There’s a new Japanese restaurant in Darwin, I sat my bum down for some lunch during the week to check out what they had on offer. They’re  located in the Mitchell Centre where Chianti’s used to be so they’re in prime position for the lunch time crowd.

The menu has udon noodles, bento sets (set lunches), donburi (rice and meat dishes), shabu shabu (!)/ hot pot for dinner and what caught my eye the most – ramen. Until now, the only place you could get ramen in Darwin was from the Ramen guy at the Parap Markets so having a place in the city to get it from sounds pretty good to me.

Oishi Ya is a proper restaurant setup, so there’s plenty of friendly waiters on hand to take and deliver orders. The  kitchen is visible so you can see the chefs prepping noodles and dishes, the curious side of me always like to see what goes back there.

The Tokyo Ramen I had on my first visit had a kick ass broth, which is what this dish is all about. The noodles very nicely cooked. The toppings were also very nice, but as you can see from the photo, you don’t get a lot. Two small slices of pork, half and egg and a bit of green. I appreciate Japanese cuisine is all about small quantities, but this was a bit stingy compared to other places that  I’ve had ramen. I think they would do well to add a few more ingredients on top.

The “Happy Bento” for $15 gets you a main with fried tofu, pickled radish, spring rolls, salad, rice and miso soup. I thought this was pretty cool, lots of different fresh flavours which I found myself gobbling down to much enjoyment. The teriyaki chicken was OK but isn’t in the same league as the awesome one you get at Rapid Cafe in Rapid Creek.

It hasn’t been open for very long, but it already seems to be very popular. Quite a few seats had been filled by the time I had finished my meals on both visits. I do believe I will spend a few lunchtimes here in future.