Miso - World Square, Sydney

I can't believe that it took me close to a year to finally have a meal at this place. It's understandable, really - during its first months of operations, it's almost impossible to get a table straight away due to the hordes of people waiting to be seated. Nowadays, it's still crowded, but if you come at a time which deviates slightly from peak dining hours, you'll get a table quite easily.

This brainchild of the Masuya Group (their fifth establishment after Masuya, Musashi, Makoto City & Chatswood) is specializing in bentou and teishoku (set-meal) type of dishes. The whole experience dining in this place can be summed up as "glorified, pricey-ish obentous with freakishly saccharine service"

However, it can't be denied that any restaurant belonging to Masuya Group has pretty high standards. The ingredients are always very fresh, the food impeccably prepared, and prices are quite tolerable. Miso has a killer take-away menu, too (I especially love the look of their "Shinkansen bentou" - packed in a container that emulates the real thing sold at Japan's train stations (ekiben), and priced about the same, too (around 1000 yen / 13 bucks). Nice!

I have yet to try their famous tonkatsu (especially the miso-katsu). The reason being that I need sufficient mental preparations to try their hyped-up tonkatsu, remembering that tonkatsu is pretty much on my top 3 favorite dishes of all time.

Kukicha

-> A pot of tea, and a copy of Newsweek magazine featuring a person I freaking like and totally voted for, Indonesian President Yudhoyono on the cover. (lanjutkan!) <- his presidential campaign catchphrase, translated as "continue! (one more term!)"



Anywhoo, kukicha is a very nice green tea made from a blend of the stalks, stems, and pale tips of green tea - creating a wonderfully subtle yet tannic flavor. It's kind of lighter than normal sencha, but with a creamy edge to it.

Rating: 7.5/10

Hokkaido bentou

-> Looks really awesome indeed. I was immediately smitten. Look at that bentou lacquerware, I want to buy one just like that!! The rice was perfect, and it's scattered with ikura (salmon roe) and salmon flakes.

Okay, let's delve into the contents:

Seafood gratin

-> I adore gratins. Especially when the Japanese made them. Perhaps some purists would argue that the French are still the experts when it comes to gratins, but Japanese gratins are very edgy and it's always a surprise what lies beneath that cheesy-licious crust. This one contains kanikama, fish, broccoli, and tomatoes in cream sauce.

Rating: 7.5/10

The middle section

-> Contains (in ascending order of yummy-ness): tofu steak, seedless grapes, stewed broccoli with mayonnaise, kamaboko (fish cake), nasu dengaku (stewed eggplant with sweet miso), teriyaki salmon, dashimaki tamago (rolled omelette), and tsukune (yakitori-style chicken meatball - YUM YUM)

Salmon sashimi

-> Really fresh - as expected from Masuya Group...

Deep-fried soft shell crab

-> The piece de resistance, and perhaps, the reason why this dish is called "Hokkaido bentou" (Tokyoites mostly go to Hokkaido to eat crabs, LOL) I don't usually go crazy about soft shell crabs, but this one is a yum-yum.

Rating: 8/10

Oomisoka no hanabi taikai bentou (*) by Erique Fat Owl

Bentou box #1

(Clockwise from top left) Chicken teriyaki, cherry tomato gratin & Korean style beansprouts & carrot cold appetizer, Sakura onigiri covered with sakura denbu, stir-fried garlic prawn and paprika, rolled ham & cheese chicken katsu, tamago yaki & stuffed chikuwa.

Bentou Box #3

Selections of sandwiches (ham & cheese, egg, and tuna), Steamed pork-mushrooms-and-chives shuumai, spiced tofu, cherry tomatoes cups stuffed with egg salad, steamed broccoli, ebi fry.

Bentou boxes #3 and #4

Salad, more stuffed chikuwa, horenso (spinach) tamago-yaki, stir-fried beef with worchestershire sauce served with steamed carrots and french beans, steamed koshihikari rice.

Ten hours of preparations. 80 gigantic dollars spent. A sleepless night.


That's what it took for a complete amateur like me to prepare these bentou boxes. All I can say is phew! I have never enslaved myself in the kitchen to such degree before. Ever! For those experienced bentou makers, this bentou spread might look simple, but for me, it was hell to make. Thank goodness everything went as planned.


This rather lavish bentou boxes were made in the occasion of the big Sydney new year's eve fireworks-watching in Sydney harbor. I haven't watched this famed best-in-the-world fireworks display in 11 years (the last time being 1997), so I was excited to prepare everything to ensure the enjoyment of this experience.


So, my brother and I, along with some people went to Sydney harbor (Circular Quay, near the Opera House) at 10am, because we wanted to secure the BEST seats possible to view the magnificent fireworks. When we got there, some of the best seats (well, there were no seats per se, people sat on the floor) were taken, but we've managed to get a pretty good spot. It was a long, arduous, and not to mention burning HOT wait (the sun was like, an INCH away from our faces for 10 hours!), but it was somewhat worth it. There were 2 firework displays, one was the smaller one on 9pm ('family fireworks' - especially designed for families so that families with children can leave earlier so that the kids can be at bed by 10 or 11pm), and the gigantic one on 12 midnight.The fireworks were absolutely stunning, Sydney really showed the whole world how fireworks should be done.

The downside is, I've got some pretty severe SUNBURN! My skin still aches and burns as I typed this entry! I was so preoccupied with the bentou preparations I forgot to pack the sunscreen. Bad news is, none of the irresponsible people in my party remembered to bring some sunscreen, too! That's because I'm the responsible one in the group and everyone thought I've taken care of everything! Darn.
Also, I've got some really bad muscle sores because of the 12 hours+ sitting on the hard floor. Ouch.

Anyway, back to the bentou boxes...

I had to carefully design the contents of these bentou box, taking into consideration the sizes of each ingredients against the sizes of the boxes. After which, a 'blueprint' was made, and then followed by a general flowchart of cooking the ingredients. Then, more detailed flowcharts were made, as well as shopping list and schedule. Careful preparations and timings were assigned so that everything can be ready by 8am, on the 31st of December, 2008. This is what happens when an OCD sufferer like myself attempts to prepare a big bentou, LOL

The order in which the dishes were cooked also played a big part in ensuring the success of this bentou box, because some dishes can be packed into the boxes straight away, while some needed to cool down first so that they don't produce steam and dampen the whole box. Dishes such as the ebi fry and katsu were cooked last (but prepared the night before) so that it will be as crispy as possible when consumed.

Anyway, the bentou boxes attracted so many peoples' eyes. Some passer-bys even took pictures of these boxes (some without my permission! Grr!). I'm not kidding! It was so embarrasing, especially for my brother and friends who felt awkward eating while people were looking at us and commenting! LOL

So, will I do this again next year? The answer is absolutely NO. I don't even want to watch the fireworks again next year. The wait was simply too hard. I have all these sunburns to remind me! And even if I decided to go for it again next year, I'll do it sans the self-made bentou boxes and just pack some big macs and nasi goreng bought from chinatown like everyone else.

Anyhoo, have a happy 2009, everyone!


(*) Oomisoka no hanabi taikai bentou = New year's eve fireworks lunch box.

Daruma - Haymarket, Sydney

A rather hurried lunch. The place is kind of objectionable because it's packed with noisy teenagers (most likely UTS Insearch students on lunch break - the restaurant is, after all, located on the same building as UTS Insearch), but the staff is amazingly friendly. The okusan (proprietress) personally greets every guests from her cashier desk, which makes you really feel like you're in a small family-run restaurant in Japan.

Oyako don and udon set

-> Definitely something that one can consume on daily basis. It's light, un-pretentious, perfect for frequent consumption (without eventually getting sick of it)

Rating: 7.5/10

Agemono set

-> Deep-fried stuff. Chicken, fish, prawn patty. The main dish is nothing to rave about, but what I particularly like is the agedashi tofu, which tastes really home-made (believe me, I know). Food just like mama makes it. Well. It's not that my mama is Japanese, but you know.

Rating: 6.5/10

Azuma - Chifley Plaza, Sydney

Lunch with Cla. I haven't been to this restaurant for ages - in fact, this is one of the first Japanese restaurants I've been in Sydney. This place is (or used to be) quite a big deal - gaining awards and such, however, not much has changed since they relocated to their current location nearly a decade ago. The food is great, but the decor is somewhat bland and deteriorating. A nice place for power lunches (considering its location at the heart of CBD) but not for dinners, really.

Considering their great food, they should do something to pimp up the place a bit, really - the place is really uninteresting.

Azuma Bento

Wagyu, nigiri sushi, sashimi, hourensou, assorted amuse bouche, assorted tempura

-> I actually wanted to order this one, but since I came late, Cla beat me to it! The sushi is apparently good.

Rating: 7.5/10

Steak Bento

-> The wafu steak. It's really good, and grilled to my desired level of done-ness. The sauce is sweet and delightful, and I can see that it's daikon (white raddish)-based, my favorite kind. The meat is tender, as expected, however, it's rather cold. Well, I'm not expecting this dish to be sizzling hot with amazing fumes coming out of it à la Chinese food court dishes (such spectacle is against every concept of traditional, refined Japanese dining), but considering that they put the steak in a hotplate, they could at least serve it a bit warmer.

-> The assorted tempura. Ingredients aren't exactly spectacular - just your ordinary tempura. However, it tastes amazing and couldn't be more perfect.

-> The Maguro (tuna) Carpaccio with rockets. Quite nice, with Japanese-style dressing.


Rating (overall, for the Steak Bento): 8.5/10

Ju Ju - Kings Cross, Sydney

Yakiniku bento

-> Pretty good. The meat is a little bit on the tough side (expected, from the 14 bucks price tag), but the side dishes are nice (agedashi tofu, jagaimo salad)

Chicken teriyaki bento with cha-soba

-> Very recommended. This is exactly what chicken teriyaki should taste like. broiled, then slightly barbecued with skin on, leaving the skin slightly crispy and the sauce infused under the skin. Top-notch.

Pork Yakisoba

-> Very nice. I can tell that the sauce is homemade. Not too strong and tart like the ready-made ones, with the prefect balance of ingredients.

Cream Croquette

-> The piece de resistance, as far as I'm concerned. The main reason why I come here. Prefect cream croquette with ragout and bits of chicken and vegetables inside, just like in Japan. For those of you familiar with regular korokke (potato-based croquettes) and the Dutch Kroket, this is like the cross between the two. Think korokke, but lighter (since it contains no potatoes), but denser than the kroket. I don't even know how to describe the delectable taste of this thing, so just try it!

Further comments:

Great izakaya. Ugly name, ugly logo, and somewhat ugly place, but great izakaya-style food. I've seen many, many Australian celebrities hanging out at this place. This place used to be frequented by Japanese people only, then the Asians started to fill up the place, and then the Indonesians started to come in hordes (in Sydney, good Japanese restaurant under $20 pp = Indonesian hangout spot). Then, Australian celebrities discovered the place, knowing that they won't get noticed as much among predominantly Asian crowd, but now that non-Asians started to fill up the space, the celebrities are gone completely. LOL

The restaurant had its peak (of business) around 2 years ago - they didn't even accept reservations on weekends (including Fridays). But now, they started to accept reservations on weekends, perhaps a sign of business slowing down. However, the place is still always packed, and the food quality doesn't decline, so I still love dropping by this place every now and then.

As with many izakaya-style Japanese restaurants in Sydney, don't expect all your orders to arrive at the same time. That's why Ju Ju recommends food sharing, which is basically the very concept of izakaya dining. Food will arrive haphazardly, but service is really good (considering how busy the place is). Unlike restaurants such as Fujiya, the waitresses at Ju Ju are very professional, prompt, friendly, and reliable. The restaurant is never understaffed (unlike stupid Fujiya), food is always excellent no matter how busy they are (unlike stupid Fujiya), portions are very generous (unlike stupid Fujiya), and prices are reasonable (again, unlike stupid Fujiya).

So yeah...Ju Ju. nice place. Unlike stupid Fujiya. Too bad it's quite far away from the city (unlike stupid Fujiya).

"goody and delicious". WTF.