At Market Square, Sunnybank, there had been a Japanese restaurant that I was strongly curious about, and yet have avoided for a long period of time. Why the conflicting feelings, you ask? Well, previously, that spot had housed one of my long term favourites, Kadoya. When it closed down, I felt a little bit of me had died with it. So when I saw the refurbishment, and subsequent opening of Mazri Kitchen, I felt strong feelings of sadness for the loss of Kadoya, and a sense of intrigue for Mazri Kitchen.
Before entering the restaurant, you can already see all the menus plastered on the window outside the shop, I guess it helps to stop people from holding up the queue and making a decision once you're at the top of the line. Anyway, I found the menus to be quite impressive in their variety. Offering bentos, ramen, udon, as well as sashimi.
Compared to Kadoya, all seating is situated in the outdoors undercover area, which was quite a let down for those who prefer indoor seating and those who thrive in air conditioned places (i.e. myself). Although, it was noteworthy that from our experience on the day, it was cooler outdoors than indoors.
Like Kadoya before it, water is served on a DIY basis. In my opinion, chilled water is far superior to room temperature, especially on a warm day.
The first thing to come out was the Pork Katsu Curry. We found this particularly impressive because it was clearly not the usual instant curry that many of the other Japanese restaurants sell. It was a bit more watery in texture and very very fragrant. Upon close inspection, I could see little specks of ground up herbs, which makes me lean towards the opinion that the curry is home made. The pork chop was nice and crispy, and the sauce to rice ratio was quite ample and portions were generous.
Next came the pork katsu don with egg. As you can see, the portion of pork chop provided was really quite big, it was large enough to cover the top of the bowl. Other than this, the rice was quite tasty and well infused with the egg sauce and pork juices.
My order was the Salmon Bento. I ordered this so that I could get to try not only their salmon, but the deli and sides. In terms of sides, being the unoriginal person that I am, I settled for prawn and crab cream croquette (which is the same as what kadoya serves), and for deli, I got the seaweed salad and the potato salad. The seaweed salad was delicious and refreshing, but I found the potato salad a bit bland. It would have been a bit better with the addition of a bit more sauce. The salmon was fresh, but could have been cut a bit thicker, and the salad had minimal dressing, which needed a bit of improvement. The rice was the proper short grain Japanese rice, which was authentic though.
Despite sitting outside, I did enjoy my time at Mazri Kitchen. I liked the friendly service and attention to detail that staff provide, giving it a homey kind of feel to it.
Price Range: $10 - $20 per person
Taste: 7.5/10
Value: 8/10
Service: 8/10
Environment: 5/10
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