Fresh Bites, Citi Centre Arcade

The food court at Centre Arcade is badly in need of a facelift. Some of those shop facades have been around since at least the 90s and many are probably older than I am. Think places like The King of Sandwich and Mangia Mangia. That said some new blood is slowly starting to seep in - the spud place has closed down and banh mi / Japanese eatery Fresh Bites has opened in its place.

A teriyaki chicken wing was my sneaky lunch entree. The meat was firm, juicy and flavoursome but had lost a little of sweet glazed char flavour that the exterior flaunted. Tasty, but not super value for nearly $2 bucks.



Banh mi / Japanese fusion rolls really makes sense me and the one from Fresh Bite bought together the best of both worlds - sticky sweet teriyaki chicken from Japan; the baguette style bread and crunchy fresh salad from Vietnam; a dollop of kewpie mayonnaise for extra richness; and fresh coriander, spring onion and chilli to provide some cut through.



Hopefully newcomers like Fresh Bites will provide the impetus and bring in the new stalls and customers needed to make renovations at Citi Centre a reality.

Maki Maki Japanese Cafe, Parc Arcade, Rundle Mall

I thought I'd take the young fella to the museum this morning. He was a particular fan of the colourful minerals display. Just around the corner from the museum is Maki Maki Japanese Cafe. In my opinion Maki Maki does some of the best teriyaki chicken in Adelaide so we dropped by for post-museum lunch and ordered bento 2 - teriyaki chicken, crispy chicken, sushi and spring roll.



Despite singing the praises of the teriyaki chicken above - today's batch was a bit disappointing. The flavour was there - it was sweet and salty with a creamy tang from the Japanese mayo - but it was COLD. However, the crispy chicken was excellent - really juicy with a wonderful crunch.



I have a soft spot for the spring rolls from Maki Maki because they're basically chiko rolls - delicious! The sushi is also pretty good. I ordered two that were young fella friendly - teriyaki chicken and BBQ beef. I was really surprised by the BBQ beef - it was essentially hamburger patty sushi which might sound a bit odd but was actually really tasty.



I really wanted to be able to give Maki Maki a better review but the cold teriyaki chicken really threw me. Their stall is up for lease so goodness knows how much longer they'll be around for. Check 'em out before they disappear because the teriyaki chicken IS really good - just not today.