Dinner at Marukame Udon, Chatswood

Post exam finals, craving something beyond the usual foods of instant noodles, pies and sausage rolls and 2 am Mars Pods snacking; I returned to Marukame Udon in Chatswood for a second time.

Arriving at nearly 6 pm, I was unsurprised by the varied line of people that all patiently waited outside for their turn to order sanuki-style (or what M calls cafeteria style).

Upon entering, you declare a number for the type of udon you prefer, and what size. Placed on a tray, you then proceed along a row of delicious deep fried goods where you self-serve however many things you want. At the end of the 'belt', you then can order a drink, pay and top your noodles with normal 'condiments', like tempura crumbs (tenkatsu) and welsh onion etc.

Ordering the bukkake udon with soft boiled egg and beef, the medium was well and truly enough. The soup was incredibly tasty and delicious, udon firm and just the perfect portion size.

I would probably suggest to not completely overload your noodles with tempura crumbs however, the first time I came here I overeagerly sprinkled far too much to the extent that the crumbs absorbed all my noodle soup!

I am, however, a major sucker for any tempura or deep-fried. Just note that if you do want any tempura dipping sauce, you can and should ask the person who hands you your bowl of noodles right at the beginning of the 'belt'. Also as an extra tip, go upstairs where not many people go and the atmosphere is more quiet and intimate.

Getting my usual combination, I got a tempura prawn, a cheese hot dog, tofu tempura and a pork cutlet. All the tempura based foods were crisp and the batter was light and just right.

The cheese hot dog was a smokey type of sausage with lovely melted cheese oozing out; and the pork cutlet was ridiculously tender, moist and tasty.

Of course, I washed it all down with a can of Calpis.

If the standard of this restaurant keeps up, there is no doubt at all that I'll keep coming back again and again. Harking the likes of Menya and Mappen on George Street in the city, Marukame Udon is ridiculously efficient, worth the money, well worth the short wait, and most importantly delicious and fresh.

Service is friendly, efficient, and the traditional cheery and enthusiastic Japanese banter greeted us as we both entered and left. Full of young teenagers after school, old couples, families, married couples, couples going out on dates; even though the type of almost 'cafeteria' style of service may seem very casual; the food is far from ordinary.

Dinner at Popolo

It has clearly been a while since I've updated my blog, but here's hopefully a return to regular posts, food porn, being a tourist in my own city and posts filled with existential ennui.

A while back, after a rocky ride in Jade's newly learnt ability to drive a manual, we went to one-hatted restaurant Popolo in Rushcutter's Bay/Darlinghurst where we feasted on absolutely delicious Italian.

Upon entering more than half an hour earlier than our reservation, we were graciously invited to wait at the bar where we proceeded to order some girly cocktails (which I have no photos of unfortunately). It hardly seemed like we had waited too long before we were lead to our table, where we were immediately presented with our waiter for the night and menus to peruse.

The provisional sourdough bread and olive oil was soft and fluffy and everything that I could dream of to the extent that I didn't even wait for the small plates to come out to start tucking in.

It's unfortunate that I can't find what the above dish was called, but it was consisted of these deliciously rich and tasty strips of cheddar, with finely cut pieces of pancetta and a crisp lettuce or radish; that came together into this ridiculously tasty and appetising dish.

The cheese souffle was so good as well, my only cliched criticism is that there wasn't more!

It appears as though this pizza, however, is a deadset staple for the restaurant. Called the capri, it consisted of honey glazed cherry tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella and basil. Although delicious, in all honesty by this point my stomach was about to explode and it was not longer as pleasurable to be cramming this amount of food into my body. 

It's generally fairly amiss of me that I can't even remember most of what I ate this night (given it was in celebration of Mother's Day), but what I do remember is I left this intimate place with a full belly and completely satisfied with the $60-$80 I had paid for it.

Service was exceptional (as could be expected), from the maitre d', to the bartender, to the waiter, to even just the odd passing employee who indicated the way to the bathroom as soon as I left my table.

It was a lovely lovely night, quite intimate with not many seats and many a couple abound; however having said that, there were a couple of boisterous groups a la girls night out; but if anything that just contributed to the almost homely, but fine dining, feel of the restaurant. 

Although the restaurant is tucked into a residential complex and hidden behind a Lexus dealer, the restaurant is well worth the dedicated trip out to Rushcutters Bay.