Asahi

Asahi is a Japanese restaurant in Ballarat. It is said to be one of the finest there, but last night when I went it wasn't even busy. It was 6pm and by 6:30 they only had a few tables occupied. It is run by the Japanese.

I went to their stall at the Family Hawkers Market and didn't like their crab croquette. That day they were giving out their $10 off voucher, a sign that things might not be going so well. I decided to redeem it on sushi.

I went in and it looked a lot more like a Chinese restaurant rather than Japanese. They have monthly specials and a business card draw where diners can win dinners for $100.

The waitress was cheerful though, I'll give them that.

Their complimentary appetizer of vegetable with tamari sauce was good but who can stuff that up! Their vegetables were cut well.

The other table complained of funny wine and they didn't really know their wines well. I'm not an avid wine drinker but this to me was bad. A good restauranter would know their wines well.

I had sushi as a main ($25). With my card it was $15. It was okay but the rice fell apart and the sushi was not cut very well. The egg one and the prawn one was their saving grace. What would be nice on the plate would be the inari. The other tables kani sushi looked good though.

Rating: 10/20- not even close to Shoya. Sorry guys, you need to lift your game. Your website needs updating and you need to know a lot more about wines. They should go to some of the wine and food events held in Melbourne throughout the year. Ballarat is only a one and a half hour ride from Melbourne.