Japanese
August 5, 2011 | 
Author Shiranui
247 Springvale Road Glen Waverley VIC 3150
03 9886 7755
Last May, we went to Tokyo and experienced Sushi Dai at the Tsukiji fish market. We ordered the Omakase sushi set and leave it up to the chef to give us the best seafood of the day, complete with instructions: “Soy.” “no soy” “wasabi and soy” “wasabi”. Oh how I missed that experience! When one of my friend heard me whinging, he asked me “Have you tried Shiranui? I reckon they have the best sushi in town! ”
So here I am, at Shiranui. At the counter that seats about 13 people, we ordered the Omakase menu. For approximately $90 you get 9 types of different sushi. You get two per serve and you can order more if you like.
First comes the King Dory with subtle citrus flavour and served with a mound of fish roe. Fantastic texture, really REALLY fresh fish.
Next, the chefs went blowtorch happy and presented us with seared salmon, sprinkled with Shichimi tagarashi (7 flavoured chilli pepper). Don’t worry it’s not that chilli but it certainly added another dimension of flavour to that salmon.
Mackerel was next, and I am honestly wanting that blow torch right now cos it seemed to make everything taste charcoaly and awesome
We were then presented with this fatty piece of beef that is so succulent, so full of flavour of soy and sake, that I instantly decided that this would be my favourite dish.
However more dishes are coming, like this ark shell that has amazing crunchy texture, my mind went blank with pleasure.
Tuna steak sushi was lightly seared also, and Chef Hiro happily told us that as the tuna today is quite fatty, it was taste good. Good, no. Spectacular- that’s more like it.
As I previously said, the chefs are pretty much trigger happy tonight and the ocean trout is also blow torched and seasoned with a bit of pepper and lemon to cut the fat. However I find this fish wayyyy too fatty and my stomach is starting to protest.
King fish belly was next, and although I expected this to be really fatty, it was surprisingly mild and sweet. The king fish belly was served raw and it is extremely fresh also.
The oyster sushi is the grand finale under the 9 course omakase, deep fried with mayo, the meat was then pulled out to make into a “ship”. Whilst everyone raved about this dish on blogs, I find one of the oysters not very fresh, however the other was fine and it was oozing with Japanese mayo goodness.
The boys are still hungry so we told them to bring on another dish- seared scallops with river fish sauce made into a “ship”. I like the flavour of this sushi but unfortunately the scallops were overcooked.
They gave us a bit of sobet and fruit for dessert, which was also a fantastic palate cleanser. We felt like a more substantial dessert, so hubby ordered cream cheese crepes and I ordered Japanese fruit salad with icecream and rice cakes.
The cream cheese crepes were fantastic. Soft pillowy parcels of crepes, not very sweet though quite rich of creamy cheesy flavours. It came with a bowl of small fruit salad and cubes of sesame icecream which cuts the richness. The seasame icecream was a highlight, it has a strong toasted nutty flavour just burst out, demanding my full attention. YUM.
My Japanese fruit salad is really just strawberries and melons cut into small chunks, sweetened with red bean paste and cubes of vanilla and green tea icecream. It’s nothing special but I do like rice cakes which is why I ordered it in the first place.
Overall, the food was great. Whether it’s value for money on the other hand, well… I don’t know…the bill came to $107 per person and that’s a LOT of money for 20 pieces of sushi and dessert. The service is a bit iffy also… it started off well, we got greeted enthusiastically, but then when the food got served, one bit of the seared salmon broke off from one of the sushi, they took it away and I thought they are going to make a new one for hubby, but they just kinda pick up the broken piece and shove it back on to the sushi and tie it with a piece of seaweed. Sadness.
Also as there’s 2 seating they started reminding us from 7:45pm onwards that we have 15 mins, then we have 10 mins, then we have 5 mins left. It just felt a bit stressful considering we paid so much for a meal. I would give 8/10 for food, 5/10 for value and 4/10 for service. Overall, a 6/10.
Thanks you Esky for providing the food porn photos. He came to our house and went “I’ve got porn for you” and I got a bit shocked LOL then I quickly realised what he was talking about.
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Shimbashi Soba So Good
2/54 Thomas Dr. Chevron Island, Surfers Paradise
07 5504 6404
I’ve always like soba noodles because of its health benefits and it wasn’t until I tried Shimbashi Soba So Good that I fell in love with it. You see, 3SG’s (I am abbreviating here) soba is different because it is made by one of Japan’s very few soba masters, Yoshi Shibazaki.
The great things about 3SG are their noodles, their broth/ dipping sauce and the beautiful staff. The noodles are always cooked consistently to perfection, “al dente”, to maintain the chewy texture.
With a variety of broths/dipping sauce to choose from each one is carefully made to ensure that each broth is unique and as intense as the next. Dreading the boringness of the flavours but because I am watching my weight, on one occasion I had the vegetable soba soup $14. Surprisingly although the whole dish looked simple the flavour of the broth really complemented the thinly julienne vegetables and noodles and I was happily slurping away without having too much of a food envy whilst looking at people digging into the curry soba and duck soba noodles.
On another occasion I went and this time I cannot resist ordering the yummy sounding cold soba with warm duck dipping sauce $19. The broth in this is simply mind blowing- it has the essence of the duck without being overly fatty, and a small amount of dipping sauce really goes a long way for this dish. The broth also comes with several slices of duck and leek, but really the broth is the star here. I find the slices of duck a bit tough and would have prefered it to be medium rare instead of well done.
Hubby ordered the Beef curry soba $18 and was given a bib. Yes, this dish can be messy with sauce and noodles flying everywhere!
A word of warning here, other than this dish being super messy it is also super rich, so you make sure that you are hungry before ordering this dish! Hubby was a bit hungry but we did have entree and by half way through this massive curry dish he had to surrender.
Expect a huge thick saucey kinda “soup”, tender beef and leek stew. Coupled with the chewy noodles it’s so yummy and moreish.
Whilst this is the case, I still love the simple uncomplicated broth of the vegies soba… I could definitely eat that every single day. *drools*
Soba so Good also do entrees such as fried school prawns, deep fried soba chips, edamame beans, deep fried tofu, chicken wings, roast duck fillet with shallots and soft shell crabs. To be honest I think their expertise is soba and I would recommend you not to deviate from that. But if you really wanted to try some of their entrees, I love their eggplant with miso sauce or their roast duck fillet with shallots.
Lastly I love their staff, smiley and enthusisastic, everyone (even the chef in the kitchen) bowed and thank you as you leave. Would definitely go there if I am in the GC again! 8/10
Tags: Fresh off the plane with a tummy filled with only a Qantas savoury muffin I was grateful that the car-park gods had granted us a space. While there are lots of sights to take in around The Rocks in Sydney I’d have time for that for later when I knew I would be making my way very slowly back to the car clutching my belly full of deliciousness. Right now we had to move at a brisk pace to get out of the frosty wind and also because I was starving in anticipation of the meal ahead.
Sake is Shaun Presland’s baby. You might remember him as the charming sushi ninja from season 2 of Master Chef Australia. Actually I’m pretty sure you would remember him from that moment you seductively whispered “feed me” to your television. Your partner probably then said “what did you say?” after which you told him to shut up, all the while with your eyes glued to the screen.
Before I start showing you the food we ate, the food which I wouldn’t stop talking about for all through our time in Sydney and for days after we got back, the food that I keep dreaming about, and the food that I plan to eat and make everyone I know eat once they open their Brisbane restaurant in the next month or so (YES! You heard me!)… actually I’ll just show you the food now.
Starters:
Sashimi tacos – Two petite tacos, one tuna and one salmon, topped with a chilled tomato salsa accompanied by two Kozaemon Junmai ‘sake shots’. This was one of the highlights of our meal and I believe I had these when I was at Nobu in Melbourne too (Shaun Presland was previously at Nobu). I had to share this with my husband, but I really wish
I hadn’t.
Seaweed Salad – 5 different kinds of seaweed with bonito infused vinaigrette. I loved the different colours and textures of the seaweed.
Salt & Pepper Tofu – Fried with a crispy coating with some chilli and spring onion, this is one of my favourite ways of eating tofu.
Chicken Wing Gyoza – Chicken wings stuffed with a gyoza filling of garlic chive pork mince, which are then fried and served with a dipping sauce. My two favourite foods, dumplings and chicken wings, combined into one glorious dish.
Wagyu new style – thin slices of wagyu beef lightly seared with hot oil and finished with ginger, chives and yuzu soy. Beautiful flavours and wagyu that melts in your mouth.
Kushi Katsu – wait for it.. fried panko crumbed…. PORK BELLY! I highly recommend that you eat this because it’s the best thing that anyone has ever katsu’d.
Mains:
Popcorn Shrimp – bite sized pieces of prawn cooked in a tempura batter and mixed with a spicy creamy sauce. These were incredibly moorish and even Issy, who has an allergy to prawns, kept eating them.
Miso-cream scallops – pan-seared scallops with baby corn, asparagus, shiitake mushrooms and yuzu miso-cream. I loved the miso-cream sauce and are a perfect match for the beautifully cooked scallops. I was also pleasantly surprised that the baby corn actually tasted like young fresh corn.
Miso-butterfish – grilled with pickled radish. My husband and I have been in love with miso-grilled fish ever since we had the miso black cod at Nobu and Sake certainly does not disappointed with their version. The flesh is tender and the miso marinade just works so well with the fish.
Sushi Maki & Sashimi:
Just to save time and repeating myself, all of the sushi and sashimi we ate were fantastic and I would happily order all of them again.
Kingfish Jalapeno – Thin slices of Hiramasa Kingfish in yuzu soy topped with thin jalapeno slices and coriander. The jalapeno doesn’t really add spice to the dish but gives a contrasting crisp texture to the silky slices of kingfish and cuts through the flavour of the yuzu.
Nixon – grilled eel, cream cheese, cucumber and tempura crunch with avocado slices on top.
S Express – Tempura scallops, spicy mayonnaise, cucumber, seared salmon on top with witlof and sweet sauce. For us the witlof tasted really bitter so we just ate the sushi maki.
Dessert:
Just because I can’t say no to dessert and I love cooked banana we ordered the banana harumaki – banana shiso and caramel spring rolls with raspberry apple dipping sauce. I think in hindsight I should have chosen something else. I liked this dessert but we had just had some beautiful fresh tasting sushi and sashimi and it seemed a shame to end it with something fried. Next time I’ll have the green tea cheese cake with vanilla fruit jelly… Mmm.
Here’s my Bang On! cocktail – Shochu, apple & rhubarb syrup, watermelon & vanilla sugar.
And so that is all the food that I ate with my husband and Issy (yes only three people ate all that food).
I am eagerly awaiting the opening of Sake’s Brisbane restaurant and I have been telling anyone who cares to listen about it. Maybe I will see you there, I’ll be the one not sharing my sashimi tacos.
J-Pub Shogun
Shop 3, 233 Lonsdale St, Melbourne
03 9663 3996
Yeah look, whenever a supposedly “Jap” restaurant open in Australia, I become extremely skeptical. Are you sure it’s not some other Asian culture pretending to be open an “authentic” Japanese place and you end up getting Laksa noodle soup with your sushi set? So it took me a long time, I mean, a LONG time to get around to trying J-Pub Shogun.
The decor of this place makes me a bit hesitant and I tried straining my ears to see if they spoke Japanese. Sadly, I couldn’t hear a word they say between strains of English old school music. I am beginning to worry and hubby had the guts to order oyster. Come on! When pretend Japanese restaurant does seafood badly, it does it BAD.
But you know what? Hubby told me that the oysters were AWESOME. It’s one of the freshest he has eaten in Australia. Even Tasmania can’t compare. Amazing. Well, I guess I should never judge the book by itself cover huh?
We had sashimi next, I think it’s the build up of anticipation and expectation after the oysters, because we expect the freshest sashimi, but it disappointed us a bit. I mean, it’s still good, but it’s not awesome. I guess Shoya has trained me to expect the freshest you can get in Australia.
Another pleasant surprise! I ordered Unagi Rice which is a main, but on the pic it doesn’t look that big. Yes it wasn’t big when it comes out, but it’s nicely stacked like, erm, bad description here, a big Mac. You’ve got a layer of unagi topped with seaweed on rice, with
another layer of unagi on rice…mmmm yum, not bad, not bad at all. It’s actually quite filling also, and I guess for a Japanese Izakaya it’s the right size cos you get to try other yummie dishes too.
Ohhh can you see the cocktail in the background in this pic? It’s really yummie! I almost ordered another one but given that it’s mid-week on a school night I shouldn’t really be drinking. Sadly I can’t remember the name but it’s called Kiwi something.
Hubby ordered chilli chicken with a potato nest thing. Secretly I reckon he ordered the chicken because of the potato nest, not because he likes chicken at all. And I must admit, the potato nest IS a highlight. I kept “accidentally” breaking bits of it and putting it in my mouth. Opppsss.
Well what am I supposed to do? The potato nest is finely shredded potato mess deep fried to crispy perfection, well seasoned and so so so moorish. The chilli chicken itself is quite nice, but I wouldn’t say it’s great. It tasted like chinese stir fry chilli chicken with capsicum. Hubby likes it though. Probably because of the potato nest.
Now, this is a Izakaya Yakitori bar, so of course we needed to try their yakitori. I finally figure out why I was a bit hesitant about this restaurant! It’s a yakitori bar, but it was not smokey, there weren’t any drool-worthy aromas wafting through the doors. All in all it’s a pretty sterile environment for a yakitori bar. I suspect that the are using smokeless grill. Hrm, not too sure about this whole smokless thing. How would the yakitori rate then?
As I suspected, it wasn’t as great as the traditional yakitori. We ordered a prawn and scallop yakitori and it was pitiful, there’s no flavour whatsoever. Disappointing. The beef rolled in enoki mushroom is slightly better, but it was tiny. The chicken wing though, is much better, it actually has the smokey yakitori flavour- YUM. I would definitely order the chicken wings again, just not the other two.
Overall, it’s a bit of a hit and miss. Not 100% sure whether I’d go back, but I think I am willing to give them another chance- in a few months time. 6/10
Orizuru
Victoria Dock, Victoria St, Hobart
03 6231 1790
![IMG_2267 [640x480]](https://www.bellygood.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/IMG_2267-640x480.JPG "IMG_2267 [640x480]")
Hobart means fresh seafood, and fresh seafood must mean- SASHIMI time! Our plane just landed and at 8:30pm we are absolutely STARVING. The taxi driver has absolutely nooooo idea where this place is, although Hobart is not that big, this is probably one of the few Japanese restaurants in Hobart, and this is in one of the famous seafood complex and we’ve found this place in a pamphlet in an airport.
So we went walkabouts with our luggage, asked a drunk barman and finally came to this place. We were ushered to our booked seats quite quickly and proceed to order sushi and sashimi- we could hardly wait!
![IMG_2272 [640x480]](https://www.bellygood.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/IMG_2272-640x480.JPG "IMG_2272 [640x480]")
The sashimi (main) came relatively quickly $34. Whilst it’s not too bad, it’s not as fresh as I expected and for this price, I am pretty sure we can get bigger better sashimi plate at Shoya.
Hubby is also not very impressed with the oyster in the sashimi, apparently the vinegarette/sauce tasted a bit weird, he’d rather have it au naturale.
![IMG_2275 [640x480]](https://www.bellygood.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/IMG_2275-640x4801-300x225.jpg "IMG_2275 [640x480]")
Sushi seemed to be a bit more value for money, for $25.50 there is sashimi and nigiri, but the seafood is still not super fresh.
We also had softshell crab roll $12, quite expensive for the 4 pieces ![IMG_2271 [640x480]](https://www.bellygood.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/IMG_2271-640x480-300x225.jpg "IMG_2271 [640x480]")
of roll we have. I think I like Kenzan GPO better.
Tempura is not too bad, for $15 we had a large dish with prawns, fish and assorted vegies. The batter was light and not too oily.
Overall, I think Melbourne has better sashimi and sushi than this joint, and if you really want sashimi, go to Mures and ask them for sashimi grade fish- the presentation may not be as nice, but it’s cheaper and much fresher. 4.5/10
Izakaya Chuji
165 Lonsdale St, Melbourne
03 9663 8118
Tummyrumbles have reintroduced me to Izakaya Chuji. We used to go there often, but when we found that the quality of the sashimi wasn’t that great, and they are soooo slow sometimes, so we stopped going there. We tried it last night again and it wasn’t that bad. But then again, we went there about 8:30pm last night. The service was better and more efficient, even the food came quickly- sometimes too quick.
We had sashimi special $42. It was alright- not as fresh as Shoya I must say, but not too bad. The scallops were quite fresh but some of the salmon wasn’t that great. It doesn’t look as nice as the one on tummyrumbles though.
We also had a lobster hand roll ($7). It wasn’t really well made and it tasted quite bland. The salt grilled fish with fish roes are very smokey and yummie though. I tried making this at home once but without the charcoal grill it was not as tasty.
My miso nabe ramen $12 is a bit disappointing though- I used to love to eat this everytime I came here. But because this time the stuff came so quickly I had to leave my ramen till last, and the noodles are really soggy and limp 
The miso is not as flavoursome as the one in Kenzan either.
Unatama don $14 looks quite yummie, but I only had one bite because I was so fully from other stuff 
I can safely say that I will be back again… I do enjoy the cosiness and the variety of food offered in here, and it’s so close to us!
Kenzan
Collins Place, 45 Collins St, Melbourne
03 9654 8933
Kenzan is totally overrated. It’s 8pm and I am already starving. We have no bookings but there are one or two tables vacant. The waiter/ owner said we’ll be seated in “a few” minutes. Hrm- I don’t think a good 15 mins is “a few” minutes.
We ordered main sashimi ($34). Another good 20 mins before THAT came along and even the table next to us who came in after us have had some food in their tummy already. The sashimi was good but not great, it’s not as fresh as Shoya, or even Tsukiji.
We also ordered a special wagyu beef sushi. The meat is very tender and the sauce was flavoursome. I was too hungry to take a photo though! That’s probably the best thing on the menu ($14 for 2 pcs).
Hubby ordered Unajyu. Not very special for a $31 dish.
Sake don is nothing spectacular either ($35). I’ve long suspected that some Japanese restaurant gives a lesser cut of sashimi for dishes like sake don or sashimi salad. Well this happens to be one of them. The salmon roe on the side are not as plump and flavoursome as I would have liked.
Dessert is nothing special either, Mielle feuille with pumpkin is the most unique dessert in the menu, but it’s sold out. Green tea tiramisu didn’t entice, nor does the boring green tea & vanilla icecream (approx $9!).
Kenzan’s performance on food is solid, nothing special. Service is not attentive at all in busier periods. Prices are wayyy too steep for what we got. That being said I have absolutely no issues with Kenzan GPO, great food (esp their ramens and takeaway sushi) and reasonable prices.
Shoya
Market Lane, Melbourne
Nessy and MC love their Japanese food, so when they came and visited us from the GC, I have to take them to the best. MC and Nessy love Jap BBQ, so ordered two Gouka Tokusen (BBQ set menu) $59 pp to share and several other dishes from the a la cart menu.
BBQ Menu
BBQ menu really relies on the freshness of the ingredients, because the restaurant is relying the customers to cook for themselves. Of course, a good trio of sauces does help too!
Wagyu Sashimi (entree)
Thinly sliced, melt in your mouth goodness- it is a must try.
Seafood selection
There is no question about it- this is fresh seafood. A selection of scallops, prawns, fish and oysters. Well, it’s supposed to be abalone, but according to our waitress, it’s oyster season and hence we were given oysters instead of abalone. Fair enough, but maybe tell us beforehand next time? And give us more damn oysters to make up for the abalone!
Wagyu Beef- rib and sirloin
Both are so flavoursome- the rib has a slight chewy texture whereas the sirloin just melts in your mouth. Eating these two dishes will fill you up- there’s just so much marbling in these beef!
Ox Tongue with spring onion
Now, don’t freak out on me. Ox tongue is really really yummie. Normally quite tough and used in stews, this one is very thinly sliced, very fresh and has a lovely texture. Just sear it on both side and pop it in your mouth!
Pork Belly
Asians love their fatty pork bellies- I understand how they can still stay so thin! It is possible that it’s because they don’t eat a lot of it- or if they do, it’s thinly sliced. It is so good to eat the fatty bits with the meaty bits as the fatty bits emits the aroma but the taste of pork is all in the meat. This pork belly is less fatty which is good for the heart and good for the waistline.
Free range chicken
I love chicken, esp chicken thighs which is tender no matter how long you cook it (unless you cook it for hours in the microwave, which in that case the microwave would probably explode)
Wagyu Sausage
The sausage comes pre-cooked and cut into biteable little slices. The sausage is very flavoursome but Nessy thinks that it’s a bit salty. I quite like it though.
The two BBQ set menu also come with rice, seaweed
salad swimming in dressing, vegetable soup and icecream (green, sesame, red bean or vanilla).
A la cart
A la cart is the usual suspects with a few little surprises here and there.
Sashimi Moriawase (main) $42.80
I can’t resist ordering this cos it’s just so fresh and beautifully presented.
Unitama $8.00 (1 pce)
King of eggs!! It’s a bit peppery today, but this gorgeous mixture of scrambled eggs and sea urchin topped with pearly caviar is beautifully presented. Before long, we are scraping the bottoms of the sea urchin shell, wanting more.
Nama Shii Hotate ($16.50)
Hubby ALWAYS have this because of the lunch set he orders and I ALWAYS miss out, so I made a point of ordering Nama Shii Hotate this time and have one all for myself. This morsel of mushroom stuffed with mashed scallops stuffed with quail egg and deep fried is so delicious. The whole thing is not too oily. It has the fantastic earthiness of the mushroom, but it doesn’t overpower the other bits. It would have been nicer if the quail eggs are less firm or if it has some dipping sauce to go with it as it is a bit dry.
Desserts
Why just order one when you can order three to share?! I just love the desserts in here- they are not too sweet and there’s always bits of fresh fruit so you won’t feel guilty.
Sea Urchin Cheese Cake ($12)
Hubby thought it would be innovative to order this sea urchin cheese cake, and you can certainly see the freckles of sea urchins here and there. But to be honest it doesn’t taste like sea urchin at all! Perhaps it’s not as sweet as other cheesecakes but I really can’t tell the difference. MC can certainly tell the slight difference as he hated sea urchin! But he loves cheesecake and he still have quite a few bites!
Yaki Daifuku ($6.5)
This is a glutinous rice cake stuffed with red beans and pan fried- a different take from the Daifuku you buy in the supermarkets, which is not pan fried. I like this dish cos it’s so chewy and warm- makes me thinks of the other glutinous rice dishes that I eat and love back home. I must say this one needs a bit more sweetness to it as it was a bit bland for me.
Shoya Chocolate Fudge Cake ($12.00)
As much as I tried to move away from this dessert, I keep coming back to it because it’s simply the best. Chocolate fudge cake can be incredibly sweet, but this fudge cake is topped with sesame sauce which creates this perfect balance to the sweetness of the molten chocolate bursting out of the cake. You can certainly taste the sake in this chocolate dessert, making this a very adult and sophisticated choice.
This particular meal is perfect, if they have told us that the abalone is gone from the menu, it would have been perfect. 9/10
Yuu
137 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
(03) 96397073
Amongst the graffiti is a little red door. Beside the little red door there is a small Japanese sign “Yuu”. As you step over the unidentifiable wet puddles of water and through this little red door, you left the world behind, into the safe haven cocooned in dark woods and relaxing atmosphere. A smiling hostess greeted you, I don’t use the word host/hostess lightly, this only reserves for people who made me really feel at home. This is one of those places.
Yuu used to have a set lunch menu which changes daily- you get cold buckwheat noodles, a small side dish, soup, a main dish and fruit. They’ve changed the menu since new year and now you get to choose between 6 main dishes- frankly the idea of getting a choice here slightly overwhelms me. Sometimes I just wanted to go with the flow and eat whatever it’s presented to us.
For $18 you get an appetitzer, soup, fruit and a main dish, which you can choose between sashimi, beef w/ Jap BBQ sauce, salmon terriyaki, beancurd w/ dashi, pork in ginger sauce or crumbed prawns.
We both chose the Beef w/ Japanese BBQ sauce today and our dishes arrived quickly. A small dish of seaweed salad with sticky squid flavour. Quite unique but I like it. A side of pickled vegies- crisp & slightly sour taste really tantalise your tastebuds. The soup strays away from traditional miso that’s served in many Japanese restaurant and gives way to a dashi based soup with vegies and konnyaku, an extremely healthy veg w/ lots of fibre. The beef dish is served with a side of potato salad and it’s quite tender. The beef is not too fatty and the sauce has a bit of a kick to it. Just be aware though that at dinner time the portion size is not as generous and it’s prices are slightly steeper for what you get.
I really love this Jap restaurant, not only because it’s in a quirky spot and has good service, but that it served wholesome, flavourful food that is extremely fresh and healthy. Highly recommended as a healthy lunch spot for Japanese lovers and beginners alike! 8.5/10
Tsukiji
237 High St, Prahran
03 9510 2318
I’ve been itching to go to Tsukiji ever since I’ve read the blog on Tummy Rumbles , so off we went today to Prahran for a sashimi feast 
. Tsukiji is the famous fish market in Japan, and in Melbourne, they do sell fish too, but it’s packaged in neat little packages instead of bones, heads and blood everywhere. Good enough for me!
They also serve food, which of course first attracted me to coming here. 
After we ordered, we ran around the store like little kids at Christmas time, looking at all the sashimi, snacks and other groceries on display. There are so much yummie stuff to choose from! There’s even lobsters in a tank! Then later on, when we are tired of looking around, there’s Donna Hay mags there to read.
Eel rice and octopus balls
It was a bit of a wait, but Hubby’s eel ($12) and my octopus balls ($5) arrived. Hubby’s eel is a giant slab of smoked eel, in a huge bowl of rice and a bit of seaweed salad. The eel is really yummie- it’s obviously not as good as the eel rice in Shoya, but this is cheaper. The slab of eel is quite fresh and they use Japanese rice.
The octopus balls is a bit disappointing cos I think they use the frozen ones they sell. They are all stuck together, some bits are cold and they are not as fluffy as the fresh ones. The ingredients normally oozes out in the fresh ones, but this one doesn’t either. But it’ll certainly prompt me to go buy the frozen ones they sell in the fridge though! So whenever I feel like it I can have a quick fix!
Sashimi set
My sashimi set ($12) FINALLY arrived AFTER Hubby had his main. This annoys me a bit because this means Hubby will steal all my food (which he did) and I get quite agitated. That being said, the sashimi lunch set was FANTASTIC, although a bit small. Small slices of fresh assorted sashimi- kingfish, salmon, tuna and some other fish I can’t identify is market fresh. To be honest, if Hubby didn’t steal most of my food it would have been enough and I would have been happily full.
Hubby also ordered oysters, but unfortunately it’s not that fresh.
Sashimi beautifully presented in trays
And of course we will need to buy some sashimi and groceries back home cos it just looks so enticing. We racked up approx $40 of sashimi- scallops, salmon, calamari, fish roe, raw fish mixed with herbs and ginger, plus snacks When we got home, we ate most of the sashimi and fish roe at once and now I am bellyfull
I am glad that I’ve finally got a chance to come here and trust me, I will be back! 8/10