I broke up with Japanese food about 4 years ago. I was just over it. I was lucky enough to be working next door to one of the city’s best  Japanese takeaway eateries (TOKYO DELI – check it out if you haven’t) at the time. I spent many years escaping in there at lunch for a bowl of udon or some gyoza, and if i was feeling coined up or hungover, some teryaki salmon or katsu curry and rice. The squashy, sweet rice was so comforting and the subtle flavours enough to satisfy my short-order lunch needs. But I got over it.

I quit that job a); and b) there was so much happening in food at the time, so many cuisines becoming regularly available to me through the viral nature of Melbourne’s food-bowl culture, that I no longer had any room for it.

Sayonara.

“ONARA”

lol. Soz.

Anywayyyyy. A few weeks ago at a shopping centre – which will go unnamed because I am not into promoting corporate entities like Westfield (unless they paid me a shitload of money, HI MR WESTFIELD; I’m over here!) Anyway, I needed to eat, so I grabbed a quick bowl of shopping-centre-udon. Urgh. I was so disappointed. BUT it sparked that ol’ flame and today I want to tell you about 2 of the best Japanese food-ventures I have had since then.

1. IZIKAYA CHOJI, Lonsdale Street, CBD

 

From the outside it looks like your typical CBD eatery, like a lunch spot, or a dumpling house – not so much the flavour bonanza it actually is. Trust me, walk in…wait…and seat yo’self down because it’s worth it!

I have never been to Japan, actually I lie. I have spent one lonely night in Japan. On a stopover to London when I was 19 years old and traveling alone. I took a bus from Narita airport to a hotel not far from the airport. After taking a bath in a seriously tiny tub – limbs everywhere I swear – I donned myself in a Japanese robe, drank a few beers, smoked a few of the Japanese cigarettes purchased at the airport (inside the hotel room-ala-pre-2001) and watched some crazy-ass TV. It was before internet on mobile phones and before I even owned a mobile phone, so the whole evening was just spent stuck with myself and writing in my diary – with an actual pen! But that was it, my Japanese experience.

I digress, without ever having experienced Japanese food in Japan, I can imagine Izikaya Chuji comes very close. Actually the friend that recommended the restaurant, and in turn, ordered for everyone on the evening in question, has visited Japan a lot, so I trust her judgment.

I was a little tipsy before we dined and the ordering was done oh so quickly, but from memory, my favourite dishes were these crispy little babies above – tempura prawn (obviously, cos i took a snap of them, thanks *memory*) – and the eggplant.

Also big ups to the sashimi. I have very little experience with sashimi, so I cant really compare, but I ate a lot of it. It was not scary at all. It was actually refreshing and delightful and really easy to pick up with chopsticks when you’re drunk (HUZZA!)

In short, if you are craving a full Japanese spread and don’t need the fanfare (or the credit card debt – did I mention it is cheap?), don’t waste time on Zomato™, go straight to Izikaya Chuji, do not pass go, do not collect $200 – unless Mr Westfield hands it to you.

 

Now, get the hell outa the city, jump on the 86 tram and head North.

Way North, past Smith, past Clifton Hill, past Westgarth, up Ruckers Hill, past The Northcote Social Club – is there even human life past the Northcote Social Club did I hear you say? Hell yes. In fact, I want to talk about Thornbury one day, and Preston – so much going on in dining, even C.Barnett couldn’t save her $23 a week living there.

Which brings me to my next offering in the casual Japanese dining game;

2.DOJO RAMEN BAR, High Street Northcote

Probably the coolest place to be in on a hot day in the North, and quite possibly one of the coolest spaces in the top end of Northcote, The Dojo Ramen bar is hip.

 

My sister and I used to go to the Pho spot next door a lot, and every time we would walk past this place and be like, “look at that place, that looks cool.”

It wasn’t until one day when we decided to venture in on a Thursday when they were doing half price sake, and that was cool, and they had a chick spinning vinyl in the window, also cool, and we ordered ramen and was able to slurp (because the sign on the blackboard said so) – that we realised, just how cool a place it is. And apart from that, the food is just really, really good.

But I have raved on too much already in this post, so I am just going to say go there. Venture out of your Inner-North comfort zone and step into The Dojo. And when in there, wander down the back to the beer garden if you fancy settling in, it is a very zen space for chucking a few back.

Order a beer and a plate of vegetable gyoza and decide if you want to stay – I dare you not to!