poisson and I first noticed Ryo-Tei, usually en route to Maisy’s, and wondered what manner of deliciousness the place offered in order to attract a constant group of patrons to patiently wait in an orderly queue outside. The eatery has a distinct garish orange frontage but no obvious English signage apart from the (usually obscured by the queue) red plastic sheet hung outside the window displaying highlights from the menu and the name, ‘Ryo’s Noodles’. The only other signage is a plaque above the doorway in Japanese and a pair of drapes framing the doors bearing the massive kanji characters of 亮亭– neither of which are of any use unless you can read the language. Being in a non-restaurant area away from Pacific Highway just adds to the mystery, however parking is easy to find on side streets.

So after driving past Ryo-Tei for almost a year without knowing its name, assuming only that it served some sort of Japanese food and being suitably intrigued, Monsieur Poisson put his internet searching skills to good use. Many questions were answered when he found this post on Grab Your Fork, and the photo of the deep-fried soft-shell crab alone meant that we just had to go and try it for ourselves. Not to mention the personalised endorsement from Iron Chef French, Hiroyuki Sakai gracing the wall!

We have since had numerous visits to Ryo-Tei but have yet to introduce all our friends to its delights. So one particular weekend when Ms Sourdough was in town we gathered up Weirdo, Dr King and Kiki for a visit and warned all involved to expect there to be a wait especially seeing as there are six of us in attendance. But the surprising part is that there is no queue when we get there – we are the queue! However Ryo-Tei is full inside at only 6:30pm and we do have to wait a little as tables for smaller groups become available sooner to those behind us.

Ryo-Tei’s dining space seats only around thirty people, which partly explains the queues. The two largest tables seat just six, and we manage to get one of these which is adjacent to the front window – you know, the one which attracts stares from people in the queue while you eat! The walls are a bright canary yellow and are decorated with menu items written in Japanese plus the aforementioned soft-shell crab which is not on the orange printed menu.

We order several things to share and soon our table is crowded with plates. There are two onigiri (one roast pork, one mentaiko), two serves of gyoza and four deep-fried soft-shell crabs which are served whole in a tangle of legs. The onigiri are plump and are larger than they seem with the roast pork one being much tastier; and I lament the lack of mentaiko in the other. They gyoza are crisp and juicy while the soft-shell crab is always a hit with its bare coating of batter. On a separate return visit, Monsieur Poisson and I order the ‘Fried Chicken’ which comes with a dollop of beautifully rich and creamy Japanese mayonnaise. A word of warning though: do not be greedy and eat the chicken as soon as it’s set down on the table – such action results in burning the roof of your mouth! I speak, of course, from personal experience.

As if this is not enough food already, strewn across the table we have a couple of ‘Tokyo-style ramen’, a ‘Spicy hot ramen’, a couple of ‘Japanese-style curry beef rice with tonkatsu’ and a ‘Mixed vegies ramen’ (not pictured). I often order the ‘Tokyo-style ramen’ as I like bamboo shoots and, because it comes in a soy sauce chicken stock soup, is great when I want something a bit lighter than the pork bone stock variants. It is also accompanied by a whole sheet of nori unlike most other places.

Of course Monsieur Poisson and I have to have the requisite side of corn!

Kiki braves the ‘Spicy hot ramen’ which I’ve had once before and comes with a serious layer of chilli oil floating on top. The oil conceals a bowl of pork bone stock underneath, both of which help to retain heat in the bowl. The chilli oil offers heat of another kind and coats each strand of ramen as it is slurped upwards.

Dr King and Monsieur Poisson both go for the ‘Japanese-style curry beef rice with tonkatsu’ which comes with a heap of curry studded with beef bits to accompany the rice, a mound of Japanese pickles and a large deep-fried pork cutlet. It is an effort for both of them to finish their meals.

Monsieur Poisson is not a fan of ramen in general but Ryo-Tei is one of the few places where he does enjoy it. Their sticky pork bone stock is a delight and each bowl offers great value in its use of straight noodles cooked to retain some bite (many places use a curly variant), whole sheets of nori, gooey-centred boiled eggs and thick, tender, fall-apart strips of roast pork. If you haven’t been to Ryo-Tei, I highly recommend it.

Ryo-Tei

125 Falcon St (near cnr West St), Crows Nest NSW

Tel: (02) 9955 0225

Opening Hours:  Thurs-Tues  12pm-2:30pm (lunch)

       5pm-9:30pm (dinner)

Wed  CLOSED

happy eating!