247. Japanese Gourmet Town

Hot Sake @$15.80

Did the Sumatra Squall scare your wits out last night? Have a cup of hot sake to warm up your body! My personal preference: sake tasted better than soju.

Chyuka Hotate @$5.80

A pretty decent appetizer. Lacked chopped chili to increase the oomph. Not a ask-for-more dish.

Potato Tempura @$5.80

Pretty bland even with the sauce. I felt it was nothing special. And 5 slices for $5.80 was a tad pricey.

Moonlight Okos @$14.80

A nice name it was matched with. I suppose the runny egg placed on top was to symbolise the moon? It was a seafood okos, topped with bonito flakes. I find the okonomiyaki rather mushy, could be due to the nonabsorbent nature of seafood.

Pork Okos @$12.80

So beautifully presented, some of us didn't even want to spoil the 'art' of the chef. Pork okos was drier on the interior and was able to make it crispy on the exterior. I felt it could be made more crispy to enhance the texture.

Pork Omu-Soba @$12.80

Japanese-style fried soba wrapped in omelette exterior. I preferred fried soba over our Chinese noodles. Soba was lighter in taste. Despite so, this pork omu-soba didn't wow me. Although, it was placed on a hot plate, the noodles weren't hot. I felt more ingredients could be added to the noodles to make it more flavoured.

Hamburger Soup Curry @$14.80

Soup curry branded under Yoshimi, Sapparo Curry. First, I noticed it stated Soup Curry on the menu. So, it meant one could finish the liquid that was served in the bowl. Then was it Japanese or Indian? Not a trace of Japanese traits in the liquid curry. The significance of Japanese in the dish found in the hamburger. In Japanese cuisine, hamburger had meant meat patty and not that western hamburger where meat patty was sandwiched between bread.

I tasted Indian curry. The soup curry was like the diluted Indian dhal curry minus the spiciness and add a tinge of sweetness. The cabbages and carrots resulted in the sweetness. I didn't like the soup curry. I thought it tasted a bit weird and powdery, like curry powder mixed with water. The thought of drinking curry was just rather queasy for me. To go along with rice was better. The hamburger was a humble 'guy'! It had a hidden treasure. CHEESE! I thought the hamburger was pretty hook-inducing with the melted cheese.

Seafood Soup Curry @$16.80

The seafood soup curry was surprisingly below my expectations. I got confused again. Am I having Japanese cuisine? It's like not here nor there. The significance of Japanese style wasn't strong. I still preferred the thicker rendition of Japanese curry with short-grain rice.

Unagi @$11.80

If you have read my recent post on the fish market in Sydney, you would have felt the pinch for paying $1.80 extra for this unagi that was just half the size of the one I had in Sydney. I had a full slab of it for just AUD$9.95 if you recalled. There was a difference in taste. The one I had in Sydney was cold, not as tender and juicy as JGT's. Not to be blamed, they were fishmongers, not chefs like JGT's. But still it was well worth the money. I felt JGT's a tad pricey. Excess teriyaki sauce minus the presentation, made it look messy.

Our bill worked out to approximately $134, after a 10% discount for citibank credit cards for 5 pax. Overall, food was just mediocre. Some of the food were rather economically priced. The idea of having 3 brands - Botejyu, Ajisen and Yoshimi together provided a wide selection to diners. Despite being a part of Bachmann group, I realised standard of food differed pretty much at different outlets.

Japanese Gourmet Town
Vivocity #01-157/158
Tel: 6224 9690