Sometimes I struggle to find good Japanese places in Melbourne,
which are also cheap and convenient – the decent places are usually a bit
higher priced. Maedaya is one I’d heard very good reviews about, but it’s
located in an area of Richmond that I never venture past...I’m one of those
people who only goes to Bridge Rd for shopping, and this Japanese restaurant is
located a couple of blocks after where the boutiques end.
My extended group of uni friends rarely manage to meet up
these days – especially rare are those occasions when the entire group are able to
attend. Last Saturday night was one of those precious occasions, and we wanted
to go somewhere cheap and tasty.
Word on the street is that Maedaya is super-busy, and since
we were a group of 8, I rang up for a booking for a table downstairs, in the
ala carte section.
Surprisingly, when we arrived, it wasn’t packed at all.
Actually most of the restaurant downstairs was empty, with only a couple of
tables filled. Perhaps our booking for 8.15pm was past their peak time...
Our waitress started us off with a small glass of
complimentary plum wine, which was delicious – it was probably the thing I
enjoyed most! I’m not usually a huge fan of wine, but this was really yummy.
Now, we had one vegetarian in the group – The Boy Vegetarian
– so we’re forever double checking menus first to ensure there is at least a
couple of non-meat items available. Thankfully, there were quite a few options
for Boy Vegetarian to try.
Offering a tapas style menu of many small dishes and
skewers, we each decided to pick a couple of selections each and share them
among the table. Insufficient as this may sound, because the dishes offered
varied so greatly in sizes and portions, it worked out to be perfect – we were
all very full by the end.
Takoyaki
Vegetable tempura
Sumiyaki Set – 5 skewers
of sumiyaki chicken balls, Yakitori Chicken Thigh, Chilli Inari Bean Curd, Gyu
Kushi Beef & Butakushi Pork Belly
Cold Soba Salad
Salmon Hot Pot
Chicken Namban – deep fried
buttered chicken with sweet vinegar sauce topped by tartar sauce
Soft Shell Crab
Scallops
Tsukune Set – skewers Tsukune
combo topped with 5 different flavours: wasabi mayonnaise, spicy miso
mayonnaise, black pepper, garlic chip, nanami chilli pepper
While I thought everything tasted fine – some dishes were
good, some average – none of them had the wow-factor. I couldn’t distinguish
much difference between the flavours of each topping in the Tsukune set. The
best food of the night was probably the soba salad (which couldn't even begin to compete with the one from Vegie Bar in Fitzroy) and fried chicken.
The bill came to $20 per person, which is not bad at all. If
you’re after totally awesome food and fancy settings then don’t come here, but
it’s definitely a great place to just casually sit and chat and order many
little dishes as you please. Perhaps during a busier period they might rush you
out once you’ve stopped ordering, but because we came later, it was quiet and
we were able to hear each other talk right across the large table, which was
good.
Good value, but quite average food. I would go back if I was
in the area or was in the mood for a casual place and cheap food, but it's not worth
waiting in line for half an hour to get in...
Ratings (based on my own
experience, on this occasion):
Food – 5 / 10
Service – 7 / 10
Value
for money
– 7 / 10
OVERALL
CONSENSUS: 2.5 bags (out of 5)
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