I was lucky enough to have a quick getaway to Melbourne, and so of course I just had to visit Maedaya, our specially partnered restaurant! It’s a very quick tram trip (take number 75 from anywhere on Flinders Street), although it is outside the free tram zone so make sure you have a myki!
Get off at stop number 20, then the restaurant is on your right and just a little bit up the road. You’ll be able to see the Maedaya logo hanging from a sign as you approach it. Make sure you look for our Washoku Lovers sticker as you walk inside this very authentic feeling restaurant. It has personal booths for you to sit in, and touch screen menus, so you’ll feel absolutely at home here. Perfect for an intimate date or when you want to catch up with a friend without being interrupted.
The menu is extensive and the touch panel has lots of categories for you to click through. We started with sake of course. I ordered the premium sake tasting set (Junmai Ginjo Grade Sake) of the fruity variety. The sake on offer changes pretty regularly, so it’s something you should definitely order. With Sake Master Toshi onboard at Maedaya, it’s a treat you can’t let yourself miss out on. If you need some explanation, you can always ask the staff, and if Toshi is in he will give you all the help you need. As a member you can also order Choya Umeshu for $1 if you don’t want to get a whole tasting board.
Picture: details of the sake from the fruity tasting set
Maedaya is an izakaya style of restaurant, so for entrees we ordered a variety of kushiyaki. Kushiyaki is anything that’s grilled on a stick, and it’s a popular and cheap food to order at bars in Japan. Japanese people will advise you not to order just meat though, the vegetarian varieties are just as good! We had mushrooms, tsukune chicken balls, mushrooms, pork belly, zucchini, and chilli inari. The inari was my favourite – it’s the outside part of inari sushi, the little deep fried tofu pockets filled with rice. When it comes in kushiyaki form, it’s just the empty pocket rolled up and grilled. The sweetness of this is what makes me love it so much, it’s my go-to sushi even though it’s usually the cheapest and most simple one available.
Feeling in need of some carbs, my main meal was a tuna and salmon donburi. Donburi is a bowl of rice with toppings, and the most common form is gyudon (beef rice bowl). Donburi are a cheap (as low as 300 yen!), fast, and nutritious option for Japanese people on the go. They come in any number of flavours, but I think the most imaginative is the aptly named oyakodon. Oya means parent and ko means child, this donburi is made of eggs and chicken, the Japanese really do have a weird sense of humor!
Picture: The tuna and salmon donburi with salad
The tuna and salmon don came with salad and a soy sauce dressing which mixed well with the sashimi. The fish was cut quite small making for an interesting texture when mixed with the rice and dressing. I’d recommend the sushi and sashimi on offer here for sure.
I love red bean paste (anko) so I couldn’t look past the grilled taiyaki (fish shaped filled pancake) for dessert. The filling is not sugary sweet, and the outside batter which is almost pancake like is savoury. At Maedaya they go one step further and grill the taiyaki so that it’s crispy when you bite into it. You also get the added smokey flavours from the grill as a bonus.
Our Washoku Lovers member benefit includes fruit ice cream for just $1! That’s a pretty sweet way to end the night.
Picture: Thank you Maedaya for a lovely night!
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