Ton Ton - Regent Place, Sydney

Spicy chicken donburi

-> One word: SALTY! I have no idea if the chef accidentaly spilled salt onto this dish, but it's wayy to salty for me. This dish would be very good otherwise.

Rating: 5/10

Salmon mayonnaise onigiri

-> A perfect onigiri. Absolutely flawless. Nice texture, balance of flavor, blah blah blah. Definitely one of the best I've ever had.

Rating: 10/10

Gekikara ramen

-> Errr....weird. The soup is tonkotsu-ish, and it's bombarded with different kinds of chili, including a heavy dusting of togarashi on top. The leek is shaved too coarsely, so it's kind of hard to digest.

Rating: 6/10

Note:

This brainchild of the fabulous Azuma group of restaurants already received some oohs and ahhs from local foodies, but I find it a little dissapointing. While Azuma is an excellent restaurant, this second-line eatery of theirs is mediocre at best when compared to other ramen places in Sydney (based on what I had).

I really love Azuma, so I'll give them a benefit of the doubt and try some of their other dishes some other time.

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