Miki's Open Kitchen, Margaret River, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

With the weather warming up over the Summer months in Perth, the cooler climes of the South West beckon - even more than they usually do. Alissa and I had already spent Christmas and New Year's in the Great Southern, and a weekend away with friends in Margaret River was another chance to escape January's run of high 30°C days. While we were down for a belated edition of our annual Christmas Cookoff competition, Alissa and I took the opportunity to tick another Margaret River restaurant off our list of places to try - Miki's Open Kitchen, a Japanese restaurant that came highly recommended.

Sepia, Sydney, New South Wales (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

2015 really seems to be Martin Benn's year. After years making his mark as the Head Chef of Tetsuya's, Sepia - the 3-Hatted restaurant owned by Benn and his wife Vicki Wild - has been named Sydney's best restaurant 3 times in the Good Food Guide in its 6 years of existence, and was voted by a panel of critics, fellow chefs and restaurateurs as the best in the country. Winning the One To Watch Award from San Pellegrino's World's 50 Best Restaurants will undoubtedly mean Sepia's stature is likely to grow internationally, so our eating excursion to Sydney seemed eminently well timed to dine at what is undoubtedly Australia's restaurant of the moment.

Gumshara Ramen, Haymarket, New South Wales (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

While in Sydney for work a few years ago, I was fortunate enough to try a bowl of ramen so intensely porky and delicious that it was life changing. After sitting over a giant bowl of literally Pork, Pork, Pork and more Pork, I called Alissa and my parents up to tell them I'd just eaten the greatest bowl of Ramen in my life, and jokingly (but also half seriously) added that I was also about to have a heart attack due its rich unctuousness. Along with the more refined (and possibly even better) Hakata Ramen of Ichiran in Hong Kong, that bowl has been a high watermark for Tonkotsu - and Ramen in general. Called Super Mega Ramen and the most deluxe and impressive bowl sold at Gumshara Ramen in Sydney's Chinatown, Gumshara was the top priority of places to check out again while we were over from Perth for a week. Having eaten a lot of Ramen in the years since - and even written a guide to the different Ramen Joints in Perth - I was interested to found out if Gumshara was as amazing as I'd remembered it being.

Harajuku Gyoza, Potts Point, New South Wales (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

With such finite time while on holiday and seemingly endless things to see, eat and do, I like to be a very researched and well planned traveller. For our 2015 trip to Sydney, I booked all our major meals months in advance to avoid missing out on some of the more difficult to book places, and worked out journey times and opening hours for places that didn't take bookings so we could be there to beat the queues. I've mellowed out somewhat from the extremely detailed planning of our honeymoon however, and now fill some spaces in our schedules with the words 'Something Simple' - code for a meal that does not require a reservation, queuing or even any pre-planning to visit. Flying into Sydney in time for a late lunch, Alissa and I agreed that Something Simple was called for, and went with whatever we could find close to our hotel. As luck would have it, just two doors down from our hotel was Harajuku Gyoza - a cool looking Izakaya-style bar specialising in Gyoza and Beer. With its convenient location we decided to visit the place twice, and the following is an overview of both our meals.

LuMi, Pyrmont, New South Wales (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

Although there has been a fair amount of cross-pollination of French and Japanese cuisines in a fine dining context, the crossover potential of Japanese and Italian cooking is relatively underexplored. Inherent conservatism and striving for authenticity may have kept playing around with Italian food off limits for a long time, however the strong focus on umami in both cooking traditions make many Italian and Japanese culinary ideas strongly compatible. 

With Modernists like Massimo Bottura having shown that one can be at once progressive while deeply respectful of cultural heritage from within Italy, its been interesting reading about a similarly progressive and open style of Italian cuisine developing here in Australia. Only having been open since September last year, LuMi and its head chef Federico Zanellato have already become critical darlings for the restaurant's innovative Japanese influenced take on Modern Italian. With Zanellato's resume including stints at such culinary meccas as La Pergola, Ryugin, Noma and Attica, LuMi was high on our list of places to check out while on a culinary tour of Sydney - so much so, that it ended up being our dinner on the Sunday of our arrival.

Mary's, Highgate, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

While Degustations and Noodle Shops are clearly food genres for which we have high levels of enthusiasm, Alissa and I rarely go out for breakfast. Being more a fan of the kinds of food available at lunch and dinner and somewhat bored of the conventions that define breakfast foods, I'm usually a bit utilitarian in my approach to breaking the fast to save more room for the lunch foods I really want to eat. Plus, with long weekend queues at the places that do serve interesting breakfasts, I'm more likely to end up grabbing an early Banh Mi or heading out nice and early for Dim Sum just as they open than stand around for an hour at all the breakfast hot spots.

For this reason, breakfast at Mary St Bakery has long eluded me. Alissa has been and raved about how good the food was, and blogger friends continually spruiked its greatness in conversation. So when I received an invite to attend a blogger's dinner at Mary St Bakery's nighttime alter-ego Mary's, I jumped at the chance - even when it turned out it was a night Alissa was unable to make it to.

The Ministry's Guide to Gluttony - Ramen in Perth

Regular readers and friends will know that I'm a sucker for a good bowl of noodles, and that Ramen reigns supreme as the noodle dish that is closest to my heart. First introduced to me years ago by my friend Dan Bankowski (better known as the hip-hop artist Coin Banks), the combination of deliciously umami broth, thin alkaline noodles with bite and toppings of pork, egg and/or chicken quickly stole pride of place from the Wanton Noodles of my childhood, and I've been obsessed ever since. The first meal Alissa and I ate during our honeymoon in Hong Kong was at Ichiran Ramen - a branch of a Hakata-style Tonkotsu specialist chain from Japan, and I've always made it a point to visit a different Ramen joint everytime I go to Sydney and Melbourne.

Kanta Japanese Kitchen, Langford, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

When it comes to dining out, its probably safe to say most meals are either eaten or taken away from conveniently located local restaurants within 10 minutes from a diner's home, or at places in a major dining precinct and/or eat street. These two options would probably be sufficient to cover most meals - from a dinner when you can't be bothered to a cook to a special occasion meal - however it doesn't cover every possibility. For every legitimately excellent restaurants in a Northbridge or along Beaufort St, there are just as many hidden gems known only to those lucky enough to living in the area and/or the most ardent of foodies willing to venture out to often far flung suburbs in sometimes dodgy neighbourhoods just to have a great meal. Well known in foodie circles while otherwise relatively unknown, Kanta Japanese Kitchen in Langford is one such restaurant.

The Modern Eatery - House of Aburi Sushi, Fremantle, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

With a seemingly endless stream of notable restaurant openings in Perth and Northbridge, its nice to see my old stomping grounds of Fremantle finally getting in on the action as it slowly but surely works its way out of its early 21st century funk to reclaim its rightful place as our state's Second City. During recent visits to the Port City, Alissa and I have been impressed by the concerted effort being made to make Fremantle vibrant again, whether it be the innovative activation of the old Myer Building as the cutting edge retail/new business incubator MANY 6160 or the work being done to bring vibrant life back to the High St Mall. With many new if somewhat underrecognised restaurants around, Alissa and I were particularly excited to hear about the opening of a new sushi restaurant called The Modern Eatery. Being massive fans of Japanese food, we bumped The Modern Eatery high up our never-ending wishlist and found ourselves there for an early Thursday night dinner last week.

Hikaru Ramen, Perth, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

Being something of a ramen obsessive, I always live in hope of discovering new or hidden ramen shops in my home city of Perth. Although the worldwide ramen craze has definitely taken off in a big way in Sydney and Melbourne, there are far fewer ramen specialists of note in Perth, and in a recent discussion with a friend we both expressed our dismay over the fact so few in the CBD are open at night, and when they do its only on Friday nights - don't they know ramen is an anytime food?!? One Friday night, Alissa and I headed into Perth to try relatively new ramen joint Hikaru Ramen only to discover they were no longer open for Friday evenings - or any evenings at all for that matter! With both of us not working in the CBD, it would take Alissa and another 3 months before we finally got around to try our first bowls from Hikaru Ramen.

Marumo, Nedlands, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

Almost 2 years ago (sadly, in pre-blog days), Alissa and I had the great privilege of booking a table at Marumo in Leeming. At the time, we were still fairly new Bateman residents and the $39 omakase-only restaurant was the best rated restaurant in the area. Bewildered by its seemingly crazy low asking price for a degustation, I tried in January 2013 to book a table for Alissa's birthday in March, only to discover that the next available month was July. Thankfully I got in when I did, as by March the restaurant was booked out for the entire year! Dining with our friends Justin, Sarah, Trevor and Annaliese, we were all blown away by the quality of the food we were getting for such a low asking price, as well as how disparate the clearly converted fish and chips shop's Ikea level furnishings were compared to the refined quality of the food. Thoroughly impressed, Justin tried to book a table straight away only to be informed that the restaurant was not accepting any further bookings as they were deciding whether to move or renovate.

Tatami, Bateman, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

In spite of being adventurous eaters who are always on the look out for new and interesting places to eat, Alissa and I can be very much creatures of habit. On a regular week night when we're too lazy to cook or to go anywhere too far from home, Alissa and I will invariably go for 'Japanese'. In spite of a few Japanese restaurants within 5 minutes from our house, we both understand that going for 'Japanese' means going to Kai - a tiny, always packed restaurant in Bull Creek that serves up one of our favourite bowls of tonkotsu ramen in Perth as well as excellent renditions of others classics like teriyaki chicken, gyoza and udon (both hot and cold). With Kai's ramen being as good as it is, it took us a while to follow up on a tip to try the ramen at the relatively new Japanese restaurant Tatami.

Silver Sushi, Willetton, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

Although Alissa and I have been living in the Bateman for almost two years, we have been slow to explore the suburban restaurants of Willetton. Perhaps owing to the close proximity of our regular local favourites Kai and Kitchen Inn combined with the fast food chain-centric nature of the shopping centre precinct but, Alissa and I rarely crossed Karel Ave until recently realising just how close Southlands really is. One of the instigators for this recent branching out was chasing down a lead we were given by a diner we met at Formosa Vegetarian Eating House in Kardinya, who strongly recommended that we try a Japanese restaurant in the Southlands complex called Silver Sushi.

Nine Fine Food, Highgate, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

Alissa had had a stressful week. Having worked in theatre for the last few years, Alissa returned to her studies at the beginning of 2014 to become a secondary teacher. The week preceding had been her first exam week since high school (contemporary performance didn't have exams), so on the evening of her last exam I arranged a little light at the end of the tunnel in the form of a reservation at Nine Fine Food. Being massive fans of Japanese food, Nine had been on our list of places to check out for a long time. Located at the corner of Bulwer and Lake Sts in Highgate and serving impressive food for a decade, its easy to forget about an established gem like Nine with all the 'buzzy' new Japanese restaurant openings in the last few years (Nobu, Sushia and Marumo to name a few), however with its consistently strong ratings in the Good Food Guide the restaurant and chef Muneki Song have certainly earned their stripes amongst Perth's best.

Shop Ramen, Fitzroy, Victoria (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

One of the great things about writing a blog is that you get to share your favourite meals with others. Its nice to know that I've help point people I don't even know in the right direction of great Roast Goose Noodles in Hong Kong, or the incredible fusion food of East Indies in Cochin, India. Though not specifically a blog for the gluten intolerant or for vegans, I do like to point people with dietary requirements in the right direction of satisfying meals as I feel no one should have to settle for boring food. So its one of the great food tragedies that up until now, I've never been able to share a bowl of ramen with vegan friends. I tried at Ramen Ya in Melbourne and had a decidedly un-vegan egg placed on the rice our friends Jake and Tegan had ordered, and the horrible stir fry served to our friend Gita at Zensaki in Perth was topped with bonito flakes. All these times my friends have had to go with a non-ramen alternative while I waxed lyrical about how incredible ramen is. When I heard that Shop Ramen made a Vegetarian Ramen that could easily be made Vegan by removing the marinated egg, it was the perfect opportunity to introduce my friends Jake and Tegan to a dish that is more than just a favourite, but an obsession (see here, here, here, here, here, here and here).

Kokoro Ramen, Melbourne, Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

For regular readers of the Ministry, I don't think its any secret that I'm a little obsessed with ramen. To me, great ramen is a truly wondrous thing; a surprising combination of culinary skill and precision that nevertheless seems so effortless when served up, and results in an utterly delicious, casual and approachable eating experience that is generally fairly affordable. If arteries and weight gain were not an issue, I'd probably live on daily steaming bowls of tonkotsu broth and ramen noodles, and its a dish I always have to try when visiting new places. When we arrived in Hong Kong as part of Alissa and Don Eat Asia, Ichiran Ramen was our first port of call, so it seemed only fitting that the first meal of our Melbourne trip would be a ramen joint.

Jun, Perth, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

You've gotta love a serendipitous discovery. Every now and then I do a Google search for 'best ramen perth' to see if there is a place doing ramen I've just never heard of or is newly opened, and jot down the details as a lead to follow up on. Of course, I've been to all the major ramen joints in Perth, however such is my obsession with this dish that I am irrationally afraid that I've yet to try Perth's best bowl of ramen. I will not stop until I've tried them all.

Jun was one such lead. Years ago its location in a dark, dingy, literally home to the homeless alleyway just off Hay Street was indeed a ramen noodle house - there is even a remnant of old signage along the wall of the alley - and this older restaurant came up in a search for Perth's best ramen. I was disappointed to find it no longer existed when I searched for it on Urbanspoon, however when I saw photos of delicious looking Katsu Pork Skewers and Cold Soba Noodles at Jun it quickly jumped up the priority queue of places to visit. 

Located in a basement in an alley, the entrance to Jun is really cooling looking, and exudes a certain Melbournesque bohemian/hipster charm...

...so it was really surprising to find the interior of the restaurant looking a bit staid and dated, with a non-working water feature and a stack of books piled near the entrance. I've seen photos of eateries in Japan that look similar, and there was something charming about its unassuming and decidedly unhip appearance. The slightly ramshackle appearance seemed to have no negative effect on their business, as by 7:30 the place was pretty much packed. Thank goodness we booked.

 We were seated near the rear of the restaurant, giving us a decent view of the the chef at work. While advertising themselves as a Kushi-Yaki Restaurant, Jun has a fairly extensive menu and it took us a moment to decide on what we wanted to eat. As appetising as the yakitori looked, in the end we decided to try three of their fried items and a bowl of noodles each.

First to arrive was a plate of Seafood Croquettes. Being of Dutch descent, Alissa's family have schooled me on the delicious ways of the croquette, so I was most interested to see the differences between Dutch and Japanese versions of this dish. These seafood croquettes were quite different to the gravy-filled versions Alissa's Oma makes, however I did enjoy the meaty chunks of prawn and other seafood inside. What struck me as most impressive however was how well fried it was. Deep frying something may seem like a fairly simple task, but there is a skill to getting fried items to be both nice and crispy, and not greasy. It seems to be a rare skill based on how greasy a lot of lunch bar fried food can be, so its to the chef's credit that these came out as well as they did. Combining this with the tastiness of the tonkatsu sauce which reminded me of a better version of HP Barbecue Sauce, and this was an excellent start to our meal.

It got even better with the Karaage, arguably the best and most refined Karaage either of have had in Perth. As with the croquettes, the frying skill was exemplary. The coating was thinner than most Karaage Alissa and I have had, yet still maintained that deliciously gingery flavour we've come to know and love. Most amazing however was the soft, juicy and tender texture of the meat. I thought Kai's Karaage was very good, but this was even better. Seriously, if all you know of Karaage is the cheap, mass produced pseudo-KFC version common to food court Japanese you owe it yourself to try Jun's version to see how good it can be. Simply phenomenal.

Next came the Pork Belly and Onion skewers. Basically Tonkatsu Pork on a stick with slices of onion between the pork belly pieces, these were piping hot to the point of being a little difficult to eat (admittedly, this was our own greedy fault). Once it cooled a bit, we were greeted by delicious chunks of pork belly's unctuous goodness, and the addition of onion gave it a certain onion ring quality - an inspired twist. That said, as people who are fairly obsessed with pork (and pork belly in particular) this was probably the most anticipated of the three dishes, yet it didn't leaving us gushing as much as the Karaage did. This however was not a reflection on the quality of the Pork Belly and Onion so much as how amazing the Karaage was.

While I consider ramen's alkaline noodles the best of all Japan's noodle styles, a good bowl of fat Udon Noodles remains Alissa's firm favourite. As with the Karaage, this was near best in class - better than Kai, Zensaki and Taka's. Udon's shoyu-based broth has a cleaner flavour than that of ramen's, and Jun's version was totally on point, with a certain marine umami flavour that made it all the more delicious. While both Kai and Zensaki top their Udon off with a more deluxe serves of mixed tempura and soft shell crab respectively, the fact we'd already had some delicious fried goodness before the noodles meant the two pieces of sweet and succulent baby squid were more than sufficient.

I personally feel soba noodles are a dish best served cold, and the Cold Soba with Sweet Potato Paste and Raw Quail Egg sounded so good I had to try it. Wow. This was seriously some next level shit. Firstly, the presentation was beautiful, with the soba framed by thinly sliced spring onion and nori and topped with a raw quail egg. I even liked their choice of plate! Mixing the egg into the noodles and then dipping it into the accompanying bowl of dipping sauce, this was a serious salty-sweet-umami explosion, rich in the flavour of sesame and soy, made all the better by the added kick of the wasabi. This was so good I didn't want it to end, and I continued to pick up every single stray strand of soba until there were none left.

The Verdict: Excellent
In David Chang's Momofuku cookbook, he recounts his tutelage under soba specialist Akio Hosoda and how when realising David was dedicated to a completely different noodle, he gave David the ultimatum; "you're either soba or not". I feel a bit this way about the various Japanese noodle styles - we'll eat them all but I'm a ramen man, while Alissa is all for the Udon. In Alissa's case, the excellence of Jun's Udon noodle served to reinforce her belief in its ascendency while for me, trying a soba this good was enough to almost make me a convert to the ways of the soba noodle. Almost. Ramen still rules supreme in my eyes, but I enjoyed the cold soba at Jun so much I'm gonna have to make some room in my life for this alternative noodle. Combine that with best-in-class Karaage and the need to try their yakitori next time, and this is a restaurant we'll definitely be coming back to. Repeatedly. At $51 for the five items, Jun is a tad bit pricier than places like Kai, Zensaki and Nao but we left feeling seriously full and satisfied with our meal - next time, I think two items to share and then a bowl of noodles each would be more than enough for the two of us. The very next day after eating there, I got an SMS from a friend asking for a restaurant recommendation. With no hesitation and no alternative suggestions, I responded with Jun. I don't think I can recommend them enough.

Taka's Kitchen (Shafto Lane), Perth, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

Taka Japanese Cuisine (AKA Taka's Kitchen) needs little in the way of an introduction. Its Fremantle branch was the place that introduced me to Japanese food back in the '90s, a time when sushi was still a little alternative and Matsuri was considered one of the best Japanese restaurants in town (oh how times have changed). Given its remains a renowned and popular cheap and cheerful Perth institution in spite of better Japanese restaurants having opened in its wake, blogging about it might seem a little unnecessary. However, with the addition of ramen to their menu sometime in the last 2 years or so, my goal of eating and rating every ramen in Perth would not be complete without giving my thoughts on their version of one of my favourite dishes.

While saving for our honeymoon, Alissa and I often found ourselves at the Barrack St store when our budget couldn't be stretched beyond their super cheap prices. Taka's is like McDonald's as its pretty consistent from store to store, so having parked at the west end of the CBD we decided to visit their branch in Shafto Lane for a change.

The layout is very similar to the Barrack St store - numerous tables lined up to form two rows in a large share table/mess hall configuration, with smaller 4-person tables on the sides. There also is bar seating for periods of extreme capacity, though I can't recall them ever being used when I've been in.

My order of Ramen Noodles came served with chicken, boiled egg and seaweed in broth. The broth seemed to be a kind of Shoyu-based broth with a strong chicken flavour, and was sweeter and milder than the Miso or Tonkotsu styles. It was quite tasty in its own right, reminding me of the Asian-style Maraconi Chicken Soup I often ate as a child, and was more successful than the the tasteless tonkotsu broth at Zensaki. Still, it couldn't compare to the more complex flavours of heartier (though less healthy) broth styles found at Nao, Arigataya and Kai.

The noodles served here were described as 'thin egg noodles', thankfully not the thin egg noodles served with wanton noodles, but something with the expected ramen thickness and appearance. The use of egg in ramen is something I find a little controversial as the yellow colour is traditionally a product of alkaline salts (kansui) rather than egg content. Nao's much lauded ramen is also made with egg content, so its not like Taka's are the only ones doing this. Overall the noodles had a nice toothsome bite that I appreciated. Though they were no where near as as good as Kai or Nao, they were an improvement on the overcooked mee pok-style noodles served at Arigataya. The topping of chicken was the Taka's Teriyaki Chicken Standard Issue they use in many of their dishes. This was decent enough, though far from the best Teriyaki Chicken I've had; Karaage would have been preferable. Finally, the boiled egg was just that - a boiled egg, not the marinated egg with the slightly liquid yolk I've had at other places, but at least lacking the blue ring of overcookedness.

For a point of difference, Alissa went with the Teriyaki Chicken Udon, which contains the same standard Teriyaki Chicken that came with my ramen.. For a mass production no-frills place like Taka's I was expecting that the broth served here would perhaps be identical to the Shoyu broth used in the ramen noodles or the same as the miso soup that comes with all the large serves of rice dishes. So I was quite surprised to find that it was a different, thinner broth in keeping with the udon style. The broth and noodles tasted correct for the style, but it was inferior to versions made by Kai and Zensaki which come with mixed tempura and soft shell crab respectively.

Feeling like sharing a side of something, Alissa and I ordered a plate of the Chicken Karaage, which came with rice and a serve of Miso Soup which we didn't eat. I've ordered this dish many times in the past and its surprisingly good for what it is, having that nice, gingery flavour and crispiness you'd expect from a good Karaage.  It was better than Zensaki's Karaage, though Alissa and I agreed we like our standard order of Karaage at Kai's a lot more.

The Verdict: Good
Taka's are far from my favourite Japanese restaurant in town, however at such a low price point they practically rule the budget Japanese market. And with good reason, as they are great value from a price to quality perspective. Their ramen was not exactly the most exciting ramen I've had, but it was at least tasty and enjoyable; if it didn't reach the level of Nao or Kai, it at least didn't fail at achieving an aspect of the dish as recent bowls at Zensaki and Arigataya did (bad broth and bad noodles respectively). Alissa and I have tried most of Taka's dishes over many years of eating here, and while its never mindblowing its always at least satisfying. On a budget? Want Japanese? Go to Taka's.

Zensaki Sushi and Izakaya (Barrack St Branch), Perth, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

If Alissa would let me, I would eat ramen every day of the week. In a lot of ways its my perfect dish - noodles (my carb weakness), pork and/or fried chicken, and a broth seemingly invented by people trying to figure out how to make each slurp so rich in glutamate content that its an umami explosion. So when I discovered Zensaki have been doing ramen for years and I'd never noticed, this was a situation that needed to be rectified quickly. Would I discover a new worthy competitor for the title of 'Perth's Best Ramen?'

Located on Barrack St between the Hay and Murray St Malls, Zensaki do both a sushi train and an extensive a la carte menu divided into sections - Starters, Salads, Deep Fried Dishes, Grilled and Pan Fried Dishes, Skewer grilled, Bento sets and Ramen, Udon and Soba Noodles. 

Accompanying us for the meal was our friend Gita, who worked with Alissa in their theatre company The Duck House, and was her housemate before Alissa and I moved in together. Gita is an excellent cook and foodie, and as she is a vegan it meant we would get to see what how Zensaki would do catering for dietary requirements. 

As it was fairly late for dinner, Alissa and I decided to quell our hunger with an item from the sushi train. It was a soft shell crab roll topped with egg, prawn and sweet chilli sauce. As far as sushi goes it was at a decent standard, but nothing mind-blowingly good - I've definitely had better. The flavour combination seemed not particularly classically Japanese, and the egg in particular seemed strange as it was the texture I'd expect from an egg sandwich with mayo. It would have been better if it had been tamago, and with a different sauce instead of sweet chilli. As this was a one off sample of items from the sushi train we cannot give a full review of what their offerings are like overall, and I'd like to think it was more to do with a bad selection on our part than a necessarily bad sushi train selection in general. 

Gita ordered some Edamame beans for us to share. These were a nice salty snack, about the average standard for these healthy and addictively tasty beans. There is not much more you can do with a dish that is boiled or steamed beans with salt, and this was done well enough. 

My order was the 'Ultimate' Ramen with tonkotsu broth, from their choice of tonkotsu, miso, shoyu and shio. Since I didn't want the salty-sweet flavour of teriyaki sauce to affect the flavour of my broth and since I don't like bean sprouts, I chose to omit these items. The broth was sadly a bit lacklustre. I don't expect any ramen place to reach the kind of insanely porky gravy-like consistency of Gumshara in Sydney, but part of what makes tonkotsu such a delicious broth is how concentrate the flavours are and how the hours of boiling result in some kind of magical chemistry that gives it its that milky collagen-enriched consistency. Zensaki say their broth takes 24 hours to make, however they must be watering it down as this was a little thin, and a bit tasteless. 

Which is a shame, as they got everything else pretty much spot on. The chashu slices were amongst the best in Perth with a lovely melt in your mouth flavour that bested the chashu at Kai. The egg yolk was nice and half set and the karaage was tasty and remained crispy in spite of being in a broth. The noodles may not have been the best I've had, but they did have a nice springy consistency and were better than the non-ramen noodles Arigataya served us. Speaking of which; if only Arigataya's broth could be combined with everything else Zensaki do - that would really give Nao and Dosukoi a run for their money. 

Of the main dishes ordered, Alissa's was easily the best - Soft Shell Crab Udon Noodles Soup. Presentation alone as impressive, being served in a metal bowl on top of raised wooden rack. The 'in-house broth' tasted like a miso-soy that was quite nice with the udon noodles, which were fat and juicy as udon should be. Topping of deep fried soft shell crab had that satisfying crunch you expect from soft shell crab. Fewer components than the ramen, but they got everything right. 

I felt bad for Gita when I saw the Stir Fry Vegetables, as they did not look particularly tasty or well made. 'What's that on top?' Gita asked at the sight of the moving flakes sitting on top. 

'That's katsuobushi,' I said, 'and you'll want to remove those since its fish'.

Of course Zensaki were not to blame for the katsuobushi being on top as they didn't know that Gita was a vegan, but the low standard of the dish in general was very disappointing. Gita scraped the katsuobushi onto a side plate and I tried one of the carrots in the pile. Even encrusted in katsuobushi, the carrot was very bland and uninteresting. I regularly make stir fry at home and I could have done a better job, even when I can't be bothered and use pre-prepared veggies. I noticed Gita continuously pouring soy sauce on the vegetables before combining it with her bowl of rice. 

'Not enough soy?' I asked.

'Not enough of anything'

Ouch. 

The Verdict: Good

I'm not sure what to make of Zensaki. On the one hand, they did a terrible Stir Fry Vegetables, a thin, tasteless tonkotsu broth and the one sushi train item we tried was good but not amazing. Conversely, they made a mean udon and got everything else right in the ramen. Perhaps they have such an extensive menu that they don't quality control all their dishes, and if Gita and I ordered better we would have had a more satisfying experience. Still, if its not good, it really shouldn't be on the menu and they should seriously rethink that stir fry. From a ramen standpoint, I'm wondering if Zensaki are just not tonkotsu specialists and that one of the other broths may be better. The first time we had Kai, the miso broth was disappointing yet the tonkotsu was a winner so it was a good thing we didn't give up on them. For this reason, I'd come back to Zensaki again as I'd like to give them a second chance. However, if I was gonna bring a vegetarian to a Japanese restaurant, Zensaki would not be the place. 

Pacific Rim Mix Plate, Applecross, Western Australia (Alissa and Don Eat Australia)

I must have driven and cycled past it hundreds of times when I lived in Alfred Cove, but it looks so unremarkable that I never even considered it as a place to eat. With it hideous burgundy awnings, a strange red cloud painted on the wall that I only later worked out is supposed to be a hibiscus and a tacky palm tree, hibiscus and 'Aloha!' decal pasted onto the windows, Pacific Rim Mix Plate looks like a restaurant that is hardly trying to look modern, hip, or even good.

The interior continues the theme of tackiness with some tiki torches thrown in for good measure...

... with its best design feature being a palm tree and ocean painted on the back wall. But as Urbanspoon's highest rated and most popular restaurant in Melville (95% at time of writing), they are definitely proving that good food speaks for itself.

I knew very little about Hawaiian food before coming here other than pineapples thrown into Chicken Treat combos, so it was a real surprise to find its an odd fusion of largely Japanese and mainland American cuisines served in bento box-style sets that include a main, steamed rice, American-style macaroni salad and a tossed lettuce salad with your choice of sauce.

For mains Alissa and I went with the Maui Chicken Bites and the Katsu Chicken respectively, along with the Spicy Pele sauce. The Maui Chicken Bites were basically chicken karaage, and very good chicken karaage at that. Just the day before I'd had Arigataya's floury version of the dish, and this HAWAIIAN version was a better, crispier example. The non-Japanese Spicy Pele and Sweet Chilli gave the Maui Chicken a bit of a southern fried chicken quality, and it kind of tasted like a better version of a KFC wrap if it was served with rice instead of fries.

My plate was much the same as Alissa's except for the Chicken Katsu. Again, Pacific Rim Mix Plate did a better Katsu than the average food court Japanese with the chicken maintaining a fresh juiciness and the outer crumb being crispy and golden brown. The side of cold macaroni salad was particularly delicious, with a nice tangy mayo-style dressing that made us wish we could have had a bit more. While the rice and chicken had Japanese origins, the attitude of our meal was that of utterly American comfort food - it wasn't particularly sophisticated (and not particularly healthy), but I'll be damned if it wasn't addictively delicious. A few bites in Alissa looked up and said, 'I'm sad that this meal will have an end point as I could keep eating!'

I couldn't agree more.

The Verdict: Very Good
Sure, its not the best looking place in town and the food is not particularly sophisticated, but everyone needs a good comfort food joint like this for when the fried chicken cravings kick in and KFC is a bridge too far. At $12.90 a plate for our dishes and their most expensive meal combo being $16.90, Pacific Rim Mix Plate are excellent value too. Its not exactly food that I would travel long distances for, but if you're south of the river in the Melville area you've gotta come in to see why this restaurant is so justifiably popular. Since we're less than a 10 minute drive away its a no brainer; we'll have to come back for the Creamy Tarragon Fish, Huli Huli BBQ Spare Ribs and Tilapia with Sweet Wasabi in our near future.