Zenya Noodle Bar - Eastwood

Zenya Noodle Bar - Japanese

It's a Sunday night and today I'm at Eastwood to have dinner with family. It is basically China due to the large amounts of Asian people wandering the street and dining at restaurants. I decide to go to Zenya as I've heard good things from other food bloggers that have visited.

The restaurant is extremely busy and jam-packed. We manage to get a table for four but have to squash in 5 people. Dishes do take quite a bit of time to arrive but they definitely make up for it with taste.

  

Chicken Katsu Bento Box - $17.80

The bento box is huge and contains a variety of traditional Japanese foods. I start with the takoyaki and it is DIVINE. Melting in my mouth, they are soft and packed with flavour. The insides are completely filled unlike some takoyaki I have tried which were almost hollow. Both the sashimi and seaweed were great but the servings were small and I would've loved more. The salad was decent but the sauce was a bit too sour. Ahhh now comes the almighty CHICKEN. You can tell its just been fried and not microwaved from a frozen box. It's so juicy and crispy and simply delicious. There is a generous serving to compliment the rice and the star of the dish. I would've preferred a different sauce as the sauce provided was a too sweet.

Seared Cha-Shu Donburi - $13.80

Another great dish. Great presentation with even better taste. The Japanese mayo is always a standout and it is no surprise that it is great here too. The meat is slightly seared giving it a nice charred taste but not too burnt either. It is very tender and has quite a bit of fat on it. I love the half-cooked egg but expected at least a whole one. The vegetables accompany the meal well but the ginger was an extreme letdown. I didn't know what it was at first and took a bite of it with rice but i immediately spat it out as ginger is just too strong.

Sho-yu Ramen - $10.80

Zenya is known for its noodles but the ramen is not much of a standout. It is decent but did not live up to my expectations. Ramen Ikkyu certainly outclasses this but for $10.80 it's still a pretty good choice. There wasn't too much meat or bamboo shoots so in the end i was left with noodles and broth.

The whole meal

I didn't write about the other two ramen dishes as they were quite similar. A great meal for a good price at Zenya! Zenya Noodle Bar is a great restaurant located in Eastwood serving authentic Japanese food, which I recommend for any small occasion on a night or day out.

Tokyo Japanese Restaurant - Parramatta

 Tokyo Japanese Restaurant 

Hidden at the back of an alley in Parramatta, lies a beautiful and delicious Japanese Restaurant. I found this while wandering around the not-so-populated areas of Parramatta in search of a good place to eat. I love Japanese food; it's lunch time and i crave some bento boxes. There is a special lunch menu and the prices are VERY affordable.

It has a nice interior design and is very spacious for a restaurant that is deep inside the other buildings

  Salmon Teriyaki Bento - $10

 Yumm! I love bento boxes because they contain a variety of different foods and give you a taste of everything. I got the salmon teriyaki box and it was great for a mere ten bucks. The salmon is very tasty and although it is a little too sweet for my liking, the lettuce underneath helps balance it. It is drenched in sauce which i personally don't like but you can mix it with rice so it is not too strong. You get two pieces of sushi which are quite big in size and I got a tuna sushi as well as a chicken one. Ahhh and finally the tempura! Their tempura is so delightful and crispy. I love it! That satisfying crunch of the deep fried exterior when you bite into it and that melting, soft interior within. They provide a dipping sauce, which I believe is a diluted soy sauce with some sugar, that goes great with the tempura.

 Chicken Teriyaki Don - $8

This amount of food for $8? That's crazyyy!!! It's a generous amount of chicken sitting on some lettuce and all on top of a mountain of rice. The chicken is tender, succulent and tastes wonderful. The sauce on the chicken sinks into the bed of rice and flavours it wonderfully.

Another BBQ beef bento i got which also came in at a mere $10.

Miso soup & Salad

A bowl of miso soup and a small plate of salad is free of charge and comes with the food. The miso soup is nice but sadly there is no tofu, and the salad has some sort of sweet/sour japanese dressing which is simply quite delectable.

Altogether Tokyo Japanese restaurant is a great place to eat and provides HUGE amounts of food for the price you pay. I definitely suggest you check this place out even though it is hidden at the back of an alley.

Ramen Ikkyu - Chinatown

Ramen Ikkyu

Ahhhhh... Who doesn't like a bowl of fresh, steaming hot noodles in the middle of winter to really warm up your soul. Ramen Ikkyu is located in the corner most area of Sussex Centre Food Court, Chinatown and is known for their delicious (and famous) ramen.  The place is tiny and you might even miss it but don't get fooled by its looks and try their food! 

Their menu is pretty basic with your ramen and your choice of broth including salt, soy and miso. The original choices of ramen comes with cha-shu meat, seaweed, sugarcane, bean sprouts, green onion and an egg. Prices are a tad higher than the neighboring stores but quality makes up for it and if you aren't satisfied then you can get an extra serving of noodles for no cost at all! You order from an iPad at then pay at the register. Once you receive your fresh, steaming hot noodles you can add toppings such as minced garlic, chilli and soy sauce.     

Tokyo Soy Ramen $11.50

My bowl of ramen arrives and boy does it smell nice. My first impression was, wow...this is presented really well for such a tiny place. I take a sip of the broth and it is delicious but just a tad salty for me. The noodles are presumably hand made and the best noodles I have ever tasted. They are firm but not too chewy and unlike many other noodles, do not taste too starchy.  

The cha-shu meat is very tender but also very fatty. About half of the meat is fat and although it is delicious, you shouldn't be having it every day. The egg is cooked to perfection and goes so well with the dish. I thought it would be served hot but instead it was cold. Nonetheless it was a good egg and I wish there was more. 

Finally the sugarcane. At first I thought it was a weird addition to a savory dish but it worked really well as the slight sweetness of the sugarcane contrasted the overall soup and noodles. I sugarcane was a bit hard and I would have preferred if it was softer and easier to chew.

Ramen Ikkyu is a great place to eat if you're looking for some ramen in the winter. It can get crowded at times so make sure you come during the less busy, quieter hours. 

Their food is delicious but beware, the soup is quite rich so don't visit too often or your pants will be sorry!