Miyama, Sydney CBD

I think the 28th of December might have just been the worst day of my life. In a dramatic, inconsequential way, of course. It all started with a trek out to Ultimo for burgers. Pub Life Kitchen burgers that I’d heard so much about. Turns out, after a 20 min trek, we found out that GOOGLE LIED TO US.

They were closed for the holidays

So Sam suggests heading to Sunflower Cafe for Taiwanese beef noodle soup. Because that’s always a winner. So we trek out to Broadway, and they were closed too. FML.

Then it was off to Ippudo, because the rest of Central Park (The Living Mall) seemed to be open. WRONG. The Universe didn’t want me to eat for some reason, and it was making it damned hard to get anything decent in the city.

And I was getting hangry.

Defeated, we dragged ourselves off to Central Station, ready to wave the white flag and go home, when a bright red sign from Miyama advertising ramen called to me.

Could this be salvation after all?

The Order:

Gyoza, $6
Eel Don,$13.90
Tan Tan Ramen, $10.50

The Food:

Okay, so maybe expecting one meal to save a bad day is a bit much for any restaurant. But this was one of those places where the food just didn’t stack up. It wasn’t inedible or anything, but it just wasn’t good.

Gyoza, $6

The Gyoza, $6, were little more than Chinese dumplings repurposed with a Japanese name. How can I tell the difference? Well the flavour and shape are way WAY different and a you can’t fool a lifetime of dumpling eating experience.

Did I also mention that the crispy dumpling bases were irrevocably soggy? Yeah, nah.

Tan Tan Ramen, $10.50

The Tan Tan Ramen, $10.50, was meant to be a mix of peanut and chilli flavours, but instead was incredibly salty (and that’s really saying something coming from a salt lover like me), to the point where it overpowered any other notes that could’ve been in there. Otherwise, it was pretty unremarkable, with average noodles and average toppings, which is being nice since the egg was overcooked to the point of a grey ring around the yolk.

Eel Don,$13.90

The Unagi Don, $13.90, was arguably the best thing on the table, which really comprised of cooked rice, pre-packaged eel and pre-packaged pickles. Not really much to be said about their cooking abilities, unfortunately.

Food: 0.5/1

The Service:

You know that stereotype of Asian restaurants were it’s all fairly impersonal and you’d be lucky to get any attention at all? Well in this case it definitely was impersonal, but it was pretty hard to ignore us considering we were just about the only customers in the restaurant. They were nice enough whilst taking our orders, there was nothing much to write home about.

Much like the food.

Service: 0.5/1

Value for money:

What can I say? It’s yet another middle of the road score. It’s not expensive, especially for the CBD, but it’s not so cheap or generous that I want to repeat the experience either.

Half a point for not making me demand my money back. I guess. ?

Value for money: 0.5/1

The Vibe:

Ahh finally something to say. Unless you like the sound of random TV programmes playing in the background whilst you eat (ah, like an Asian childhood), then there is really nothing else to relax you, calm you, or anything, really. Just an empty restaurant, with a TV.

The Vibe: 0/1

And finally,

I finally remember why I waited so long to give Miyama a shot: I’d always seen the little sign on the way to and from Central Station, but there was always a better, more appealing option somewhere else. I really respect, though, that they haven’t gone out of business – I remember seeing the sign since my uni days, and without revealing my age, well, it’s been a while.

Otherwise, I’m sure there are better options around. Can I point you towards Haymarket, just a 10 minute walk away?

Bonus points: 0/1