Raijin Japanese Cuisine opened up at the McKellar shops last year. I dined in for dinner with Mr FPJ, V and her hubby one weeknight and we were lucky enough to snag a table for four.
The extensive menu covers classic Japanese entrees like gyoza and takoyaki, tempura goodies, salads, sashimi, sushi rolls, yaki udon, ramen and noodle soups, donburi and the chef’s signature kuro black curry donburi. There are set meals from around $25 with a small main, rice, California roll, salads and sides, cold noodle sets with your choice of soba, ramen or udon. There was so much to choose from!
Mr FPJ ordered one of the Raijin House Specials which was the stir fried enoki mushrooms ($12.80). This simple dish was surprisingly a big hit with everyone at the table. A generous amount of enoki cooked in a light broth.
I decided on the chicken katsu ramen ($15.80) where the crunchy katsu was served separately on the side with a dollop of Kewpie mayo. The ramen came with half a boiled egg but it sadly hadn’t been marinated akin to ajitsuke tamago (a gelatinous yolk ramen egg). The broth is a mix of tonkotsu and miso bases which I’m told the chef carried out several tests to perfect. I prefer a more richer and bolder tonkotsu base, so I found this broth quite different and much lighter. There was good amount of chewy noodles in the bowl. The chicken katsu had been fried to a wonderful golden brown and I loved the crunch and juicy chicken.
Mr FPJ ordered the kuro black curry with chicken katsu ($16.80). The menu states that the curry is made via a mix of bittersweet chocolate and Japanese curry which was really intriguing. We were both really happy with the dish. The curry didn’t taste chocolatey at all and was still very much a regular Japanese curry, only richer, velvety, slightly sweeter, nuttier with more black pepper and chilli. It had a kick to it after each spoonful which Mr FPJ loved. The curry came with cheesey scrambled eggs and rice.
V ordered the vegetarian miso soup with enoki ($3.80).
As well as the sukiyaki beef ($19.80) from the house specials menu. This came with tofu, enoki, carrots and yam noodle bundles in a sweet soy broth.
For dessert, we ordered the mochi topped with matcha powder and red bean and rizzled with some condensed milk (can’t find the price). The boys did not appreciate it, but V and I enjoyed the soft mochi bites.
On another visit, I tried the unagi (eel) oyaki donburi ($16.80) which came served in a huge bowl filled with an extremely generous portion of steamed rice, egg and onion mixture. The unagi had been cooked perfectly, coated in a delicious sweet and salty unagi sauce. I think the portion of eel was rather small compared to the ratio of rice provided, and would have liked a bit more as I soon ran out of unagi.
V ordered the char siu pork noodle soup ($17.80), reminiscent of ramen, with a half egg and bamboo shoots which she enjoyed.
Overall, lovely service and the food comes out quickly. We were left alone to chat for as long as we wanted. Prices are reasonable and portions are decent. Iโm yet to try the meal sets and sashimi but am keen to try out more of the extensive menu. It’s a bit squishy inside so leave the pram at home. Take away is available and you get an additional 10% off if you pick up.
Raijin Japanese Cuisine
Unit 3/ 4 – 6 Bennetts Cl, McKellar, Canberra ACT
Opening hours:
Monday – Saturday: 11.30am – 2.30pm; 5.00pm – 9.00pm
Sunday: Closed
Foodgasm 8/10
Value for money 8/10
Service 7/10
FPJ score 23/30
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