Nama Nama, CBD

Love that there's lots of sun coming into this part of the restaurant =)

Howdy!

So a coupla weeks ago, I-Hua, Agnes, Bryan and I (plus a few others) finally went to try out the new Jap place in town, Nama Nama... WOOP WOOP. It's a modern-ish Jap resto that even does breakfast too. Yep, that's right. A Japanese restaurant that does brekkie.

Being quite intrigued by their concept, glad we went there on a nice, sunny, Saturday afternoon...

Pork ($7.50) and Prawn ($8.50) Nama Katsu Bun

Interesting! Crumbed pork or prawn paste patty, topped with soft boiled egg encased in a soft and thin steamed bun. Texture was similar to that of the Chinese "Pau". Pork one had tonkatsu sauce too.

Really enjoyed this!!! So much so that I had no idea I was going "MMM... mmm... MMM..." so loudly for awhile until I eventually got some weird looks from the rest of the table hahaha...

SO delicious. But $8.50 is quite pricey cause they were small. Heh.

Then, some of us decided to order the udons to try... They were Housemade Udon Noodles in Kanto Style Broth, all with the same price.

Prawn and Vegetables Tempura Udon -- $15.00

Those are some very sharp chopsticks... Dontchafink? ;p

Wagyu Beef with Onion and Spinach Udon -- $15.00

Pork with Spinach and Quail Egg --$15.00

Udons were great! Soup was thin, light and flavourful. And oh my... Were the handmade udon noodles "SLURPALICIOUS (TM)" or what! Other words used to describe this includes: "Slurplicious" (I-Hua), "Slurpa-sexy-mama-licious" (Bryan) and "Udon-y" (Agnes) HAHA!!

We all enjoyed these...

... but clearly not as much as this girl LOL

(Choose Your Own) Bento Box -- $18.00

Nama Nama lets you choose what items go in your Bento Box, and here's what I had:

1. Green leaf, crispy vermicilli and sesame

- This I liked. Very lightly oiled with a small touch of mayo for flavour (but almost unnoticeable). Nice.

2. Ocean trout sashimi

- Interesting on paper but I thought it was neither here, nor there. Almost like smoked trout (though sans flavour/saltiness), but not really. Almost like sashimi, but not really too (cause it was aburi). No soy sauce to go with this (not necessary but just what I'm used to). Flesh was very dry and rough too. Will stick to regular sashimi from now on.

3. Crumbed scallops, mustard mayonnaise

- FRIDGE COLD!!!! Nothing worse than having deep fried food straight from the fridge, ewww...

4. Ox tongue rice paper roll

- FRIDGE COLD AGAIN! Ratio of meat to veg was very imbalanced. Too little meat can barely taste anything

5. Miso marinated kingfish

- I don't know why, but my fish was below room temperature and slightly cold too. Don't think it was cause we were taking photos beforehand cause it was cold in the middle. Whyyyyy... Though the miso tasted nice, it was quite a turnoff. They should've just microwaved it if it were pre-cooked or something... Zzzzzz

COLD. And tiny piece too...

Bryan had a similar Bento Box but had the pork belly instead. What's nice to eat when everything on your Bento Box is cold...

Now, desserts...

Yuzu Tea Cake with Sheeps Milk Yoghurt ($8.00)

- Not bad! Like the soft aftertaste of the sheeps milk yog but a tad dry. Forgiven, since it was a tea cake anyway

Japanese pudding with Schultz Organic Milk and Caramel ($6.00) or with Bonsoy Soy Milk (5.00)

- Bonsoy one tasted better. Slightly gelatinous and bouncy too

Chocolate Shochu Brulee -- $9.00

- Quite expensive for a brulee of that size! I guess it's cause of the shochu...

Wagashi Mochi Flower treats -- $4.00

- Like snow mooncake skin but softer. I like. But that tiny blob was too little lol

Overall, I feel the food almost reflects the waiters that were serving us that day, who were Japanese but with Aussie accents. But nonono, I don't mean that this is fusion Jap. It's just regular Jap food but with a slight modern twist to it. Even the fact that they open for brekkie was quite Aussie to me. Which, I guess makes them different from the other Jap places in the neighbourhood.

I enjoyed eating the bun and udon but everything else was honestly.......... missing the mark. Cold dishes and mediocre taste. But, hey. That's just my experience.

Price overall was quite steep for what we were getting. And I understand I can be more price sensitive (just as normal people would when they eat) because I am blogging as an everyday person, to the everyday person. I mean, I don't mind paying more if I have to but I look at value overall.

That said, a lot of the menu items were more unique, interesting, yes. I'll give them that. You can definitely come try this place out if you are looking for a different Japanese dining experience. But since the bun was tiny and $8.50 and I can get decent Udon noodles at Hanaichi for less than $10, I don't think I'd be coming back for a while. Again, that's just me.

Anyhoo, always fun dining with this crazy bunch of people. Definitely looking forward to the next one and if you'd like to check out their AWESOME posts/pictures from that day, do click on the link below.

Agnes: here

Bryan: here

Till next time! =)