Acacia - Japanese Fusion

 

Today I will be reviewing a new fusion Japanese restaurant that has just opened in Gordon, called ACACIA. Here the décor was surprisingly stylish and modern compared to the already existing Japanese places in the area. The furniture was western in design though once combined with the dark pallet tone maintained a Japanese feel.  The service was very good. We were seated quickly and brought water. The waiter was quick to explain the menu to me, which was unnecessary but understandable, since I am not Asian. 

My friend and I both sampled differing bento lunch specials. Firstly I got the teriyaki chicken. In this contained lightly pan fried chicken and a wombok cabbage side topped with kewpie mayonnaise (a traditional Japanese brand of mayonnaise, slightly sweeter than western kinds). This to me really expressed the idea of fusion as the cabbage/mayo combination brought the idea of coleslaw when combined with the fried chicken, almost like a southern American dish but entirely Japanese. In addition to this there was beautiful sushi style rice, miso soup and pickled daikon (white radish). 
 
My friend ordered the Oyakodon set. This is a very common dish in japan consisting of eggs poured over rice and chicken. He found the dish to be more of a congee or risotto style, which shies away from tradition. He still enjoyed it immensely and said he would be happy to order it again. His lunch special also came with sesame dressed lettuce, miso soup and pickled daikon. Both lunch specials were $13.50 which I feel is very reasonable considering the quality of the food and service. We looked through the menu to notice that the dinner options were much pricier but as the quality is assumed to be the same, this could be okay. I would be happy to make this a regular addition to my local dining.

Sarah