Tanpopo

I got recommended by a friend to this place a while ago, it’s Tanpopo around the corner of Anzac Ave and Beach Road. It’s very difficult to spot, and on top of that, it’s hard to find a parking space. Anyway, I had a couple of samples, see below:

Shio Butter Corn Ramen.

Shio Ramen.

The Shio Ramen is $10 and the Shio Butter Corn Ramen is $11.50. There’s really nothing outstanding to say about this place. The environment is kinda plain and that goes with the dishes. Perhaps it’s the lack of variety because they only had ramen and nothing else. The pricing is about the same as any other Japanese ramen shops.  The staff is quite friendly. To me, it wasn’t worth finding a parking for (Sorry!). To be honest, if I was to park around there, I’d just go to Saigonz which has the best Vietnamese noodle soups!

Anyway, my rating is a 7/10. There’s no negatives but no positives as well. Good for ramen if you’re craving that kind of dish in that particular area.

The Don

When you mix cheese with Japanese food, it’s surprisingly good. The Don is one place I’ve noticed using this technique (there’s probably more of this and people need to tell me!). The Don is located on High Street and has been highly recommended in other blogs. I’ve been here a few times and have taken a fair amount of photos. Here goes:

Chicken Namban Don.

Pork Cheese Katsu Don.

Pork Katsu Don.

Soy Sauce Braised Beef Udon.

Prawn Cheese.

Beef Cheese Roll.

To save writing up prices of the meals that will certainly confuse you all; the meals costs $11 or $11.50, the Pork Katsu Don and Beef Udon at the higher end. The side dishes (tapas) such as the Prawn Cheese and Beef Cheese Roll cost $7 and $6.50 respectively. So expect to pay around that per side dish, which isn’t too bad. Oh, they’re only available after 5pm.

Overall, I’m impressed with the dishes. No disappointment on my visits there and environment is good for a quiet meal. The pricing and quality of the dishes are above average with just the right amount of variety. My rating is 8.5/10. The cheese can be overwhelming (and I believe fattening). A must try though. =)

Royal Buffet

A random one for the month. I went to this place with friends and was quite disappointed.

Royal Buffet is a newly opened restaurant, located on Short Street in Newmarket, opposite T Mark.  To compete with the neighbouring restaurants, for instance $10 pizza/pasta/salad lunch at Archie’s, Royal Buffet offers $12 Buffet lunch and $25 main buffet. Not a bad move.

I am not a fan of buffets, and I think I’ll never be. But decided to give it a try because the main buffet is advertised as having top chefs cooking the best cuisine and providing a variety of food. The cost was $25 per person. The initial look of the place looked OK, but realised it was below average and with limited variety after spending 15 mins in there. The items were not very good – chicken curry hardly has any meat, no real fish in their sushi variety, low quality instant coffee. Some of the stuff were alright, for example miso soup, frice rice, deep fried squid and japanese cold noodle.

The place truly lacked variety and for the amount you pay, it’s not worth it. Also, during dining there was a very unhappy couple who complained about the food (which is fair). But poor guys, they got chased out.

My rating is a 0/10. It’s crap. Not worth it at all.

Food Alley

The Food Alley. Yes, yes, yes.

I’ve always wanted to try this place. But I couldn’t be bothered because parking is extremely difficult to find and they have too many choices. Perhaps that’s why they’ve won the Best Cheap Eats last year – lots of competition for pricing and better tasting food.

Food Alley is on Albert Street, more towards downtown. There were many places that I sampled. Some of them are as below:

Chicks

Chicken Rice Large.

Chicks is serving purely chicken dishes. The above dish is $9 and it’s not bad. I thought the soup was a bit luke warm. Most of their dishes is below $10 which is good for those cheapos like me. However, overall it did not impress me.

Waroeng Wardani Indonesian Food 

Seafood Balado.

Ox Tail Soup on Rice.

Both dishes were $11 each. I thought the Balado was quite good. The seafood was the “fake” seafood, so perhaps my next try would be chicken or something. The Ox Tail is unique. Overall, not bad. Something I’d try again. There isn’t a lot of Indonesian places around.

Umaiya Japanese Cuisine

Chicken Bento.

The above was $10.50 and it had a lot of stuff. I thought it was a good dish and damn good value for money. It’s definitely worth a try for a value meal. But Japanese food tends to be the same all the time, so it wasn’t very exciting. 

I can’t exactly give a rating for this place – it’s a bit unfair since I haven’t tried everything else. There is definitely a lot of choices, and each with their own strength and weaknesses. I’d say try the Indonesian place which is right at the back of the food court.

Kiraku Japanese Restaurant

If you ever wanted a very light meal in town but in a cramp condition – try Kiraku. It’s located on Elliott Street, near the Atrium on Eliott. The selection is pretty good and friendly staff. Some dishes sampled are shown below:

  

Teriyaki Chicken Ramen.

 

Pork Gyoza.

Japanese Curry Chicken on Rice.

The first two dishes came as a combo for $14.50. The curry chicken rice is $10. I quite like it even though there isn’t much “material” i.e. light. As for taste, it’s good. My rating is 8/10.

A good place for a quick and light meal.

Mentatz

By now you’ve probably figured out that I “hang out” in town. Yes, very true, mainly because I work smack in the middle of the city, unlike my previous job.

Anyway, tried Mentatz, which is another Japanese ramen-ish place located in Lorne Street. It’s somewhere near Esquires. To be honest, my first few times here was average. I think because I tried to be adventurous and chose the non-standard ramen. On this particular occassion, we chose the basics – Shoyu Ramen (the 1st choice) and Katsudon. Both for under $10 (I believe.) Bah, it’s cheap anyway.

Picture below:

Katsu Don.

Shoyu Ramen.

Personally, these two dishes above are fantastic. Tasted great and it’s frickin’ cheap. I guess the only negative part is that it can be quite busy. I don’t really have much to say but to rate it 9/10.  A cheap eat after work or uni. =)

Also, right at the end of Lorne Street is a Korean pan cake shop. Here is a link with more pictures. I tried the cheese pancake before for $3 and it tasted great. It’s like pizza! They have a ham and cheese as well. I am not too sure about the chicken/beef ones. But you can tell it’s popular, there’s always a line!

Ponsonby Food Court

If you’re ever in the Ponsonby area, you’re practically spoiled for choice. Unfortunately, like me, I’m on an average salary and can’t afford the luxury of dining in some of Ponsonby’s best (although I’d love to).

It was basically a random thing to go to this foodcourt, as I don’t pass by Ponsonby Food Court that often. If you don’t know where it is, it’s located on Ponsonby Road, near-ish to Burger Fuel. Actually, I had the opportunity to dine here many times about 2 years ago when I “lived” there. Couple years down the track, it hasn’t changed, except the new addition of the Mexican place.

The night we dined, it was packed so it must be good. We tried two dishes, a Japanese and Vietnamese dish. The foodcourt has various other cuisines, check out their website. Some pictures below:

Chicken Donburi.

Ginger Chicken on Rice.

The chicken donburi was actually not bad for $10 (from Dami Sushi). It’s an all-time favourite. Unfortunately, I thought the dish could do with less salt/soya sauce. Perhaps, a majority of people like it salty, like most people like their coffee with sugar (baseless conclusion FYI). The ginger chicken on rice was also very nice for $11.50 (from Mekong Vietnamese). Apparently, it’s quite a popular dish in the foodcourt. However, I’m not a big fan of crispy skin chicken, and thought the meat was a bit dry. Anyway, for $11.50, it’s quite a large dish.

I didn’t try the other stuff, the Indian and Chinese stores looked a bit plain. The Italian kinda isolated. The Malaysian store is well-placed, perhaps might try it. The Mexican and Thai seems popular. And last but not least, the guys in the middle doing the drinks – raking all the cash with their overpriced drinks and so-called juices.

Overall, Ponsonby Foodcourt is not bad. I haven’t been there for a while. It definitely has variety and it’s cheap in an “uptown” suburb. But I think the “authenticity” of the food here has been modified to suit. For this particular night, 7/10. There are better foodcourts out there I think.

Ramen Daikoku

For you train commuters to the CBD, you should know this place. It’s right next to it (Britomart)!!!

Here’s the story, I was a bit tired after work on Friday and decided that I wanted something light. First thing that popped into my head – Japanese. I looked around and all the sushi shops were closed, not that I wanted sushi, I wanted to see if they had soup dishes. Then, there were the yakitori restaurants (if you know yum cha – it’s similar). But the problem with yakitori restaurants is that their dishes tend to be small and overpriced, something I don’t recommend. I still don’t understand why people go there – but hey, it’s a free world and my apologies if I’ve offended you. I just think that there are better ways to spend money. =)

Tonkotsu Ramen.

Shio Buttercorn Ramen.

For this particular outing, we ordered the above dishes. The tonkotsu ramen is a special dish (apparently for that month) and it’s a spicy dish. Cost about $11 from memory. The shio buttercorn ramen is a special variation of the standard ramen at $8.90. The dishes were light on meat (which is not a bad thing), tasty soup and plenty of noodles. Another dish that I tried here before is the curry ramen, which is quite tasty. Price-wise, you’ll be expecting to pay around $10. The staff are very friendly – greeting everyone who comes in and out (in Japanese!).

My rating for this place, 9/10. Good price, tasty, light and friendly. Only issue, if you’re driving to this place – forget about it.

Renkon

Sorry about the late postings. I actually have tons of reviews to do but got lazy. Also, a few changes in my life has affected me slightly. Anyway, that’s inexcusable (Tony Veicthy?) hehe!

Renkon is located in Parnell, in the basement. It’s hard to notice it but it’s somewhere near Burger Fuel. First thing I “notice” is the smell. It probably doesn’t help it being in a basement, thus no windows. And ventilation is probably in the kitchen or the doorway only. Anyway, the place is quite decent. We ordered two dishes, the Salmon Teriyaki on rice and Unagi Don. Both for $10 only! Don’t be deceived, the servings are relatively small compared to other places. But I think it’s good. It’s not an overkill and you don’t need to worry about “wasting” food if you’re on a diet.

Salmon Teriyaki on rice (sorry, hardly any lighting in the restaurant).

Unagi Don.

Overall, excellent place for a cheap Japanese meal. Only $10 per dish. Extra $3 for Miso Soup but who needs that when you can get an Unagi Don for $10. Highly recommended just for that dish. =) There is of course the usual suspect in the menu such as curry and katsu type dishes.

I am biased today, so I’ll give this place a 9/10. Good on ya’ Renkon. Affordable Japanese food in Parnell. You can’t complain!