Secrets Behind The Dark Curtain

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Izakaya Den

CBD

114 Russell St

Melbourne, VIC 3000

Ph: (03) 9654 2977

Web: Izakaya Den

Open Hours
Monday ~ Fri 

12pm ~ 2:30pm

5:30pm ~ till late

Saturday

5:30pm ~ till late

Walked down the stairway and pushed through the glass door, there was a party going on in a long narrow lounge style Japanese restaurant. It is a bit tricky to find the underground industrial looking contemporary warehouse type bar/restaurant with high ceiling and open kitchen. We walked forward and backward on Russell Street and tried to find a sign, but there was none. And finally when we located the correct address, it took us a few seconds to decided whether we should go behind the dark curtain. This was not expected how we discover one of the most popular restaurants in town. Nothing in our imagination. And once we made the move, we found a paradise isolated from the rest of the world. Welcome to Izayaka Den!

The interior was modern chic, the atmosphere was funky and fun, the all dressed in black Japanese wait staffs were friendly and the young looking patrons were trendy. This place certainly got style. It looked huge at first but later I found there was a mirror at the end of the restaurant and it double up the space. How smart was that! It was very busy on a Saturday night and there was a queue with well dressed patrons before us. Impressive first impression. We were curious and excited to find out the secrets of this place.

The restaurant has a policy of no booking for less than five people. There were only three of us that night so it took us about 20 minutes to wait at the queue. With hip pop music playing loud on air, oshibori (wet towel) served and cocktail in hand. It didn't seem to be a long waiting time. And finally when we got our seats at the bar, we were all rewarded with the delicious food.

While we were waiting on the queue we ordered our drinks and I had the Tokyo Cosmos. It was terrific and they have a great selection of sake and Japanese beer, interesting cocktails and some local produce wines. If you asked for water, those were served in cute little glass cups with cartoonish characters such as pandas, Bambi and the one I had was an adorable little girl. I wonder whether it's by artist Yoshitomo Nara (奈良美智)? Very sweet and it made me smile.

What we ordered:

Drinks

Tokyo Cosmos $18

Sapporo Japanese Beer

Food

Octopus Pickle Cucumber and Wakame Salad $7

Sakata Coated Prawns Citrus Mayonnaise $12

Sweet Corn Kaki Age $7

Gotzinger Berkshire Pork and Cheese Sausage $14

Spicy Tuna Tataki with Garlic Soy $18

Steamed snapper with Rice in Cherry Blossom Leaf $9

Pork Fillet "Kushi Age" $15

Lamb Ribs, Red Miso $14

Fresh Salmon Sushi Roll Pickled Konbu, Ponzu $15

XO Tongue with Spirng Onion $14/ Duck and Leek Skewers $15

Sweet

Apple Millefeuille $10

HoujichaIce Cream $6

Our food journey all started with a simply dish: Japanese octopus salad. Chopped octopus, cucumbers and wakame marinated in miso and vinegar dressing. The octopus was fresh and chewy. The dish was refreshing, light and clean. A very nice start. Our next dish was the sakata coated prawns with mayonnaise. It was very well cooked and with one bite you got to taste the crunchy crispy coated rice crackers and then with the second bite there was the freshness sweet prawn meat. The cute curled up prawns were really stunning, taste even better with the citrus mayonnaise, it delivered a bit more flavour. Then, there were the popular corn fritters. I must admitted it was very interesting. Such simple ingredients make a very nice dish. The corn was sweet and juicy and the batter was crunchy and tasty. I bet the kids would love this, and so did I. Anyone know the secret of cooking this dish? I really like to try it at home. It would make a prefect party food.

Pork and cheese sausage was my all time favourite, the dish here was fantastic but the only thing we were unsatisfied was the quantity served which was too little to share. Followed that we had the two dishes of the night. First was the beautifully presented spicy tuna tataki with garlic soy. Tuna slices was seared on all sides and placed on top of garlic and wasabi spiced mayonnaise. The middle part was still raw and it was so soft and fresh, the fish melted in your mouth. A wonderful dish, the sauce was well seasoned and flavoursome; the texture was rich and delicate. The other high light of the night was the lamb ribs with red miso. The ribs were extremely moist and perfectly cooked and matched wonderfully with the red miso. It is a dish I would order again and again. It is also a dish I want to steal the chef's recipe. Nothing fancy when looking at it but I'd eat it one by one with my bare hands. Super delicious!

If there was a most inspiring dish of the night, it must be the steamed snapper with rice in cherry blossom leaf. Look how pretty they were: three little snapper parcels on a small Japanese ceramic plate with bamboo print. The snapper and rice adsorbed all the freshness of the leaf and it both smell and taste magnificent. Pork fillet was a traditional Japanese dish. It was not something I'd normally have because many restaurants served them hard and overcooked. However our friend ordered it here at Den. The deep fried pork fillet coated with breadcrumbs was so crunchy outside and the meat was surprisingly tender and moist. The pork was well marinated and the batter was well seasoned. Perfect! A dish I'd recommend if you like deep fried food. It served with cabbage and mustard sauce. And with a bowl of rice and a glass of beer, awesome! The salmon roll with roe on top was fresh and lovely presented but nothing outstanding. It was the only dish we had some leftovers. Maybe that was because of all the other dishes were too fantastic. In memory I ordered XO tongue with spring onion but I guessed we were given the duck and leek skewers instead. The dish we had didn't taste like XO tongue. The meat was thicker and the texture was rich and moist. Yum!

Izayaka (居酒屋) is a type of very popular snack bar in Japan for groups of people go in after work to drink sake and beer and share small dishes. You can find it everywhere in the country. Here in Melbourne, menus projected on the wall, dishes comes in small serves tapas style to share and presented on lovely Japanese ceramic bowls and plates. The food probably not as traditional and the price may be a little bit higher. However, it's lively, it's fun and it's modern. Most importantly we can't finish the night without their marvelous desserts!

Apple Millefeuille: a sweet and sour combination. Five layers of smooth apple sorbet with crispy deep fried thin apply slices in between, served with honey and strawberry dices. Dada...the winner of the best dish no doubt goes to Apple Millefeuille! It is the beauty queen. Don't you agree!

Izayaka Den is certainly a hidden treasure and definitely worth a visit. It is an amazing place to hang out with friends, have a bit of chat, drink beer and share snack food. The service was attentive and efficient, they topped up our glasses all night long and the food came out really quickly. We were there to enjoy the ambiance, each others company and also the decent food. It is the small things added up little by little which make this place completely sensational. We enjoyed our meal very much! Cheers!

Cuisine: Japanese

Food: Good

Service: Good

Atmopshere: Good

Value: $$$

Recommend: Good

*Rating: Excellent, Good, Average, Poor, Very Poor

Ramen? What Was All The Fuss About?

Ramen Ya

350 Bourke Street

Melbourne VIC 3000,

Australia

Open Hours:

Mon ~ Tue

11am ~ 5pm

Wed ~ Sat

11am ~ 9pm

Sun

12am ~ 4pm

Ph: (03) 9654 5838

Web: Ramen Ya

Gone shopping in the city during a weekend. DH suggested to try this ramen place located in a laneway next to Melbourne's GPO building. He said it was going to be good as he saw so many positive reviews on urbanspoon. People were crazy about the place and it was amazingly popular, blablabla...Okay. Although I'm not a ramen fan, I'd still like to try anything taste delicious. Can't say no due to my obsession to good food.

The so called "best ramen in melbourne" was quiet on the Sunday afternoon. There were plenty of empty seats both indoor and outdoor of the restaurant. Great location for shoppers like us to take a rest and grab some snacks and sit at somewhere relaxing where we can stretch our legs and arms. DH was super hungry and I was only soso. They have ramens, bento boxes, gyoza and salads all printed on one page of a small menu. Honestly, not much to choose from their limited varieties and obviously ramen were their signature dishes. Therefore, I ordered a house specialty: charshu ramen with tonkotsu soup and tofu salad. DH had the kimchi ramen and also he's all time favourite: gyoza. Order was placed and paid at the cashier and you picked your own drinks from the fridge. The total of the bill including two Japanese soft drinks (calpis and Japanese green tea) was $3x. Price was cheap!

There is no needed to wait to be seated as you can seat where ever is available. We picked a table at the outdoor area to get a better view of the whole restaurant. Food was speedy, staffs were friendly and there was minimum requirement for service. No complain as $10 for a bowl of ramen is really budget. This place is great for young people.

We shared the gyoza. It was cold and the skin was hard. Not that fresh and they were like leftovers. The tofu salad I had was bland and tasteless. I rather they use the delicate silky Japanese tofu instead of the harsh and lack of flavour tofu. Then we had our bet on the ramens.

Our ramens came on a wooden tray and placed on our table by a nice waitress. Reasonable size and good portion of ramen. There were a half egg, few slices of pork, seaweed, bamboo shoot, some pickles and spring onions in the bowl to balance up the whole dish. DH's ramen was very similar to mine except he has extra kimchi in the bowl. The pork base broth was thick and creamy, it was tasty but nothing surprising. Furthermore, it was not hot enough and the ramen was like pack instant noodles from any Asian groceries. You must be kidding me if this is how the best of all ramen in town taste like! Then my hubby could be their top chef with he's signature dish (the only dish he cooks) of Shin Ramyun, a Korean instant noodle which available in most Asian groceries.

Maybe we were disappointed due to our high expectations. Seriouly, it was no better than ramen in a bag. And with an extra egg added in the soup just the minute before you turn off the gas and some kimchi place on top which you can get from Korean gorcery and sold in plastic box or add any other ingredients as you wish, the taste would be as good as what I had at Ramen Ya! With the right cooking time, the noodles should be chewy and tasty. For more delicious broth, you could use precook stock from pork marrow bones and vegetables that have been simmered to smithereens which added flavorsome, richness and depth in the broth. The stock can store in fridge and use for other purposes. Okay, if you don't like to cook, try some other places. Ramen Ya, what was all the fuss about?  The only thing I liked about it was the ice cold Japanese green tea in can. I'd rather spend my $3x on two cups of coffee at Ca De Vin located on the same narrow lane, get a bunch of flowers next door, and eat instant noodles at home cooks by DH.

Cuisine: Japanese

Food: Average

Service: Average

Atmopshere: Good

Value: $

Romantic Dinner on Valentine's Day

Nobu Restaurant

Crown Casino 

6 Whiteman Street

Southbank VIC 3006, 

Australia

Ph: (03) 9292 7879

Web: Nobu

Open Hours

Monday  ~ Thursday

12pm ~ 2:30pm

6pm ~ 10:30pm

Friday ~ Saday

12pm ~ 3pm, 

6pm ~ 11pm; 

Sunday

6pm ~ 10:30pm

By seeing the executive chef Nobuyuki Matsuhisa many times on TV showing professional cooking skills and delicious fusion modern Japanese dishes,  the well known international chain restaurant based in Manhattan, NY becomes as famous as it's co-owner Robert De Nir. I've been looking forward to dine in Nobu for quite a while. Finally hubby made a reservation on the 14th February, a perfect place for a special occasion.

The smiling staff welcomed us at the door and led us to the front desk. Booked for two at 6:00pm for an early dinner. Then we were requested to choose from the special Valentine's set dinner or order from the menu. Without showing us anything, neither the set menu nor the normal menu, this question seemed pop out from no where and we both didn't know what to do at first. A bit strange, they even wouldn't let us decided after we take a seat? Very unexpected as this have never happened before. However, we quickly decided on the set dinner (without knowing the price) and fingers crossed we have made a right decision.

The contemporary interior design of the restaurant is incredible modern. It's hard to tell from the decor it's actually a Japanese restaurant, except for the Sake wine bottles display on the long bar shelves. It's informal and relaxing, large open air with dark wooden furniture and beautiful caramel chocolate brown leather seats, high ceiling and yellow lighting. As cool as a modern, classic American pub.

"Irasshaimase" (welcome)! wait staffs yelled it loud and welcoming customers everytime people comes into the restaurant. There's a long narrow bar upstairs for customer having a drink or waiting for their table get ready. Downstairs, there is a sushi bar and more formal tables and seats. We''ve got a table upstairs near the window and overlooking the Yarra River. Beautiful views, I started to like this place.

I'd like to try the degustation menu in a new restaurant for fine dining. Normally they included their signature dish, fresh local produces in season and chefs new invented dish in the menu. Here was what we had that night at Nobu:

St Valentine's Day 2011 special menu $286/pair

Includes a glass of Veuve Clicquot Rose NV or soft drink

Fresh Oyster Trio Served with Nobu Salsa, Tiradito and Ponzu

Yellowtail Sashimi with Jalapeno

Sashimi salad Matsuhisa Dressing

Black Cod Miso

Wagyu Rib Eye to Share Served with Red Pepper Miso, Ponzuy and Anti Cucho

King Crab with Rose Water Amazu Ponzu

Chef's selection of cut rolls and Nigiri Sushi

Dessert Chocolate Bento

After more than 30 minutes sitting there chatting, taking photos and looking outside the pedestrian. A female staff  finally came to my husband and asked if we've had our first course yet. I felt a bit hilarious and wanted to laugh. At the same time I felt sorry for the poor girl as this was not just happened to us but also the table next to us as well. She seemed so confused and rushed downstairs, I guess that's where the kitchen located . With four or five wait staffs serving us that night made me a bit confused not just her. I don't see this a good thing, as sometimes the wait staffs didn't know what they were doing, especially when someone was taking the order, specialist the menu and another person was serving the food. I could see the table next to us experienced some difficulties during their stay. Also the whole night not even once the wait staff topped up our empty glasses. I don't mind doing it myself, but that was inattentive service for a fine dining restaurant.

Okay, that's enough complain.  Let's start with the food. First we had the fresh oyster trio served with Nobu salsa, tiradito and ponzu. No big wow factor but it was fresh and tasty. Three oysters beautifully presented on crushed ice and decorated with little flowers and a pink plum? It was very pretty and well balanced in flavour. Very refreshing to have the sweet and sour plum after eaten the oysters.Wonderful!

Then we had the yellowtail sashimi with jalapeno. Sensational! The taste and the look both spectacular! Fresh raw fish with green chili and coriander, sweet and tender, very flavoursome and once again gorgeously presented on plate. Each thin slices of fish piece by piece placed on a fabulous white flower dish. It was like a water colour Japanese painting. Definitely the highlight of the night. I like the cleanness, simplicity and light flavour in Japanese food. The seasoning never too strong or take over the freshness of the ingredients. It was an impressive and exciting dish.

Next was the sashimi salad with Matsuhisa dressing. A lovely small dish and subtle flavours. The raw fish served with cherry tomato, lettuce and vermicelli. The tuna was fresh and melted in my mouth. This was an ordinary dish you probably can find in most of the Japanese restaurants. The most important thing is the quality of the fish and they've got that. The only thing I wish was there would be a bigger portion as I finished it too quickly and almost forgot how it tasted like in two mouthful.

Finally we've got to try the Nobu widely talk about signature dish:  black cod with miso! This was not the first time we've had it but I was still excited to try it again!  The cod was marinated in miso and roasted before serving. The dish was superb and the white fish tasted so good with the miso paste sauce. It was warm and soft and had this fine flake texture and the salty soy greatly deepen the flavour. The ginger roots was interesting, oriental and refreshing. This dish is certainly worth trying.

It was St. Valentine's and there were many love birds walked pass the window from where we were sitting. People with roses, presents, holding hands, cuddle together and kissing each other just in front of me. Very sweet and romantic.

After we had a few dishes of fish, we were still hungry. Luckily we were only half way there and the next dish we had was the wagyu rib eye to share served with red pepper miso, ponzuy and anti cucho sauces. The beef was cook outside while the inside was still raw and pink. It was nice but nothing spectacular. The meat was a bit dry and didn't melted as it should be for a high grade wagyu marbling beef. Sadly not enough to share.

King crab with rose water in amazu ponzu sauce was pretty amazing except for the size. This was DH's favourite dish and he loves the presentation of  the three small cube king crab meat mixed with chili, coriander, red onion and rose in a pretty blue glass bowl. The crab meat was deep fried, tasted tender and has this rosy flavoring and smell. Thumbs up!

Chef's selection of cut rolls and nigiri sushi included salmon, tuna, kingfish, scallop and etc. The sushi was ordinary. However, the dessert chocolate bento was a happy ending. Such delicious chocolate fondant with a ball of vanilla ice cream and a black sesame cracker underneath it. The melted chocolate tasted so lovely, it was just right and not too sweet. This is not a traditional Japanese dessert but very tasty. I love it. My second favourite of the night.

There are many great restaurants in Crown Casino including a few I've tried and some new ones I'd like to try. We were looking forward to the Nobu experience before the night and we have to be honest to ourselves that it didn't meet our high expectations for the price we paid. The food was nice but nothing inspiring or memorable. For an outstanding fine dining, I believe that there must be something special to make a customer return or recommend to others. After paying more than $300 for two without alcohol, hubby and I walked out with our unfilled stomachs. Not acceptable for small eaters like us and we just wanted to go somewhere else and enjoyed our night. The service was ordinary, a bit hit and miss comparing to most high standard fine restaurants. I remembered there was one wait staff made a loud noise (sound of dishes) while cleaning up the table, that was unprofessional. She looked unemotional the whole night and it made me uncomfortable. We had to ask for small empty plates when sharing the yellowtail sashimi dish. Very annoying as we were sitting there expected for the dishes to place on our table one for each of us, but after five minutes of wait I decided to ask them as they've totally forgot about it. When my hubby was making the reservation, they took his credit card details but they never made any confirmation call before or on the date. Again, that was only small things, but small things added up a serious problem. I don't know if we will go back again, but this is not a place we would proudly recommend to our friends. Their service didn't meet their standard, at least not the night we were there.

Now we can't wait for our trip to Sydney in a few weeks time and go to Tetsuya's for a Saturday lunch.

Yes, finally we've got a reservation there.

Cuisine: Japanese

Food: Average

Service: Average

Atmopshere: Good

Value: $$$$

Recommend: Average