Chiba Japanese Restaurant

41 Hall Street, Moonee Ponds | www.chibajapaneserestaurant.com.au

Spontaneous meal out tonight after everyone woke up late from an unintended nanna nap – once again we couldn’t be bothered cooking.

We rang up Chiba, in Dame Edna’s hometown, to see if they were open this New Year’s day. It was pretty quiet when we turned up. About half full? I do wonder what it’s like on a normal Fri/Sat night.

Anyway, just asked Hubby how he’d describe Chiba and he says, “Good first date restaurant. You don’t want to spend too much, but you don’t want to look like a tight arse.” The outcome? $59 for a large sashimi platter (5 different fishes and one lonesome piece of squid – lucky I have an issue with the sensation of suction cups on my tongue, so we needn’t fight over who got to eat it), a large tempura and a yakisoba. It fed the 2.5 of us again, no one left feeling hungry. You could easily walk out of there for <$80 including drinks and desserts for two.

The food was fresh and came out very quickly. Seriously, it took us longer to order! So perhaps ask for the dishes to come out one after another if it is indeed a first date! The sauce accompanying the tempura had a slight gingery flavour to it, which was a nice surprise and very  much needed to heat us up under the super cold air-con. The sashimi verged on a melt-in-your-mouth quality. The yakisoba was better than food court standards, although just a “one mochi” as a stand-alone dish, but a good cheap filler for what could’ve otherwise been a very light meal.

Overall, it was enjoyable. Couldn’t complain about the service – they were very accommodating for bubsy – and it was a nice venue. Very trendy with their black walls and floor to ceiling glass doors.

If I could change anything about our experience there tonight, it’d have to be the air-con. Note to self: keep a beanie in my handbag in case of future ice freezes.

Rating: Two Mochi