Menya Oiden, Japanese, Sydney

Menya Oiden

537-551 George Street Sydney

First of all- some news! I'm on Twitter :) I'm a noob though.. never used twitter before so I'm not too sure how it works. Please add (or follow? all this facebook/twitter jargon makes my head spin) me on http://twitter.com/#!/thehungryduck See you there!

Anyways... sooo.. This morning I went to grab a coffee and noticed a new restaurant next to Menya Mappen. 'What's this?!' I asked myself. Enthralled, like a kid for whom Christmas had come early, I realised it was Menya. Oiden is an addition to the Menya chain and follows the same concept as Mappen except it serves hot piping Japanese rice bowls instead of udon bowls.

I had to try it. It didn't matter that I only had breakfast an hour ago, I was having lunch at Oiden. Hah! The determination of a foodie. On a side note- I wonder if I can claim all these meals as tax deductions..

Oiden is a 'self serve' rice bowl bar- basically you select your main and then you get toppings/additions yourself (just like in an old school cafeteria). Its cheap, the small beef bowl is $4.50 a bowl and the large $6.50. Most of the additions are around $2 each. There is also free chilled filtered water.

This is the restaurant right before noon

And shortly later a queue forms..

There's quite a few options to choose from. Since I wasn't that hungry I opted for the small beef rice bowl. But check out the menu! How cool does cheese beef bowl and ontama beef bowl sound? I'm so trying them out next time :)

Restaurant interior

I order a 'small beef bowl' and the 'small' is actually quite small - Check out the size of the bowl the guy is holding. Its a good healthy portion but I was still a bit surprised since its really small.

Creamy half-boiled eggs ($1.50)

Hot Bar Offerings ($1.50- $2.80)

Cold Bar Offerings ($0.90- $1.90)

Miso Soup ($1.50)

Beef Rice Bowl ($4.50)

The verdict? This is a guilt free lunch that's simple and tasty. A small bowl of rice topped with sukiyaki beef, shallots and pickled ginger.

I also order one chicken karaage ($2). This was deliciously crispy on the outside and tender on the inside :)

My only criticism would be the lack of healthy greens. The only greens I saw were either deep fried (ie asparagus tempura) or seaweed (which doesn't really count). Tsk! I can mentally picture my mum complaining about the oil and fat content..

Anyways I did manage to spot some fresh cold tofu ($1.50) which is healthy and sort of makes me feel better about eating that chicken karaage. Drizzle some soy sauce on top and its delicous.

Overall? Its a novel experience worth trying :)

The Good: Affordable, quick and simple meal

The Bad: Limited options (mostly rice). Also you cant really sit and chat for long.