Derrick found this place in Urban Spoon and made reservations months ago for my 42nd birthday. From the outside, it looked like some Kopi Tiam. I can still see a faint "Fish and Chips" shadow beneath the Marumo Japanese Kitchen. From the outside, I couldn't look in through the windows, so I was really amazed when the interior, which looks like a typical kopi tiam, had menus pictured above, on every table. Other than the absence of an "h" in "buckwheat", the menu was very uniquely done.
It was a 7 (yes! SEVEN!) course dinner, no a la carte, which started pretty much as soon as we sat down. It started with a complimentary seaweed dish. It was just nice... you know how some Japanese eatery make them a tad bit to tart-y? Theirs were just nice.
I didn't take pics of the Freo Octopus Sunomo, fresh cucumber and; wakame dish but I think it looked something like this:
The next dish was Free Range Pork and Bean Sprout Harumaki with garlic miso sauce... which look like deep-fried popiahs to be honest but when you bite into them, ooh la la.
Next was Mt Barker Chicken Thigh Katsu, Spicy mayo and tonkatsu sauce which was superb!
Next was Chef's Selection of Assorted Sashimi, grated wasabi and soy sauce (what else??)
You see the scallops? So sweet! The sashimi was so fresh.
The next dish was Lightly Torched Tasmanian Salmon Belly Sushi , tiger prawn & tobiko
Now at this stage I was full. Honestly, I was. But when I sank my teeth in one of those, I just didn't care. The torched salmon was so fragrant, "lightly" was right. It was heavenly. When you squish the roe, salmon and tiger prawn together, I tell you, you won't stop at just one. However full I was, I chowed down 2 and reluctantly gave one up to Derrick.
You see now, I'd have a very confused palate to enjoy the next dish (so the maitre d' thought). He whipped out little shot glasses of what looked like icecream to me and I said to Derrick "I think they skipped the noodles and are serving us the dessert". I was at that point getting disappointed thinking so. Just then, good ol' maitre d' explained (because a lot of us were looking at the menu wondering why the dessert was being served) that it was their home-made Tangerine sorbet.... their "palate cleanser"... Ahhhhh..... so dinner wasn't over yet.....
Yes, we got our Organic Buckwheat Noodles, Mix tempura & zaru-soba sauce.
And finally! Dessert...
Cotton cheese cake, green tea cream and seasonal fruit...
So if you count the complimentary dishes, it was indeed, 9 courses altogether, all for below AUD40. Not bad huh?
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