Kadoya

Kadoya
Elizabeth Arcade (99 Elizabeth St, Brisbane CBD)



My uni classes happen in the city. That's a good thing when it comes to getting lunch because the city has a great selection of cheap eats. Last year, a close friend and I would frequent the Asian eateries around Brisbane CBD, alternating between the best. This year, we're more health conscious and sticking to Cafes for salads and sandwiches.

Kadoya is leaning towards the expensive side of 'cheap' but it has a great selection and is consistently good. It's also nice to see them change/add to their menu every now and again because so many eateries fall into a rut and become boring. It's hard for Kadoya to compete when there are chains like Hanaichi around that do similar food but much faster and cheaper. Still, there must be a reason why I chose Kadoya over them when I do.


I think it boils down to eating environment. When you want good, reliable, filling Japanese food WITHOUT being huge queues and noisy office folk on their lunch break, you want to stay away from the food courts. Kadoya is also busy in peak times but it's tucked away and there are seats so at least you don't have people brushing past your chair every minute. Also, I like these kinds of spots for dinner because the food courts are starting to get cold and deserted and I feel 'rushed' to get out of there for the cleaners to do their job.

On this occasion, we went to Kadoya for a quick meal before an event. I always scrutinize over the menu for ages and then decide to get what I always get - which is a curry. It's nice that with the Japanese curry at Kadoya, you can convince yourself you're not always getting the same old thing because they have a range of choices on their 'curry menu'. Aside from bog standard chicken, pork and what not, there are is also fish, vegetable and croquette versions.

I chose the fish katsu curry. There is a novel 'curry meter' concept where you chose how much chili you can handle. I'm a wuss. I chose level 1. My friend chose a gyoza ramen + takoyaki.

Water and cutlery is self-serve.

After a short wait, everything arrives at once and we tuck in.

Fish katsu curry

The curry is excellent, as expected. The thing about Japanese curry, to me, is that it's always good but it's always the same. There doesn't seem to be any variety with Japanese curry like there is with say, Thai curry or more obviously, Indian curry. It makes me wonder if the packet stuff you get from Japanese supermarkets would be just as good? I like the fish option because it makes me feel remotely healthy despite the fact that it's fried and soaked with curry goodness.

Takoyaki

I was offered a takoyaki (fried octopus ball) but politely declined since I've tried before and wasn't a huge fan.

Gyoza

I've never tried gyoza before - only the Chinese version. I thought they were normally steamed with 1 side pan-fried but this lot looked completely deep-fried.

Ramen

My friend polished off his ramen quick smart and we were out of there.