Circuz, Glen Waverley by Bureaucrat

For a catch up with Ms W, we had dinner at Circuz. Ms W had been to Circuz before and thought it was okay. Circuz is located near Springvale Rd. For many years (at least 15 years), this was an Italian restaurant. Then it was briefly a Chinese vegatarian restaurnt. And now it is Circuz, a Japanese restaurant. I've driven past Circuz (and its predecessors) countless times, but I had never frequented the place.

 

So on a wintry night, I walked through its iron wrought door with a sense of curiousity. Inside, it's quite big. Although there were many tables that were set out, the place still felt kinda empty... like there was too much space and they didn't know what to do with it.

 

The thing that I remembered most about Circuz was the staff. It's a bit hard to explain, but they were an odd bunch. Very eager and slightly scattered brained when they actually paid attention to you, but for the rest of the times (when you're trying to get their attention), they seemed more interested with flirting and gossiping with each other.

 

We placed our order and waited. About 20 minutes later, Ms W's dish came out. It was this vegetarian soup/broth. It looked quite pretty - tender veggies, fresh shiitake and enoki and tofu.

 

To go with the soup, Ms W ordered a bowl of ramen.

Alas, for me, there was more waiting. Another 10 minutes passed, still there was no food. 15 minutes passed, and I started to get stroppy. Other diners who came in after us had already got their mains served. Given the scattered brainyness of the staff, we wondered whether they actually took down my order. Good waiters should be aware of whether diners have been served their dishes in a timely manner - as mentioned above, these waiters here wasn't so observant and were in at the bar just flirtin' and gossipin'. In fact, they seemed confused when I asked them when my food was coming out.

 

A few minutes later, my unagi don arrived. A nice fillet of unagi, which had a lovely smoky flavour. By memory, I think Circuz actually use a grill to cook certain dishes. As you can see, there's a few chicken teriyaki sushi. I had asked for the sushi instead of the sashimi (I don't like raw fish). The unagi was the best item in the bento box, and the rest was good.

Overall
Circuz presented a slightly odd experience for me. The food was okay but a bit pricey for what it is. There are better options for mid-range Japanese food in the Glen Waverley area. I think Circuz is trying to pitch itself as an upper-middle Japanese restaurant but I don't think it's quite there yet. If you want an upper-middle Japanese restaurant dining, I'd suggest you go to the teppanyaki restaurant inside Century Village Walk.

Verdict
Food – 7
Service – 6.5
Atmosphere – 7
Price – 6.5

Address
Circuz 193 Coleman Parade
Glen Waverley 3150
Telephone: 03 9560 8666