Waya Japanese Restaurant

100 Kingsway 
Glen Waverley, VIC 3150

http://www.waya.com.au/

Glen Waverley is a pretty neat suburb to live near. There is a plethora of food to be easily had whenever a craving hits, and usually I can find something in Glen Waverley to hit that spot. However, one thing I’ve always complained of is the lack of good Japanese. Well I mean, that’s not entirely true, considering that it houses the famous Shira Nui, but who has $80 to shell out on premium sushi every Sunday night? 

So that’s why I considered it extremely belated when Waya Japanese Restaurant opened up on the ever-changing strip that is Kingsway. Clearly a lot of other people agree with me, because it’s doing a roaring trade of both dine-in and take-away. 

Being new, the interior of Waya could be expected to be nice, but this is a bit better than what I had expected. Whilst the seats at the front are a little cramped, there are some lovely booths at the back, and the overall atmosphere is very pleasant. The menu is expansive but not expensive, covering everything you could possibly expect to see at a cheap and cheerful Japanese restaurant, with a wide selection of drinks (alcoholic and not) to boot. 

Agedashi Tofu ($6)

I seem to be craving tofu all the time these days, and a bowl of Agedashi Tofu ($6) should hit the spot nicely. Unfortunately this one didn’t. As opposed to wobbly cubes fried in potato starch, these slabs of tofu were denser, dryer, and obviously pre-fried then reheated. It was also sitting in way too much sauce, and the result was more of a tofu in soup. 

Chicken Curry Don ($11.5)

So it was lucky that our Chicken Curry Don ($11.5) was delicious. Thick and hearty, the sauce was savoury, flavoursome, and just a little bit spicy. There was more than enough chicken to go around, and very tender too. 

Waya Maki ($12.5)

But the best part of the meal was the Waya Maki ($12.5), a long, thick roll filled with plump salmon, avocado, and cucumber. It’s topped with a generous layer of flying fish roe, and a spicy mayonnaise. It’s not traditional, not by a long shot, but the briny roe and sauce added a great wallop of flavour to the good quality sushi.

Waya is a bit of a mixed bag. According to other diners/bloggers, the food can be quite hit and miss. However I did enjoy our meal here, the disappointing agedashi tofu aside. The impression I got was that, whilst the food isn’t all that authentic, it’s generously portioned and quite tasty overall. At any rate, I’m just glad to have a place to get my Japanese fix close to home.

Rating: 13.5/20 – waya didn’t open sooner?

This rating reflects my personal experience at the time of visit.