Japanese Noodle Bar Manmaruya

July 11, 2011 by Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

I don’t post a lot of restaurant reviews here, mostly because we don’t actually eat out very often.

When we have a hankering for Japanese food though, we almost always eat at Manmaruya. This very reasonably priced noodle bar began as a single outlet in Campsie, and has now expanded to include stores in Hurstville and Ashfield. The food is always consistently good and, according to our Japanese friends, very authentic.

The Ashfield restaurant has only been opened a couple of weeks, so we headed out last night with the boys and my parents to try it out. I clicked happily away with my pocket Lumix, which coped brilliantly with the lower light and managed to take all these photos flash-free.

There was so much salad on the table – almost every dish came with its own serve…

The Salmon Avocado Sushi Fusion ($12.80) is a new dish to us – the sauce is a light mayonnaise that perfectly complements the other ingredients.

Endamame was just $3 a bowl – we ordered two…

Small Man always has Teriyaki Chicken Don ($12.80)..

I ordered a Kabayaki-Eel Bento Box ($18.80), which came with rice and miso soup. The set included gyoza, seaweed salad, green salad and salmon sashimi as well..

Big Boy had a Pork Katsu Bento Box ($15.80)…

My dad had the Pork Sho-yu Ramen ($9.80)…

…and Pete had the slightly more extravagent Cha-Shu Ramen ($12.80).

Both ramen and udon noodles are available, in either pork or chicken soup bases. The extensive menu offers about twenty different noodle soup options…

The menu also offers a variety of ways to customise your meal – you can add a side order of dumplings and salad, or extra ingredients in your soup, or purchase a mini ramen set with your main meal for an extra $5.

There is also a cheaper lunch menu, with smaller box meal sets available around the $10 mark. And if you bring kids to lunch, you can purchase a mini ramen for them for just $3. Great value for fresh, delicious food!

. . . . .

Japanese Noodle Bar Manmaruya
217 Liverpool Road
Ashfield NSW 2131
Tel. 9799 6889

Lunch: 11.30am – 2.30pm
Dinner: 5.30 pm – 9.30pm
Closed Tuesdays

Posted in Food & Friends | Tagged Manmaruya Ashfield, Manmaruya Japanese restaurant | 45 Comments

45 Responses

on July 11, 2011 at 9:00 am heidi

!Well, I’m drooling over here on the other side of the world!
That all looks so very good.
We don’t go out often, either- and when we do it is always to some chain restaurant that my husband likes. Like Applebee;s or Olive Garden- do you have those in OZ?
If, however , there were places like this – I would insist on eating there- at least once a month!
- on July 11, 2011 at 12:56 pm Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial
  
  Heidi, it’s quite an economical feed – we sometimes go there for lunch as well. And it can be as light or as heavy as you want! :)
on July 11, 2011 at 9:51 am Anna Johnston

Here’s to going out, love it, the food all looks so dang yummy. And is that an egg sitting proudly in the last picky? Like an emu egg or something? It’s huge. It’s breakfast time and I’m dreaming about noodle soups. Sooooo good. :)
- on July 11, 2011 at 12:57 pm Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial
  
  It’s just half a chookie egg, but it does compliment the soup really well.. :)
on July 11, 2011 at 10:22 am bagnidilucca

Yum! Now I want Japanese food.
- on July 11, 2011 at 12:57 pm Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial
  
  I bet there are some amazing Japanese restos in Brisbane, Deb! :)
on July 11, 2011 at 11:42 am Roz

I am with Pete and that all in one dish.
- on July 11, 2011 at 12:58 pm Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial
  
  Pete loves that soup, Roz! They do a nice one with corn and chilli that I quite like as well!
on July 11, 2011 at 2:41 pm InTolerantChef

I love the bento boxes, it’s like unwrapping one gift at a time at Christmas! I don’t know how you can choose between dishes, and the mini box for kiddies is a great idea- they love their own ‘grownup’ choice. Yumm…
- on July 11, 2011 at 2:55 pm Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial
  
  It’s always so hard to choose when we go there! I tried to get a mini ramen for $3 for Big Boy one lunch time, but they pointed out that I actually had to have a child with me. Now that he’s six foot tall and shaving, it’s hard to pass him off as one anymore.. ;-)
on July 11, 2011 at 2:41 pm Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella

I like a place that gives you lots of salad! When we eat out I often don’t think we eat enough vegetables :)
- on July 11, 2011 at 2:55 pm Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial
  
  You wouldn’t go wrong here, Lorraine, lots and lots of dressed greens on the table. We couldn’t finish them all!
on July 11, 2011 at 3:50 pm Suelle

I liked Japanese food more than I expected when we visited there . Bento boxes and set meals worked out the best. Very small portions though – the only time we’ve lost weight on holiday! Your restaurant looks as if it’s adapted to Western appetites!

I have to add that I love your Dad’s shirt – probably says a lot about his character!
- on July 11, 2011 at 6:11 pm Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial
  
  Thanks Suelle, my dad is very dapper! :)
on July 11, 2011 at 4:22 pm Tandy

I love those Bento Boxes!
on July 11, 2011 at 5:23 pm Christine

What a feast!! It all looks wonderful!!
on July 11, 2011 at 5:59 pm theonlycin

It looks great, I am quite hungry now.
on July 11, 2011 at 6:11 pm Carol

Thanks for the restaurant tip Celia. Looks fabulous. The boys always love a good Japanese meal so will definitely try it soon!
- on July 11, 2011 at 6:14 pm Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial
  
  Caz, I think this is the first comment you’ve ever left on my blog.. :)
  
  We will have to do a dinner with Kev and the boys, just let me know when! xx
on July 11, 2011 at 6:13 pm Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

Tandy, I’d quite like to have some bento boxes at home – I think they’d be fun to fill. Of course, then I’d have to find somewhere to store them…sigh.. ;-)

Chris, it was a feast! Big Boy in particular ate all of his meal and most of the salmon and avocado dish – he’s a big Japanese food fan!

Cindy, so am I! Hope you’re having a good week! :)
on July 11, 2011 at 6:51 pm MiskMask

So lovely and colourful. Did they serve the endamame with condiments or just as is in a bowl?
- on July 11, 2011 at 6:58 pm Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial
  
  Thanks for stopping by! I didn’t know they could serve endamame with condiments – these were just in the bowl as is, although I think they’re lightly salted…
  - on July 12, 2011 at 2:00 am Misk Cooks
    
    They serve something similar in Hong Kong that often sides up with a small dipping-dish of sweet chilli sauce. I think the Japanese prefer dishes more simplied than the Cantonese.
on July 11, 2011 at 8:00 pm Dredgemeister's Missus

Dredgemeister is an easy sell on Japanese food and mad for soups at present. Why oh why is it shut tomorrow?!?!?!
- on July 11, 2011 at 8:26 pm Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial
  
  Aaah well, he’ll have to come home early on Wednesday instead.. ;-)
on July 11, 2011 at 11:08 pm Amanda

I’m not a huge fan of Japanese food, but I just love those bento boxes – they always look so neat and tempting.
on July 12, 2011 at 5:36 am Platanos, Mangoes and Me!

Guess what I am having for dinner….
on July 12, 2011 at 12:18 pm Cat

This looks so delicious. We’re very luck to have an excellent Japanese restaurant only 1 block away from our house. We haven’t been there in about a year, so I think hubby is going to have to take me this week now. :)
on July 12, 2011 at 5:04 pm Lee

Looks good. Too good. I am in Sydney for the Food Technologists conference – conference dinner tonight, hope it is not chicken, beef, chicken,beef…
on July 12, 2011 at 8:08 pm cityhippyfarmgirl

I was mentally reading your post, and ticking off what I’d have…yep, that one looks good, ooo, hang about, that one looks better….oooooh maybe that one. Japanese food ALWAYS gets a big yes from me.
on July 12, 2011 at 8:33 pm Tes

That eel bento makes me drool real bad :) I am texting my husband “Japanese restaurant tonight!?” :)
on July 13, 2011 at 3:10 am Choclette

Those bento boxes look good. I’ve always fancied going to a Japanese restaurant, but haven’t as I guess they don’t really cater for vegetarians.
- on July 13, 2011 at 5:58 am Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial
  
  Choc, from memory, Manmaruya had a full page vegetarian menu at their Campsie store. I didn’t really look for it at the Ashfield one (we already knew what we were after), but I would think it might be the same. I will look more closely next time..
on July 13, 2011 at 7:24 pm Dredgemeister's missus

Dredgemeister general – having survived Tuesday – is now heading up Liverpool Road for Japanese soup on bitterly cold Sydney night. (top temp here about 10 degrees in the wind, I reckon. Perhaps less. And that was DAYtime.) Stand by for a full report, as it comes to hand. Or mouth as the case may be.
on July 13, 2011 at 8:13 pm Dredgemeister

Have placed order. Sitting in restaurant enjoying the atmos. Very busy. One lady just told the waitress that she enjoyed it so much she is going to come back tomorrow night. Still a few minutes til my food is ready .. Might just pop next door and pick up a few things.
on July 14, 2011 at 6:14 pm spiceandmore

Oh that ramen soup looks soooo good. We must go for lunch there soon….
Ashfield? It’s getting closer….!!
on July 14, 2011 at 6:18 pm spiceandmore

My kids are looking over my shoulder and saying “oh yesss…that looks sooo good. Can you take us there?…”
- on July 15, 2011 at 6:39 pm Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial
  
  Ok, so when are we all going? :)
  - on July 18, 2011 at 10:20 am spiceandmore
    
    Are you free today? Last day of holidays for both kids so might be a nice treat for them.
on July 17, 2011 at 8:32 pm Claire @ Claire K Creations

I love Japanese at the moment. I’m keeping an eye out for edamame to try at home.
- on July 17, 2011 at 8:35 pm Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial
  
  Claire, we bought seed last year from Diggers and grew our own! They weren’t particularly successful, but it was nice to have homegrown.. :)
on July 18, 2011 at 6:53 pm Nico

I just moved to Summer Hill, now I have yet another excuse to go into Ashfield for food!
- on July 18, 2011 at 7:20 pm Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial
  
  Nico, did you ask me before about vegetarian options there? I had a look and they have several listed on the back page…great place to eat, and almost walking distance from Summer Hill! :)
on July 19, 2011 at 10:14 am Susan

I so wish there were more of these types of restaurants in Canberra. How I miss my Japanese food. Looks wonderful!
- on July 19, 2011 at 5:23 pm Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial
  
  Last time we were in Canberra (a couple of years ago now!) we went to a very nice Japanese restaurant called Iori. Is it still there? They had very nice salmon, from memory…