Ocha2go

Ocha2go

64 Burwood Rd, Hawthorn

(Ph) 9819 6928

Catch up with T, and C^2! J was initially meant to come, and he wanted to go somewhere near Glen Waverley, while I wanted to meet in the CBD, so we went for somewhere in between - Hawthorn. Ocha2go is the more casual sister restaurant to Ocha - a fine dining modern Japanese restaurant nearby.

It is very casual indeed, you order at the counter, and there is a service cart in the middle of the restaurant where you get your own cutlery and plates, bowls etc. It's actually a very popular and busy restaurant, lots of people coming to get takeaway - even takeaway sashimi! It's pretty pricey for a casual restaurant though, guess it is Hawthorn =P

We decided to get some entrees and mains to share. Started off with Salmon Tsutsumi - 4 salmon parcels wrapped in a thin pastry deep-fried, served with a silky sauce $9.50

Nothing too special, kinda like salmon wontons deep fried, but the excessive sauce made the wontons soft =(

Next came one of the mains - why would they serve mains before the entrees all came? Pork Katsu - pork fillet crumbed served with a Japanese BBQ sauce on coleslaw $13.50

Strange enough this "main" doesn't come with rice. I'm always a sucker for katsu, but was a bit strange serving it with coleslaw - guess they're trying to modernize and Westernize this dish?

We also got some sushi and sashimi - they served it all on the same plate.
Sashimi Combo (12pc) - today's selection of fish $17.50
Norimaki Rolls - combo (12pc) $7.50
Soft Shell Crab Roll (5pc) - softshell crab, avocado, cucumber, flying fish roe, carrot, salad + Japanese mayo $10

The soft shell crab was delicious - love the end bits with more crab than sushi =P crispy crab with lots of meat, not sure if I like all the salad and leaves in it but was still yum =) I had heard great reviews about the sashimi here but it was nothing special. And the norimaki rolls are just filling and cheap sushi =P

Sukiyaki - paper thin slices of beef cooked in Ocha2go sukiyaki sauce with mungbean noodles, carrots, zucchini & tofu, served on steamed rice with a bowl of miso soup $16.50

Sukiyaki in a main meal? Very different. Usually you have sukiyaki in the pot with the stuff in soupy sauce but this was all cooked for us already and served on rice. The beef was quite flavourful but they could have been a bit more generous with the tofu - only 2 pieces?!

We had totally forgotten about the other entree we ordered, it came so late! Ika burgers - 4 fresh calamari "burgers" glazed with a sweet soy, topped with Japanese mayo $10.50

This was so strange, I guess they did warn us by saying "burgers" in quotation marks =P But it was like a calamari-mixed-with-some-other-mushy-stuff patty served with too much sauce.

Food~
5/10 - nothing too memorable here, and kinda expensive for what you pay, but then again, it is Hawthorn.

Atmosphere~
3/5 - quite a casual restaurant with lots of families dining here

Service~
3/5 - food didn't take too long, just kinda in the wrong order haha =P

C.
xo