For Japanese food with a twist, you can't go past this place. Long before places like Nobu arrived on the scene, this Japanese restaurant, now in a bigger location, provided exquisite fusion Japanese that blended the best of East and West. And you know what? It all works!

The decor of the restaurant is a modern inspired look, however does not really have any Japanese influence (no pine tables or ikebana/banzai miniaturized plants here!). It is more reminiscent of a theater with curtains dividing the room into sections and the look of a hotel style restaurant.

Traditional dishes such as gyoza (pan fried dumplings) and sushi/sashimi and dengaku (eggplant) exist on the menu but I encourage you to be more adventurous and try the specials - we had a special range of maki sushi with apple and some other ingredients which I forget because it was a mile long but it was really really good! The Teriyaki duck (not something normally done to duck!) with bok choi Chinese vegetables was smooth and tasty - very recommended! These slivers of duck contained lots of flavor and the duck was not overcooked to provide a smooth and tender texture. As we concentrated more on sushi and sashimi, we will need to try the other dishes next time, and the sushi and sashimi here are first rate - cleanly sliced, fresh tasting and the wasabi and ginger provided are not the run of the mill condiments - the ginger for example is a white color instead of the artificially colored red ginger so it is subtler in taste and lets the freshness of the sushi and sashimi shine through.

Service wise the waitress and waiter for our table both knew the menu backwards and the contents of each item we ordered - no running back to the kitchen to work out what was in some of the menu items and as they had actually tried the dishes we were ordering they knew how to mix and match items to what our taste buds would like/prefer.

The only detractor from our meal really was that on Saturdays they have two sessions and as we had booked the early session were only allowed two hours to dine. This meant we missed out on desserts which tend to the fusion side again and some of them looked amazing. We will have to try and book the later session next time!

Highly recommended and you definitely need to book - just go for the later session!

Approximate cost: $25

I attended a recent swap meet as they also advised that there would be Matchbox cars for sale from this seller, as I am a collector. So, having paid my entry fee, I went to have a look at what was on offer. I found however that the range was not as large as quoted and the prices were much higher than most sellers on eBay. Unfortunately there are really no bargains or even decent deals here. For example, one car I was after the price was $50. I could find the same car in the same condition on eBay for around $30 and $50 would be an extremely high price to pay for this car! When I asked about pricing the sales person got angry and said that eBay was too risky and you can't check out the car before you buy. However when I started opening some of the boxes the car was in he was not too happy for me to check each car so I don't really know if that is an advantage if he is not happy for me to check the car before buying!!

The thing with eBay is that good eBay sellers will point out hidden flaws/flaws in their collectables and buyers respond accordingly by bidding with appropriate bids. If there is a problem on eBay then they have a safety mechanism that helps buyers and sellers resolve any problems. The sales man however became upset and said that I should go back to eBay and buy it from there!

I would have expected that if he is a seller he would know the market prices and price accordingly as well as treat my enquiry as an opportunity to explain why buying is better from him than eBay and also let me inspect more of his cars rather than look worried everytime I opened a box as if I was going to damage it. Given that I am a collector I treat these items with lots of care!

Anyway, I don't recommend attending/visiting this seller at the swap meets! They may be the biggest seller of toy trains but the service is just not there once you start comparing them to other sellers and that is a customer right!

Sushi fans unite! This is one of the places to get your sushi and sashimi! The serving sizes of the sushi pieces are jumbo sized as are the sizes of the sashimi and all at very reasonable prices. For about $12 you can get a combo called maki mix which provides you with four/five different types of maki rolls and that will definitely be enough for lunch! They also do larger platters to order depending on how many pieces you want. On offer are over 30 different types of sushi and sashimi styles. Quality is very good most of the time, however on occasion I have had the odd piece of tuna tasting a bit sour, so tend to avoid that one. Also great are the Gyoza from the frozen foods section - they're made in Australia and at around $7 for 12 pieces are great value for money!

Approximate cost: $12

If you are after fresh seafood or a good steak at a reasonable price, then Margo's represents good value for money in a pleasant atmosphere. Located inside the Crown Casino gambling area (sorry no kids allowed) they have on display an array of fresh fish, lobsters, steaks and other seafood items which you can order. The items can be cooked how you like - either pan fried, or battered for the seafood and for the meats from rare to very well done. There is also a good set of sides (salads, chips etc) and reasonable prices (between $5 to $8). Average prices of seafood runs from around $25 to $50/market price (crayfish) although from time to time there are specials (1/2 crayfish for $25!) and steaks from $28 to $45. Service is good except when it is very busy (such as Friday/Saturday nights) and the wait time can be long and service rushed. If you're not into steaks and seafood there are some other dishes which include burgers, pasta and salads as mains.

Approximate cost: $25

This place provides a great selection of Teppanyaki dishes (hot plate) ranging from chicken to beef to vegetable based hot plate dishes as well as traditional rice plus dishes such as Teriyaki chicken. I have tried two dishes here. The Teppanyaki chicken dish came with a bowl of rice however seemed to be flooded with bean shoots (a bit too much) and the sauce lacked flavor. A better deal was the Teriyaki chicken however I purchased takeaway and when I got home found a few insects crawling around the salad that came with the dish which meant that things had not been washed well :(

Had it not been for the extra "protein" I might have well rated the place higher as the chicken was actually tasty and sauce not overly salty or sweet-salty as Teriyaki sauces normally are! They also have okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake) which looked good but yet to try.

Approximate cost: $12

This place offers your regular Japanese suspects, Gyoza, Bento Boxes, Tempura, Rice and Fish/Veg deals. From a taste perspective the food ranges from very good to good and the prices are very reasonable for what you receive. The Gyoza was well cooked with one side crispy and the other sides steamed, not too oily and very good tasting. Bento Boxes run around $12 and came with some sashimi, teriyaki chicken, rice, fruits, miso soup, a few pickles and some salad. The serving size is good - enough to fill you up at lunch. They have lunch specials running around $8 and this provides miso soup, rice with main (teriyaki salmon, chicken etc) and a few veggies on the side. The place is run by Chinese which means that the flavors have a bit of a Chinese bent/presentation, so it's not 100% authentic, but for the money it still represents a good deal!

Approximate cost: $12

It's 1am and you feel like a night cap before you head home? Your idea of a nightcap though runs to pancakes and crepes along with a hot chocolate or some other warm and cozy drink? Stokers presents itself as a small cozy retreat with an open fire in Winter and low lighting - sometimes a little too dim to finish off a night out with delicious pancakes or crepes. Pricing is a little steep however they accept entertainment vouchers which is buy one get one free.

Approximate cost: $15

This restaurant sits along a shopping strip that is laden with some very good restaurants in Doncaster/Templestowe. I have visited here a few times more recently for lunch however in the past we used to eat dinner here as well. They have a good selection of dishes and I normally ask for the fried fillets of fish with rice and sweet corn sauce. It's quite a large dish to ensure that you will be full at the end of lunch and the price is reasonable at around $13. I would not recommend their verison of Char Kuey Teow which is a Cantonese style and comes out with white rice noodles instead of the usual dark brown noodles from the soy sauce. According to the diner I was with it was bland! Sometimes we also come here to buy take away Char Siew (BBQ Roast Pork) to take home and it has been consistent for many years despite a change in owner.

Approximate cost: $13

This place is a family run business and they offer authentic Malaysian style hawker dishes.

Whilst the dishes on offer - char kuey teow, nasi lemak, lobak etc were good, we found them not to be as good as you would get back in Malaysia as some people claimed. The lobak for example was not presented in the normal style of a roll cut into pieces. It came out like little candies wrapped in cellophane paper, and the meat did not seem to have the right spices in it. The Char Kuey Teow we had was actually quite oily, and lacked the fire of the wok or what Chinese call "Wok Hei". We prefer to eat these dishes at Ampang Tofu.

Approximate cost: $15

Looking for fresh roti made on the premises? How about Briyani? Maybe even a few curries? The this is the place to get your fix! All items are made fresh daily and my favorites are the Murtabak (roti bread with beef, chicken or lamb inside) and accompanied with a dipping sauce of curry or dahl, then there's the Briyani which is an Indian style of mixed rice with egg, pickles, and spices - incredibly tasty and not too spicy. Prices here are reasonable at around $5 to $8 for basic roti and $12 for noodles such as Mee Goreng. One of my friends who is vegetarian highly recommends the Roti with spinach and cheese! There's also pakoras, curry puffs, and samosas - all of a decent size so that you won't be left hungry. The place has both indoor and outdoor seating - depending on the day, you may prefer to be indoors, and they also have a grocery store selling ingredients in case you wanted to try and make this for yourself! This place has been here for more than 10 years and is consistently busy at lunchtimes and dinner - a testament to the consistency of the food on offer. They used to run a place in the city as well, however it got too much so they're back to Vermont.

Approximate cost: $12