Ramen – Page 2

Meshiya is a Japanese restaurant located on Lonsdale St, just outside the QV food courts entrance and Officeworks. They serve a selection of Bento boxes, Sushi, Rice and Noodle (Fried or Soup based) dishes along with their own selection of Japanese Rice Wine too. Meshiya is very hit-and-miss, unfortunately. The first few times I have eaten here, it was pretty good but on my last visit eating the same kind of food just wasn’t the same quality I came to expect. Apparently, there are a couple of chef/owners so whether or not you like or dislike the food would probably come down to which chef you get. I think the first couple times it was the Japanese chef but on my latest visit it was a South-East Asian chef instead where I couldn’t believe I was eating from the same place!

The image above was my order for White Fish Teriyaki on Rice (Sakana Teriyaki Don). I found the fish to be wonderful in taste, and still very soft and cooked perfectly. The fresh fish flavour comes through well, and the slightly milder teriyaki sauce goes well with the lightly stir vegetables underneath the fish. The amount of fish they serve you seems generous so my impressions of this dish and Meshiya were quite high.

On my latest visit I had the Chicken and Fish Teriyaki and Tempura Bento and this is where all the nice impressions and expectations vanished. Firstly, the chicken was terribly overcooked. I was extremely disappointed, as they cooked the fish beautifully before and I had this sort of impression they took care in how they cooked their food. The sauce used here was different to the teriyaki sauce used in the Fish Teriyaki rice dish, it was much sweeter here, and overall more flavourful. Your usual teriyaki sauce. The fish teriyaki was very bland and also overcooked. Not delicate like before. To top it off, the rice was gluggy and also overcooked so it was all in lumps. This was probably the worst Japanese meal I have ever eaten, even some of the Chinese owned Japanese food court stores serve tastier food than this.

The only reasonable part of this dish was the tempura with their wafer thin batter. One prawn, one sweet potato and one eggplant but all had minimal oil and were crisp and crunchy.

Their ramen from their Happy Hour Lunch Menu was quite pleasant. It was still a bit bland and needed some extra chilli seasoning, but for the reduced price it was a sufficient meal. Nothing special to see here.

Impressions

As mentioned before, I have a hard time judging this place based on my very conflicting reviews. I would like to think that my last visit was just an off day but then again, I don’t want to give people too high of an expectation of this place thinking that it might actually be okay when my last meal was pretty poor.

The horrible bento box has left such a bad and long lasting impression that I can’t really recommend Meshiya to anyone. I’m not even sure if I would venture there again to see if it is a one off and I’m usually quite lenient when food is just so-so and would give it another go.

All I can do is caution you, and if you are served a tasty and satisfying meal, then that’s all I could ever want.

Meshiya
200 Lonsdale St
Melbourne VIC 3000

Ajisen Ramen is a popular Japanese franchise that offers an array of Japanese dishes. Of course, going by the name, its main attraction is the Ramen. Ajisen Ramen’s first Melbourne restaurant was on Bourke St, Melbourne. It has been there for many years, I think ever since I was in high school. I remember my friend ordering an Aussie Ramen, it was one of the strangest fusion dishes I’d ever seen. I believe it had fried egg, beetroot and other “typical” Australian ingredients like you’d find in a burger. I don’t think it’s on their menu anymore, probably an indication of its extreme popularity. Ajisen Ramen is a more recent entry to Glen Waverley, after the seemingly empty Korean restaurant before it closed down, and most weekends during lunchtime, even in the late arvo, you’ll find this place full.

I ordered the Tonkatsu Ramen, as seen in the opening image. What we have here is Deep-Fried Pork, egg and an assortment of vegetables. I quite liked it, you kinda to either eat the pork quickly or take it out of the bowl in order for the pork to retain its crunchiness that you would typically find in a Tonkatsu Rice dish. If you leave it in too long, it kinda gets too soggy but the flavour is still there so if you don’t mind it then it really isn’t a con.

The soup is mild, but definitely has some flavour. I quite like it and even though the bowl appears a tad small, it is filling.

This is the Spicy Ramen, with “Spicy Meat” which is not pictured. It’s servered separately on a plate. This is slightly different to the Tonkatsu Ramen as the soup base is spicy. It actually has quite a good hit, and it’s served with cabbage instead. Overall, it’s pleasant and the amount of heat is surprising for a Japanese restaurant.

If you order a Sumo Combo, ($5.50 extra) it comes with your pick of Junior Donburi and Green Tea. Well worth it if you’re particularly famished. Here we have the Junior Unadon, which is Grilled Eel with Sauce on Rice. I’m not a big fan of eel, but the sauce makes all the difference here. Nice balance of sweet and salty.

Here we have the Junior Teriyaki Salmon Don. I find the Junior serves if you don’t order the Sumo to be extremely poor value for money. It really is just a few mouthfuls, and for only a couple of dollars more you get a much larger serving. I also found the Teriyaki sauce here to be lacking, its mainly because the sauce is almost non existant! The Salmon was nicely cooked though, still pink inside so not overcooked. So overall the dish is a bit bland.

I ordered the Katsu Curry, with Deep Fried Bread Crumbed Pork with Japanese Curry on Rice. I love Japanese Curry, it’s so different to the Malaysian-style curries that most people have come to love but it for me, it holds its own.

I find Ajisen Servings to be slightly smaller than most other Japanese restaurants, even the Japanese Cafe in Chinatown is gigantic compared to here but nonetheless it’s still filling. I just find that it’s generally more expensive but smaller portions. What I love about Ajisen’s offering is that it’s actually spicy! Not just a hint of spice but a good punch. So different to the standard curries I’ve ordered around town as they are usually much sweeter.

The Pork goes really nicely with the curry, and although the curry can make the battered layer of pork soft, it isn’t too bad. Compared to the Tonkatsu Ramen, it goes soft slower so it’s not too bad. With this you get your standard diced carrot and potato. In this case, they pre-fry the potatoes giving it a slightly potato fry kind of flavour to it. It’s a subtle but nice way to bring another element to the dish.

Overall, you can see why Ajisen Ramen is extremely popular day in day out. I’d say service is surprisingly decent too, they have these little PDAs to take your orders and the food comes quickly enough. I’d probably bet they just want you out of there as quickly as possible but it works well. As I’ve cautioned before, if you’re used to the large servings in the many other Asian restaurants in Glen Waverley, don’t expect them here. It’s slightly smaller and more expensive. However the major plus is that the food is pretty darn good. So if see empty seats in this popular eatery, grab it and enjoy!

Ajisen Ramen (Menu)

82 Kingsway
Glen Waverley VIC 3150
(03) 9560 9018

ohdenny

Tag: Ramen

Meshiya

Ajisen Ramen – Glen Waverley