In a flap about Jap

It's been a few weeks, and I had almost forgotten about it but we had a long lunch at the Raw Bar at Bondi a few weekends ago. The Raw Bar has probably been there for 10 years or so now. I remember that when it opened, it was the trendiest place around and booking a table was totally impossible. The gloss of course wore off about 9 1/2 years ago, so now you can just rock up, sit and eat, but that doesn't mean that the food or the standards have slipped - it just means that the wankers have all fucked off to some other new hip and trendy place.

The Raw Bar is pretty small inside - it's got seating for maybe 20 people, so there are half a dozen tables scattered around outside. We had to take an outside table, and it was a good thing the sun was shining, because if it wasn't, we would have frozen to death. The wind was whipping in straight off the surf, and it was frigid. Thankfully, some people vacated a table that was behind a wind break not long after we got there - otherwise, it would have been a very short lunch. It's too windy for them to bother with those gas powered outdoor heater things, which is a shame. It was almost like eating out in Canberra - you just have to tough it out.

To cut a long story short, we totally stuffed ourselves. I have never ordered so much Japanese food in my life. We seemed to have started at the top of the menu and worked our way down to the bottom. We rolled back to the car when the meal was over - all 10 courses of it. Should have skipped the one, small bowl of rice that we shared.

I like the Raw Bar. The service can be a bit dodgy at times (and it was on that particular day, as some dopey waiter had not shown up for work), but the food is top class. They also have a few authentic Japanese beers, include Sapporo in the big silver cans where the entire lid pulls off and you drink it like a schooner of beer. Put it this way - the Raw Bar is about the only place in the universe where I will not only eat tofu, I will order it. Personally, I think tofu is like jellied elephant cum. It is not something that normal people should eat. However, the chefs at the Raw Bar know how to turn it into really nice food. I am impressed.

I'm also pissed off that I now live a fair distance away from the place, and only get to eat there every 3 months or so. The location of the restaurant is not the problem - it is the location of my house. We have a local Japanese place that is pretty ordinary - it turns out edible takeaway that I don't mind, but I get depressed when I eat it and think of the Raw Bar.

The Raw Bar. May they continue to deep fry jellied elephant cum for years to come.