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.

Azuma Kushiyaki, 23 Oct 2009

I previously mentioned that Monsieur Poisson and I had a lot of trouble getting into Azuma Kushiyaki to try their Sugar Hit in October, and it was only by making a reservation for dinner that we managed to extend our stay into the allocated timeslot. But of course it wasn’t just the lure of pretty desserts that drew us into coming here – we had heard many good things about the food and especially their specialty of barbequed skewers. So in the name of our anniversary we headed there for dinner, with a view to casually slip in a Sugar Hit dessert.

Upon first entering the restaurant you are met with neat rows of bottles of sake and wine glasses as well as the unmistakable aroma of barbequed meats. The interior is brightly lit with homely-looking tables and friendly service. I am almost disappointed when we received fairly standard chopstick rests, as opposed to the ‘interesting’ ones reported by other bloggers.

We glance down the extensive list of kushiyaki as well as the rather large laminated menu, and my eye is immediately caught by ‘Crispy chicken skin’. Monsieur Poisson actually mis-orders it as ‘crispy skin chicken’ but the waitress is not phased and our order arrives as what we intend.

They look like thick triangles of blistery deep-fried pastry. The lightly battered portions of skin are very well drained of oil and are wonderful with a squirt of lemon juice. We also have fun dipping them in the colourful flavoured salts alongside – there’s curry salt, green tea salt and sansho pepper.

Next to arrive is Monsieur Poisson’s lusted after uni sashimi, which are presented on shiso leaves resting on a bed of ice chips. The uni pieces are on the large side and although there are pieces of differing shades of colour, the taste is the same regardless. The uni is very fresh, sweet and not too mushy; and this proves to be the first time that I actually enjoy eating it.

This is followed by a flurry of plates as our kushiyaki arrive and we almost run out of room on our small table for two. Firstly we have quail eggs which are a glossy dark soy colour and I only wish there was more of them. The ‘Shiitake with minced prawn’ are perfectly shaped and are cooked just enough so that the prawn meat hasn’t started to shrink away from the sides.

The ‘Wild scallop with soy and homemade garlic oil’ skewer is Monsieur Poisson’s choice. I am surprised by the appearance of squared-off pieces of scallop when they arrive but assume it has something to do with ease of threading/cooking. They’re smoky without being over-charred with the garlic oil adding just that bit of bite. Our ‘Wagyu tongue’ skewer and ‘Chicken giblets with soy and butter’ arrive on the same plate, with the beef tongue expectedly juicy and the chicken giblets being squeakily crunchy with just a hint of butter flavour.

As chawanmushi has become our recent love, we order it when we see it on the menu here. It is served to our table on its own heat mat but without a spoon. I remove the lid to inspect it whilst Monsieur Poisson attempts to procure a spoon, and notice that it is lighter in colour than the previous one we had in Brisbane. Again, it is sublimely smooth but this time with hidden treasures of shiitake, prawns, chicken, spinach and gingko nuts.

And continuing on with my mentaiko obsession, I order an ‘Onigiri with mentaiko’. The rice ball is a compact shape that is easy to eat but the mentaiko is a little different to what I’ve had in the past by still having its ‘sheath’ intact. It makes for a slightly chewier experience but smokily salty nonetheless.

Our final dish is one that is again ordered to honour Dr King’s love of rice. It is the ‘Salmon zosui’, described in the menu as Japanese risotto, but arrives bearing resemblance to a Chinese dish known as ‘pau faan’ (泡飯) which has cooked rice mixed into soup.

This dish is served in a mini cast iron pot and contains generous pieces of salmon which are thankfully not overly fishy. An egg has been broken over the hot stock so that it is flash-cooked and floating ethereally on top of the rice when it arrives. It is warming and soul-restoring with plenty of chopped chives sprinkled on top.

And then came our slightly sneaky way of enjoying Azuma Kushiyaki’s Sugar Hit for dessert. The meal in itself was great and was only made even better by their spectacular Sugar Hit, as well as the chocolate mousse Monsieur Poisson enjoyed from their standard dessert menu.

Azuma Kushiyaki

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

Tel: (02) 9267 7775

Opening Hours:  Mon-Fri  lunch from 12pm

                                    dinner from 6pm

                        Sat  dinner only from 6pm

                        Sun  dinner only from 5:30pm

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!