Monday, August 24, 2009

Tomodachi

Location: Level 3, Melbourne Central
Link: www.tomodachi.com.au
Cuisine: Japanese

Teapot and Mouse decided to host their birthday dinner at Tomodachi, to give the girls a taste of sushi train - given the popularity of sushi at work!


Some dishes from the sushi train


Complimentary edamame

Not as good as the edamame at Shogun (perhaps that was because Shogun made it fresh the first time we went), but still good nevertheless.


Tempura prawn


Beef udon

One of the best udon I have ever had. The udon was cooked until soft (unlike most places, who leave it slightly tougher) and very easily consumed. Beef was thinly sliced the gyu-niku way and well-marinated. The broth was light until you reached the end where the sauce from the marinated beef had dissolved. The snowpeas tasted quite fresh, but the slices of processed soy (pink and white slices) were a little tough and bland. The seaweed and enoki mushrooms added an extra textural dimension to the dish. The udon was served in a claypot, which helped to keep the soup and noodles warm for a slow eater like myself!


Chicken yaki udon


Vegetarian yaki udon


Vegetarian okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake)


Chicken teriyaki with rice


Seafood yaki udon


BBQ chicken with rice


Sushi and sashimi platters

The food was well-cooked and very tasty. For most of the table, sushi was a new concept and they seemed to enjoy the novelty of the train, as well as the extensive variety of dishes that travelled along it.

The service alternated between good and poor. Our main waiter for the night was particularly patient, friendly and accommodating, and even brought out complimentary edamame for the tables (about 4 bowls, each serve worth $4.50 each).

The other waitress there, on the other hand, was ridiculously rude and lazy. On requesting that the birthday cake be brought out with some plates and cutlery, the waitress informed us that they did not have enough plates and gave us five (keeping in mind that there were 12 of us). Not enough plates? It's a restaurant! So we asked our waiter for some more, and he brought over more than enough plates, and new spoons for everyone as well. We decided not to tip and instead offered the waiter a slice of cake. Tipping would have meant that the bitchy waitress would get a share of it.

And we discovered afterwards that the reason the waitress had refused to give us more plates, was because she had to clean up the table afterwards!!

Overall Impression: 8.5/10

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