Teinoya's Garden, Cabramatta
Tuesday, February 07, 2017
Finding a little Japanese Restaurant amongst all the Vietnamese food in the suburb of Cabramatta means I'm automatically curious. Will it be good or will it fall short? While my parents immediately assumed it would be bad they too were curious and we gave this all a go on our Saturday night dinner. The large pictures and deals on the window attracted us and the intimate and dim lighting welcomed us in.
The interior and ambience is quite perfect for our dinner as I love the Japanese decorations and how quiet and spacious it is. We're also amused by how realistic the brick wallpaper looks. It's quite empty on this night but usually when I walk past Teinoya's Garden during the day time, I find they pull quite a decent amount of diners!
Service is friendly and we're immediately handed out menu's, water and an ordering form the moment we sit down. Love the idea of the ordering form because it means no awkward interactions such as when the waiter/waitress waits for your party to make an order yet you all have no idea what the menu even has on it. It really allows you to take your time and write down any notes for the kitchen if you have those special requests.
The menu turns out to be quite simple with items such as ramen, udon and rice offered with your choice of meat, e.g. pork katsu, teriyaki chicken, karate, etc. In terms of being the only, or one of the only Japanese restaurants in Cabramatta I think this place sets itself up pretty well.
Our food takes quite a while to arrive on the table but when it does I'm so glad it comes out sequentially so no one has to eat cold food while waiting for the others. Everything also looks and smells really delicious and we're so excited to dig in! Also to note, all of our meals come with a free side of seaweed salad, yum!!
First up is this set:
Wagyu Beef Rice Set
This arrives with a rice bowl that has black sesame and yellow radish pickles on top, miso soup, and a small plate of Wagyu Beef. This set was really disappointing because there was such a little amount of beef for the price (which I apologise for not remembering - but it was the most expensive one at around $15) and it didn't even taste remotely like Wagyu. The beef was cooked medium rare and it was quite chewy.. almost tough and ordinary. Not fatty or marbled at all. Also no seasoning on it and the soy sauce served on the plate was oddly so flavourless.
Karage Chicken Udon
This was my meal and my bowl of udon was a little bit bland but nonetheless warm and satisfying! The noodles had a bit of a stiff packet noodle taste and could've been boiled a bit longer but in the end I was still very happy with my food. The karage chicken was actually delicious having a slight lemongrass taste to the crunchy batter, and was tender and well cooked inside. Perfect with the dollop of creamy Japanese mayo on the side!
Spicy Ramen with Pork Katsu
My parents LOVED this set so much and they still talk about this spicy ramen from time to time. It was the real winner to them. The ramen was also really good in my opinion as the noodles were perfectly springy while the broth which I think was a tonkotsu base with chilli oil was creamy with a spicy hit. The half boiled egg was just not overcooked and there was a lot of bamboo in the ramen. The pork katsu was also surprisingly good with its crispy exterior and the pork itself was not in any way dry. The batter doesn't stick very well to the pork but it retains its crispiness so its still yummy and edible. A generous serve with not just one katsu but TWO. The drizzle of tonkotsu sauce over the katsu was new to me and I really enjoyed it as well! If you're getting this, be careful of the bone in the katsu though.
Teinoya's Garden despite our initial doubt, turned out to be a really great place to have dinner and we enjoyed all the food with the exception of the first set. From time to time theres also special deals of $9.90 for any set with unagi, teriyaki chicken, chicken katsu, etc so it makes for quite an affordable eatery. The only thing we noted was that despite the decent pricing and all the components you get with your meal sets, the portions are quite small.
Let me know if you've visited Teinoya's Garden and what your experience was like. I would love to compare our meal choices! xx
TL;DR:
Price: Under $15
Quality: Good but portions quite small
Service: Friendly but mostly non-interaction
Ambience: Dim and cosy
Teinoya's Garden
44 Park Road,
Cabramatta NSW 2166
Open 7 days a week
10:30AM - 9PM
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