Samurai, Hawthorn

Samurai is your local family Japanese restaurant where you can enjoy a quick and delicious meal for a fraction of the usual Japanese restaurant prices. It has a very big following so seats are usually quite limited. However, because the food is served and consumed quickly, waiting is usually not over 10 minutes (and trust me, it is worth waiting for).

What made this place especially intriguing for me was the fact that my male companions were nonstop going on about the good looking half-Japanese waiter working at the joint. Interested girls (or guys)? Check him out for yourselves! :P

As for the food, somehow (with 4 people), we ended up all ordering the same dinner box for $14, so not as many interesting photos this time. This is because this set is such good value! You get soup (your choice), entree (up to $4 value), a main (up to $7.80 value which is most of the food really) as well as a drink or dessert. The serving sizes are exactly the same as if you ordered them separately.

Three of us ordered the same soup, entree and main (good minds think alike it seems) - miso soup with Croquette and Chicken Katsu Curry on rice. The miso soup was a bit too salty, perhaps they added salt twice hmm…but the croquette was great. I usually dip them in Japanese mayo with tonkatsu sauce but Samurai served them with tomato sauce which was just as good. The centre was so soft and creamy, a great contrast to the crunchy outer layer. I'm craving for some now!

I couldn't finish my main afterwards - at times like that I really wish I had two stomaches :(. The chicken had a crispy batter but was still tender and juicy on the inside. Too bad it took me a long time to eat so it got soggy.

Yuye was the odd one out, ordering a Beef Pate Teriyaki. It was a bit too sweet and teriyaki sauce flavoured for my liking.

Everyone else ordered a green tea milk shake except for me (I ordered just green tea ice cream). I instantly regretted when their drinks arrived because it was basically green tea ice cream with milk in it! Why would anyone not want to DRINK green tea ice cream? This will be my pick next time I visit for sure. Anyway, enough with the sulking. The green tea ice cream itself was quite nice, with the right amount of bitterness for me (i like it a bit more bitter) but Yuye preferred a sweeter version (he's just weak in my opinion :P).

Overall, it was a great experience and I highly recommend this place to anyone who wants authentic but cheap Japanese food in the 'burbs.

Samurai
Phone: (03) 9819 4858
804 Glenferrie Rd
Hawthorn VIC 3122

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