Dopa by Devon is the newest restaurant opened by the team behind Devon Cafe and featured a Japanese-inspired fusion menu that’s a 50/50 split between dessert and savoury options.
Wood, the signature feature of many Japanese establishments, is used heavily in the interior. But the lack of table service surprises us. Here, we choose a table, peruse the menu before venturing back to the front of the entrance to order/pay. When the buzzer vibrates for your order, customers pick up the orders themselves from the pass. We’re honestly not sure this is efficient as there are plenty of wait staff lingering around.
This is the Strawberry Dopa Shake ($7.90). It featured chopped fresh strawberries and milk, topped with fresh slices and freeze dried versions of the fruit.
We enjoy the freshness of the strawberry flavour, but disappointed that it’s not strong enough to mask the prominent dairy flavour. Also, it’s just milk added to fresh strawberries, which has us disappointed also by the runny texture.
This is the Black Sesame Pudding ($5.90). Notwithstanding its tiny portion, this was the highlight of our visit. The pudding is thick yet and silky smooth with a strong, creamy toastiness from the black sesame.
Onto the actual food, this is the Vegetable Don ($13.00) with teriyaki eggplant, pak choi and tofu as a Set Menu (+$5.00) that includes miso soup, pickles and seaweed salad.
When I read ‘teriyaki eggplant’ on the menu, I was expecting broiled, rather than battered and deep fried, eggplant. Nonetheless, the teriyaki sauce adds a tasty sweet-savoury flavour to the crunch of the tempura batter that paired well with the freshness of the pak choi and the silkiness of the tofu. That said, the sauce added a bit too much moisture to the dish which left the rice quite gluggy and a challenge to finish.
This is N’s Sanford King Salmon Don ($17.00) that includes grilled king salmon in saikyo miso and soft egg, as a Set Menu ($5.00) that includes miso soup, pickles and seaweed salad.
The salmon was flaky and moist (although probably still a bit too cooked for me when compared to the deliciousness that was at Devon on Danks), while the egg was perfectly oozy. While the limited sauce meant the rice fared better here, we both felt a bigger bowl would’ve made the donburi more enjoyable as it would’ve allowed us to more easily portion out the mouthfuls of rice with the toppings.
Overall, the food at Dopa is decent and good quality, but with the exception of the pudding, there are other restaurants that serve similar fare with more portions and flavours more satisfying to our tastebuds and wallet, which is unlike the original Devon and the subsequent spinoffs.
Dopa by Devon is located at Shop 5-6, 2 Little Hay St, Haymarket NSW 2000.