Yakitori-ya Frenzy @ Maedaya

Maedaya

400 Bridge Road

Richmond VIC

Once again, Miss P and I made a trip to our favourite local Japanese - the famous Izakaya style - Maedaya.  Our first encountered at Maedaya was back 2 years ago when we moved to Melbourne.  I stumbled upon Maedaya by just walking pass by and my eyes were caught up with the decor and the set up of the restaurant.  Since our first experience, Maedaya has been our local favourite and we always bring our dear visitors here.

It was a good thing that I rang up earlier and found out that they no longer take booking for smaller group.  It has to be group of 5 or more...other than that, we just have to wait and queue up.  Since that was the case, Miss P and I deliberately went there just a bit after the restaurant open to secure a good seat and get time to enjoy the food for the night. 

Maedaya is own by the sake master- Toshi Maeda.  During the past numerous visits, I always see him at the bar and chatting with the customers.  Unfortunately, on my latest visit with Miss P, he wasn't there, oh well, that doesn't really matter, our main purpose here was for food and good drinks :)

We were greeted with the usual 'Irasshaimase!' by the floor staff.  Once we seated, the Complimentary Daikon Chips with dips was served.  We then got our hands on the drink menu and decide on the drink for tonight. 

 

Miss P opted for the Santory Premium Malts, while I chose the cocktails - Choya Blush.  We both then ordered Special Sake Tasting set of the month to share.  No complaints on the drinks...they always serve up really good drink, especially the sake.  The range of beers here also quite extensive but not as many as their sake.

Soon after, our first dish for the night arrived,  Buta No Kakuni - a Japanese braised pork belly.  The pork belly was very tender and sorta melted in the mouth.  The sauce was sweet but still very flavoursome and very mouthwatering.

Our next dish was  Kawari Tuna Salad.  It was just an average dish for us since we found that the tuna was seared a wee bit too much and some became cooked and lost the raw texture.  

The first yakitori dish just came out from the grill -  Sumiyaki Set.  There were the mix of 5 skewers on the plate.  The taste was great, except that the chicken yakitori was a little bit dry. 

Then came our favourite, Pork Asparagus.  It was delish and juicy.  Although the taste has changed quite a bit from our last visit, but it was still tasty.

We couldn't just let our mouths dry without drinks...after the first round of food and drinks finished, we began our second round.  The choice of drinks were  Choya Soda and  Royal Crystal Japanese Whiskey.  

 After the second round of drinks, our second round of food arrived.  The Ume Yakitori and Sunagimo.  The Ume Yakitori tasted quite interesting.  It was a bit salty and sour with the ume sauce.  It wasn't one of Miss P's cup of tea, so I ended up taking the responsibility to finish it.  The Sunagimo was chicken gizzard, which I don't usually see them served in Australia. I chose it to be done with salt so that the sauce wouldn't overpower the sunagimo itself.  Taste wise, quite alright, but a bit chewy.

 We also got some Scallops and Edamame to nibble along.  The scallops were nicely cook and still have the sweetness in them.

This time, we also got out hands on the Cream Crab Ball that we've never tried before.  It was a Japanese croquette with cream crab inside.  It was very tasty dish indeed and we both love the fact that the gooey cream crab was oozing out on the first bite through the crunchy shell.  

 

 

Below are the lovely photos from our past visits at Maedaya.  All of them were very delicious!!

+Disclaimer: The commentary contained in this blog is purely based on my own opinion and experience at the time of visit. Taste is a subjective and yours and mine can be differed.