Madono - Haymarket, Sydney

Post-theater dinner. *watched Billy Elliot at the Capitol*

Anyway, the entrance to this restaurant looked convincing enough - the mini Japanese zen-ish garden concept is nice, but the actual inside of the restaurant looks somewhat detached from the entrance decor scheme. The inside interior is simple and minimalist, with so-so lighting and rather boring furnitures. It's okay for casual dinner, but definitely not for a night out.

Service lacks smile, but is prompt enough. Water glasses refilled without asking (for me, that's really important because I drink like a camel storing water in the desert when I eat). There's a serious lack of ambient music inside the restaurant, which really dulls up everything. However, everything was forgiven because the food was quite nice (with some exceptions). Prices are reasonable, too - I'd say it's good value for money because similar dishes in other similar restaurants can cost more.

At the time of dining, the place was half-full, with a big table consisting of very noisy Hong Kong kids. Their sheer volume (especially when they laughed) literally blew the roof - and remember, there was no music inside the restaurant, so all we could hear was their raucous jibberjabber. At some point, I even heard them laughing while banging their chopsticks to their glasses. Seriously.

Salmon maki

-> Surprisingly nice. Everything you'd expect from a nice salmon roll. I love how they roll the avocado outside the rice - it's hard to get this right.

Rating: 7.5/10

Sukiyaki set

-> Nice. the tofu is very fresh and just the right firmness and texture, good fat ratio on the meat, and the sashimi is fresh as well. A good, solid dish

Rating: 7.5/10

Katsudon

-> This one, however, is a joke. The crumb is too fine, it's not warm enough, the eggs overcooked, and the whole dish is not moist enough. Avoid it like you'd avoid being seen carrying Anya Hindmarch's "I'm not a plastic bag" tote.

Rating: 4.5/10

Anyway, this place is kind of nice if you want to have different types of Japanese food at a reasonable price. Based on the few dishes I've tried, it seems that their sushi is quite OK. Too bad the place is kind of depressing and too sterile.