Maguro Japanese Restaurant, Chadstone - fantastic tonkotsu ramen!!

One of the few things that can brighten up my day instantly is none other than unexpectedly finding a fantastic restaurant. After brief discussions in the car on the way to a friend's house the other day, Yuye suggested "let's just eat somewhere close and on the way". I was going to pull over at Pancake Parlour that just opened recently right next to Chadstone Shopping Centre but as it was on the wrong side of the road and eating there would mean doing a u-turn amidst a whole lot of traffic on busy Warrigal Rd, I decided against the idea. Right opposite Pancake Parlour was a tiny Japanese cafe called Maguro. I've driven past it many times but the thought never occurred to me that it might make a good meal. I believe they opened their doors in March 2011, a good half a year ago. The outside of the restaurant is not the most eye-catching or attractive so it's no wonder not many people know about the place yet.

The interior is simple but fitting although nothing spectacular. I definitely wasn't expecting such a good meal as I sat down. Our first meal was at lunch time and the first thing that we noticed was the lack of staff. As there weren't many customers, service wasn't all that slow but if it got busy, I'm not sure how well they would cope. It seemed like the chef was also doing waiting at the front of the house and many utensils were left on a trolley by the counter for self service. At that point, I wasn't overly impressed, until the big pot of free genmaicha (Japanese green tea with rice) was brought up to our table and everyone else's tables. Free green tea in a Japanese restaurant has been unheard of for me so this was a nice little surprise.

Now here comes the real surprise. I ordered a tuna/salmon chirashi for $19.50. I was expecting something nice for the price I was paying but I didn't expect it to be so pretty! The dish actually tasted as good as it looked. Fresh, juicy raw fish and a sweet scallop on top of a generous topping of tobiko (flying fish roe) and cooked dried salmon chunks on a bed of sushi rice was enough to make me squirm with joy. I was a happy person. The thing that slightly confused me though was why the wasabi was on the edge of the bowl. As the chef brought it out to me, I was fearful that the wasabi would not make it to the table. I also had to get my own soy sauce tray from the trolley. I was a little disappointed with the quality of the wasabi too as it wasn't very strong.

Salmon & Tuna Chirashi - $19.50

I'm not going to complain though because it was so delicious! Don't let the size of the bowl fool you, it was actually quite substantial. I must confess however that although chirashis should be served with cold sushi rice, after having a similar dish at Sushiten, it has set the benchmark for all chirashis for me. I also started to like warm rice served with my fish for some strange reason. So if I was asked whether I liked Sushiten's chirashi or Maguro's more, I'd say Sushiten wins hands down. Maguro is still fantastic and wins by location as it's close to home.

You'd think that's all the surprises but there's more! Yuye ordered the tonkotsu ramen, or better known as Pork Bone Soup Cha Siew Ramen for $15 on the specials board just next to the entrance of the restaurant. $15 for ramen is a reasonable price, especially for this standard. It beats Momotaro on Bridge Rd and Ramen Ya in the CBD. I do not kid you. This ramen was a LOT better. For those of you who don't know, tonkotsu ramen is made by boiling pork with bones intact for hours and hours until all the collagen from the bones have gone into the soup, making the soup thick, sticky and totally porky. Maguro's version was perfectly thick and salty and the meat was so tender it almost melted in my mouth. It was a fairly big bowl too which made us so full!

Pork Bone Soup Cha Siew Ramen (lunch) - $15

Don't even get me started on the eggs. Most places only give you half an egg but Maguro gives you a whole egg. Just look at how runny the yolk is! That is how eggs should be cooked. I'm an avid lover of runny egg yolks and this was just perfect for me. It takes practice and love to make eggs to this quality and just shows how much effort the chef of this restaurant, Sam Lau, has really put into his dishes.