Lunch at Northbridge again

We went to Northbridge for Saturday's lunch again after Tai Chi and frankly we were getting a bit sick of eating either noodles or dim sum every Saturday, so we thought we would try something different. As we were driving along James Street, we saw a vegetarian super market and I though that we should get some supplies as my wife enjoyed the vegetarian char siew and back in Singapore, we tend to have it on the 1st and 15th of each Lunar month as she is Taoist.

After parking, we were walking to the shop when we decided to try out the Japanese restaurant that was at the corner of Shenton and James St. It looked kind of posh and although we were not really dressed for it, (we were in our track pants and sweater as we didn't bother to change after Tai Chi), we just went in, Tansawa Tei (1, Shenton St (Cnr of James St) Northbridge Tel: 92280268). The place has been in operation since 1996 and the guy running it is very nice and has been in the restaurant business for a long time. I ordered the Bento set while my wife ordered the Tempura udon set and we were not disappointed at all. The meal started with a agemono dish which was a starter that consists of octopus tentacles in a sweet and sour orange sauce. It was served in a pretty, petite, traditional bowl. Doesn't it look really appetising?


This is what was served to me. Looks like a real big serving but each dish is not as big as you think (that's Japanese style). The overall serving is just nice.


This is what my wife was served. You must really give it to the Japanese when it comes to the presentation of food. They take the utmost care and pride. The serving size is just right too. She was still worried that they would serve rice with this (as it was indicated in the menu that all set menu comes with rice).


When we first came to Perth, we were complaining of the lack of good Japanese restaurants and I'm happy to say that we are slowly finding pretty good Jap food for decent prices. The bento set costs $18.90 while the Tempura udon set was $16. At the end of the meal, we were happy with the quality of the food and the service and we will definitely recommend it for lunch. For dinner, the prices are definitely more expensive and I'll commend on it after visiting them for dinner.

After lunch, we went to Vegetarian Market (1/220 James Street, Northbridge Tel: 9328 6406) which is a shop that specialises in vegetarian food. We managed to get vegetarian prawns, char siew, rendang mutton and some other stuff. My wife also bought vegetarian 'wu ren' mooncakes there. They also have a restaurant Sri Melaka Restaurant which we'll try next week. Apparently they have a buffet lunch on Fri and Sat for $13.50 per head.