Voucher for: All you can eat sushi feast for 2 people (two vouchers)
Do you like sushi? Enough to relish an all-you-can-eat rice roll-tacular? Well, have I found the place for you!
Me N Roll, a recent addition to the burgeoning Asian food experience that makes up Hawthorn's Glenferrie Shopping Strip, is located close to Swinburne University with reasonable parking to be found at Hawthorn Arts Centre.
I have to say, I did have some problems making the initial booking over the phone with the voucher Alister provided for me - there is a 90 minute session for the all-you-can-eat option, and Me N Roll are quite insistent that you get there right on your booking. There have been complaints previously from customers who felt they didn't get enough time to gorge on the sushi buffet train before close of evening. Our initial plans with one couple for an 8.30pm meet had fallen through, so we managed to satify the protocol and properly confirm to Me N Roll's suggested booking time of 8.00pm and take full advantage of that strict window before their 9.30pm closing.
The location itself has a small face on Glenferrie Road, but opens to a decent dining size with charmingly cute kawaii touches throughout, a perfect location for Alister and I to chance to catch up with my friend Sarah (who lived and worked in Japan with the JET program) and her Australian-Japanese pal Haruko.
Onto the food! Now, you get a choice of 4 sushi variations for the table to start off with, but you can only get an extra plate when you finish a platter. The portion sizes were generous, however you had to keep to the options available on their B and C lists. Diners could also help themselves to miso soup from an urn, and table water was provided and easily accessible.Intrigued by the menu, I decided to try out one of the fruity rice wines and was pleasantly surprised when it arrived in a nostalgic bottle with enough for the whole table to enjoy (though it was mainly Alister and I sipping the blueberry sake shake with lip-smacking relish).
Having arrived a little ahead of Sarah and Haruko and getting picture peckish from the menu, Alister and I had hungrily chosen four rolls to start off with that we thought everyone might enjoy. We then got egg on our face when Sarah and Haruko arrived - turns out Haruko is vegetarian! Cringe! Thankfully we managed to finish one platter super quick and she proceeded to order one of about four vegetarian sushi options from the lists.
Overall, a pretty decent taster voucher for some fun, filling food and sweet service, definitely worth a visit back to try out more of the menu.
Pros: conveniently located in the Glenferrie Shopping street in Hawthorn; delicious food; yummy fruity sake
Cons: was a bit hard to book in initially; some of the sushi variations might be a bit adventurous in taste and texture; early closing times
