• Maedaya Sake and Grill

400 Bridge Rd
Richmond, 3121
03 9428 3918

Maedaya is like a real izakaya. For those unfamiliar with the Japanese young people’s social drinking, an izakaya is like a bar where you have a table to yourselves and can order great food as well as Japanese cocktails. Maedaya has all this: different types of sake on the walls; typical Japanese cocktails made with sake, plum wine and other exotic liquors; polite and attentive service; and, most importantly, delicious Japanese food.

You may feel like you are in another country as customers missing Japan (like myself) chat to the staff in Japanese and reminisce about the fun they had in that amazing country.

It is worth going to Maedaya at least once just for the experience. The staff greet you in unison in Japanese as you enter. Soon afterwards, a softly spoken waitress will arrive at your table with the six sauces of the day, a diagram explaining each one and a savoury pancake to accompany them. Find your favourite and they will bring you more.

The edadame are simple but the action of eating these refreshing salted beans is addictive. The okonomiyaki has a soft texture and is as good as any in Japan. The soba noodle salad has an interesting taste as if its sauce is made of wasabi and vanilla ice-cream. The rice cake skewers are delicious with a beautiful sticky texture with a crispy coating from the barbeque.

The dessert is also good. I love anything rice cake and this is a big feature of the desserts, often mixed with red bean, sesame or green tea.

This is a nice venue for a Friday night as the atmosphere is enough to get you into party mode. It can often be busy so book in advance.

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