Unlike Mappen and Oiden next door, the drinks weren't self-serve, although that wasn't an issue as the wait time was minimal and service was quick so you'll be sure to receive your desired drink immediately and sort out payment at the same time. The drinks available from left to right were mugi-cha (roasted barley tea), green tea and iced lemon tea all for the price of $1.50 each. Mugi-cha and green tea were their non-sweentened iced teas while if you fancy a sugary beverage then the iced lemon tea would be your pick.

Dera-uma menu

It was casual Japanese eats galore, much like the style of Oiden but with the exception of their exclusive tamago-toji donburi, mix and match salads and their sauce katsu-don range. Yuri mentioned that the chef of Dera-uma hails from Nagoya and so the sauce used is a variation that is unique to that city. I will have to come back to try it and taste how it differs to typical tonkatsu sauce.

They also had a minibar of tempura which you may also choose to add to your meal.

The teas were super refreshing, cold and brewed well as the corresponding flavours were fairly concentrated. My favourite would have to be mugi-cha and was a tea I had never tried before. The taste of roasted barley was strongly discernible and I remarked to DT that it had similar notes to coffee with each sip which then dissipated quickly to be replaced by the usual tea aftertaste.

Since I opted for the toji-chicken katsu bowl, it involved simmering the already cooked chicken katsu in a runny mixture of eggs, mirin, soy sauce, sugar and sake to create a delicious loose omelette infused with a lightly sweetened broth. Two eggs would be used for the regular sized bowl and three for large. I liked the open view kitchen which meant you could watch the staff in action as they prepared the food. The toji bowls are cooked with careful attention as eggs are finicky things and therefore need to be checked on periodically.

Yuri mixed and matched our salad for us as I didn't know where to begin with the abundance of options available. We picked the green salad with boiled egg, seaweed and corn kernels as fillings (extra fillings can be had for 90 cents each), wagyu beef as the extra topping and finally DT chose the wasabi mayo dressing (medium amount). The salad turned out great with a good portion of thinly sliced stewed wagyu beef that made the salad more exciting and yummy. I really liked the sweet corn kernels and together with the surprisingly strong wasabi dressing created a medley of flavours.

I don't think I can ever tire of eating Japanese curry as there is just something so immensely tasty about it. It particularly caters to my palate as it's not too creamy like traditional Indian curries and more savoury making it extremely addictive with a serving of rice. Dera-uma already had me at the rich curry and with the combination of a flavoursome minced beef patty it was truly difficult to resist. I have no trouble eating just steamed rice and Japanese curry alone but occasionally, some sort of meat added into the mix can make it a lot more enjoyable than it already is.

Melted cheese, minced beef steak, poached egg, Japanese curry and fluffy white rice, what a splendid combination it was. The patty was soft, slightly moist in the centre and seasoned well to be salty in flavour. We enjoyed it by breaking apart the beefy goodness with our chopsticks and rationed bite-sized morsels of it with a bit of rice, curry and cheese. An incredibly comforting meal for any time of the day, rain or shine.

Katsudon (crumbed pork fillet) or chicken katsudon would be one of my top favourite Japanese foods to eat and there are a number of restaurants where I have tried it but never felt that it was comparable to what I had in Japan. However, I believe I have found my answer to that problem as I would absolutely return to Dera-uma for their tamago-toji bowls. The omelette was spot-on for consistency and flavour. It's tricky cooking anything where eggs are implicated as they are easily over-cooked to the point of no return or underdone. 

So I was really impressed when I discovered that it wasn't overly runny otherwise there would have been a pool of sauce and egg mixture sitting at the bottom of the bowl and eating wet soggy rice isn't my thing. You can also tell in the above photo that the egg whites weren't overdone either as they had a silken look and texture to them. The chicken katsu itself was far from bland. Being covered in the omelette meant the deep-fried exterior had absorbed the delicious flavours from the light broth it was simmered in making them perfectly succulent, sweet and salty pieces of joy that complemented the bed of rice underneath.

Dera-uma translates to really delicious and the eatery serves nothing less than that so it definitely stays true to its name. Apart from being really delicious their meals are also super affordable so you really can't go wrong with the place.

If you're a Washoku Lovers member already you can currently show your card at Dera-uma to get a free iced tea drink (valued at $1.50) which would go perfectly with your meal. The hamburger steak curry rice with ontama egg and cheese was a special variation we had the opportunity to try that wasn't available on the menu at the time of dining but could potentially be available soon so keep your eyes peeled.

Becoming a Washoku Lovers member is absolutely free: Sign up

Thank you to Yuri from SDMG Marketing for the invitation to dine at Dera-uma

The milk tea was pleasantly rich in green tea flavour without being heavily sweetened. Whereas the honey lemon drink reminded me of a less carbonated version of Sprite with a subtle honey flavour and was quite refreshing with my meal. 

I can't recall the last time I had hashed beef rice (Hayashi rice) so it was the perfect opportunity to re-visit this classic dish which is a popular Western-style dish in Japan. The rich and thick brown sauce, otherwise known as demi-glace sauce was made even more delicious with the mozzarella cheese as it quickly melted away into creamy and cheesy goodness. The sauce was extremely flavoursome with the taste of tomato and cheese laced throughout and the heaping of white rice paired well to absorb the richness.

If I were to choose between hashed beef rice or kare rice there would be no clear winner as they are both wonderful comfort foods. It would largely depend on if I wanted something on the sweeter spectrum in which hashed beef rice would be the optimal choice or something more savoury with a spicy kick which would be kare rice.

One would think that the thinly sliced beef which had a prominent smokey aroma from being freshly grilled and the slightly sweet and sour fermented cabbage would be polar opposites of one another but they worked surprisingly well to create a really satisfying comfort food. The kimchi was milder in flavour than what I am used to but was suitable as otherwise it would have overpowered the beef. 

I dare say that the teriyaki chicken salad was one of the tastiest and most enjoyable salads I've ever had the pleasure to eat. I generally steer clear of salads as from experience the majority of them have turned out to be too tangy or bland for my taste but this was an exception. I would happily order it not just for the sake of devouring something with nutritional value but also because it was actually really delicious. The teriyaki chicken was so moist and juicy to the point I couldn't comprehend how such a feat was achieved and the teriyaki sauce itself was perfectly sweet and savoury. Toss some Japanese onion and garlic dressing over finely shredded cabbage and fresh leafy greens and we had a winning salad combination where no bit of it was left behind. 

The deep fried tofu cube pictured at the top had the crunchiest crumbed batter which I was surprised to encounter since their sides weren't made to order. Being tofu, it was on the plainer end of things but enjoyable nonetheless with my hashed beef rice which was flavour rich. Pictured on the right was the pork loin katsu that was crunchy albeit a little dry inside. The one side you must add to your meal would be the beef croquette which was Yuri's recommendation and it was absolutely delicious. I love the concept of croquettes as one can mix in mashed potato with any sort of minced meat, in this case it was sukiyaki beef and it would possess the softest of textures while being encased in a crispy golden crumbed exterior.

The daifuku had the prettiest pink mochi skin and a light fragrance of sakura (cherry blossom). Eating it was a messy affair as the skin was really stretchy and also sticky which made it difficult to peel off the white cardboard adhered to the bottom. Once that dilemma was out of the way, I was finally able to take a bite out of it. The inside was stuffed with yummy red bean paste and the preserved shiso leaf offset the sweetness with its saltiness although it was a little strange at first. I never used to be a fan of red bean desserts but since being consistently exposed to them, I'm really starting to acquire a taste for it. Too much red bean can become sickening though so I can't eat too much of it.