Kisume

Brad turned 30 this year. 

Sure, we all know age is just a number, but since we’ve been dating for more than 7 years, it’s amazing to think how different we are as 30 year old people (or almost 30 in my case) versus when we were 21. 

Brad had a much lower tolerance for stupidity, I was petrified of answering the phone. Now Brad’s mellowed out a bit (he still doesn’t tolerate stupidity, but he’s not as vocal as he used to be), and I’m…well, I still don’t really like answering the phone but I’ve definitely embraced my extrovert ways much more.

One thing that hasn’t changed over the years though, is our shared love of Japanese food - one of our topics of conversations in our initial OkCupid conversations way back when. 

So, since you can actually make a booking, even on a Friday night, I decided to take Brad out to Kisume which was (and still is I guess) pretty new. 

Whilst previous ventures by the Lucas Group tend to be bright and bold in their branding, Kisume goes the other direction. Dark and minimalist, Kisume feels very Japanese, yet very Melbourne at the same time. 

There are two experiences at Kisume that you can have - the sushi omakase (which has looked incredible from what I can see on Instagram) or just go downstairs and have a more relaxed night of Japanese food. We had opted for the latter, and descended into the basement. 

In all honesty, I didn’t have incredibly high expectations - nor did I have low ones either. I probably expected it to be a bit overhyped as Melbourne tends to like to do, but ended up thoroughly enjoying my meal. 

We started the evening with a couple of drinks, before we got into some hot food. 

I was quite surprised at how generous the serving of kakiage tempura was, with whiting, prawn, mushroom, asparagus, eggplant, corn and three different salts. The tower of fried goodness was immaculately presented, and very tasty - well seasoned, lightly crunchy…and quite filling! 

Brad thoroughly enjoyed the hand stretched udon noodles, in a bonito broth I think. We always get a carb dish for Brad when we head out as a strategic way to ensure that he’s full by the end of the meal! 

The noodles were beautiful, gorgeous in texture and gently springy. I remember loving the umami rich broth and interrupting Brad’s noodle slurping numerous times to scoop up more soup. 

The crispy wagyu truffles were one of the highlights of the meal for me - if only you got more than one each! These dense little black balls are so crunchy on the outside, but so tender and moreish on the inside. Richly truffled - who doesn’t love that, and just oozing out with melted cheesiness. Swoon!

Not many Japanese meals in Melbourne are complete without some sushi - and it took us a while to decide what we wanted to do. In the end, since it was his birthday, we opted for the deluxe feature box, which seems a bit steep at around $175 initially, but once you try to finish all of it? Well, okay, it’s actually a lot of food!

The deluxe feature box is a bento box with two layers of sushi and sashimi, with the first level covering most of your traditional options, beautifully scored salmon, delicate ebi, tuna and scallops. 

The second layer though - is where it’s not very traditionally Japanese, but it is very fun, very delicious and a little extra luxe. Intensely spicy tuna on cucumber stands, wagyu with a touch of truffle, lush slices of ootoro and my favourite - mackerel. 

Worth it. 

To finish, it had to be the hazelnut dacquoise that’s been making the rounds on Instagram looking like a pokeball (which I totally love). A beautiful red reflective glaze, encases a smooth and delightful dark chocolate mousse, with a frangelico centre that just pours out once you hit it. I love the textural transition, and the lightness the frangelico centre brings to the palate to mix up the flavours. 

Although I don’t usually like chef’s table menus - as I’m a bit of a control freak, but I was pretty impressed by the table of girls next to us who seemed to be continuously inundated with food. Would consider trying it myself next time. 

In all - we had a really enjoyable meal at Kisume. No, it won’t win awards for being the most traditional or even the best Japanese in town (although I’ve met people who’ve done the omakase who might argue otherwise) but I certainly would be happy to recommend it to anyone looking for a tasty and fun night out. 

Kisume

175 Flinders Lane

Melbourne 3000

 

Cafe Carpenter

If Melbourne suddenly exploded with cute little Japanese run cafes and eateries that all only fit around 20 people? I’d totally be okay with that. 

A month or two ago I had a period where I was completely over brunch. The last thing I wanted to lay my eyes on were eggs, smashed avocados and hollandaise sauce. I mean really, I still don’t, the latter aren’t my usual brunch items of choice, but you get what I mean. 

Fortunately Cafe Carpenter came to the rescue. Located in Malvern East, not far from Chadstone Shopping Centre, it’s on the most nondescript little strip of shops but is one of the most gorgeous little spaces I have wandered into. 

Warm and homely, the space simply speaks of Japanese aesthetic and adorable quirkiness, with bric-a-brac, light woods, and plenty of material surfaces. And they were playing The Theory of Everything soundtrack (which is one of my favourite move OST’s ever); it was pretty much home. 

The menu is a mix of homely Japanese favourites, a bit of Korean thrown in and a couple of fusion-y twists. You can simply get poached egg with soy sauce, steamed rice, miso soup and pickles, or you can get a Korean street burger. 

But first! Coffee’s are gorgeous and rich and matcha latte had a nice matcha flavour, although it could’ve been stronger, but was lovely and creamy. And how cute is all the Japanese style crockery? 

One of Brad and my favourite Japanese eats to share are okonomiyaki, a Japanese savoury pancake. At Cafe Carpenter it’s served with a special bbq sauce, Japanese mayo and shaved bonito and is lovely and fluffy, full of flavour, massively piping hot and so comforting. 

Japanese curry is also one of my favourite Japanese comfort foods, and for ‘brunch’ we had it with chicken katsu. I would’ve liked the katsu to be a bit crisper, but the flavour of the curry was just lovely and homely. 

A small serve of takoyaki, with bonito flakes on top is good value, at $5 for the little plate, especially with all the shaved bonito on top which really boosted the flavour of the ocean. Generous chunks of squid and little crunchy garnishes on top - I wasn’t entirely sure what they were, but I liked it!

As much as I love these little Japanese cafes, my only issue is that they’re never ever close enough to me; I loved my chilled out morning at Cafe Carpenter, and being able to have something a little different to the usual for brunch!

Cafe Carpenter

742 Waverly Road

Malvern East 3145

 

Toko

Disclosure: I was invited to dine as a guest

I’ve always said to people, that if I had to choose one cuisine in the world to solely eat for the rest of my life, it would have to be Japanese. The breadth and variety that comes in that cuisine is so broad, that anything you want, you can almost get. Soup noodles, fried noodles, fried chicken, grilled meat sticks, sushi…the list goes on. 

And although I love traditional Japanese, from simply beautiful seafood with minimal seasoning or additions, to ramen stock that’s been worked on for hours, it’s always exciting to see how chefs put their own twist on things as well. 

Toko, located on Greville Street in Prahran, is a simply stunning modern Japanese restaurant, with very schmick and modern interiors, with lots of dark wood offset by warm golden tones. Perfect for date night….or date lunch, like Brad and I were here for. 

I imagine at night, the place is pumping music loudly and everyone would be dressed to the nine’s with cocktails are abound. During the day, it’s much more zen and relaxed, which suits me perfectly, getting old before my years!

We opted for the Sora set menu to save us from thinking or choosing (although I did request to add one additional item to out set) and started our afternoon with a cup of tea…was a little too soon to break into the sake!

First were the freshly shucked pacific oysters with tosazu. From the get go, Toko’s presentation is immaculate and I can’t stop oohing over the beautiful crockery. Or the oysters for that matter. Cool, sweet but a touch of ocean salt as well, I adored the smack of flavours from the dressing which were zesty and bright, and the texture from the fish roe on top, that just pop in the mouth. It’s an absolutely delicious palate teaser. 

I absolutely loved the presentation of the salmon tartare with wasabi miso. The salmon itself was so moreish, meaty, creamy and quite decadent, which complimented nicely with the sweetness from the chips. My only nitpick is that it would have been the nice for the chips to be even crunchier than they were. 

The venison carpaccio with nacho pear, yuzu koshu and potato airbags (funny thing to call them isn’t it?), was a very textural and zesty dish.

Having whet our appetites, and knowing that our sushi course was on the way, I couldn’t resist a nip or three of sake, and the tasting flight is not just economical but delicious. One flight was just right for lunch for Brad and I to share. All of the sakes in the flight were Junmai Gingo, which mean they are high quality sakes with, made of pure rice (no distilled alcohol added) and 40% of the outer rice grain milled away.

Yet again, the sushi plate was stunning. Gorgeously cut slices of sashimi were thick and velvety in the mouth. The seared wagyu melted in the mouth, and I loved the richness of the unagi with the torched foie gras and umeboshi (my requested addition), although I have to say the foie gras flavour did not come through as much as I would have hoped.

However, the surprise favourite was the scampi with (very generously) shaved foie gras over the top and truffle oil. This combination worked so perfectly together, the sweetness and the texture of the scampi really highlighted the richness of the foie gras, and in the shaved format it literally melted in the mouth. Nearly took Brad’s portion. Nearly.

The soft shell crab was an unexpectedly generous serve, and I loved how perfectly light and crunchy the batter was, not overwhelming the crab itself which was gorgeously meaty. Love a good clean fry. 

The smoked miso king salmon with house pickled ginger was stunning, gorgeous in colour. The fish was perfectly cooked, still slightly under inside and so tender and the broccolini with sesame sauce was nicely done, so that the greens were still a bit crunchy and the sesame packed flavour. 

Hard to go past marble score 9+ wagyu tenderloin, I loved how simply it was served with just a couple of condiments, to highlight the tenderness of the beef. 

To finish, although it’s not particularly Japanese, the Valrhona dark chocolate mousse with mixed berries and passion fruit is exactly how I like to finish my meal. Rich in flavour, but not heavy on the stomach, with the berries and passionfruit punching through and so silky smooth. 

It’s quite easy, especially in Melbourne to fall into brunch habits on the weekend, but this lunch at Toko totally reminded me that it is worth splurging now and then, to try something different and mix up the schedules. Far more fun that way! 

Toko

142 Greville Street

Prahran

 

KUU Cafe + Japanese Kitchen

I love Japan and it’s culture. The Japanese really just do everything better. 

Which is probably why I absolutely love KUU Cafe & Japanese kitchen in South Melbourne (and also desperately wish they were close to…let’s say Kew.)

Run by a Japanese crew, KUU serves up healthy Japanese inspired cafe food, in a relaxing environment, which in proper Japanese fashion is small, but very cosy and entirely adorable. Fresh white walls, light wood furniture and shelves; lots of little shelves with bric-a-brac and bits and pieces. So simple, but so quaint. 

We were fortunate enough to be having a very late lunch on the weekend (at around 2pm) so had no problem getting a table, but even at 2pm the little cafe was quite busy. Can only imagine at peak hour it must be pretty manic!

When at a Japanese cafe, one must have a matcha latte obviously and KUU did not disappoint. Smooth, with a great green tea flavour, although not as strong as I thought it was going to be. Delicious. Had two.

Brad’s Genmaicha was also gorgeously aromatic and perfect when he’s been feeling a bit under the weather. 

Being 2pm, and not having eaten for most of the day, I was ready to eat. Everything.

Kaarage Japanese fried chicken with celery vinaigrette dipping sauce was everything you would hope for, not quite was crunchy as I might’ve expected, but piping hot, great flavours and juicy, juicy chicken. 

The kakiage shredded veggie tempura, with sweet potato, carrot, onion, green bean and pumpkin was delicately battered and lightly crisp. 

I’d been eyeing it on Instagram, so decided (or more like dictated) that Brad would order the taco rice with chicken mince, taco sauce, fried egg, mozzarella, tomato salsa and avocado on the side. It’s total comfort food, but that’s still pretty good for you, so I love it. Real tomato-y and real hearty; loved that the fried egg still had a runny yolk as it’s just perfect for mixing through the rice. Loved the cheesiness though the rice too, you could see cheese strings pulling spoonful after spoonful. 

For those who never know what to order, the Japanese brekky platter for the hungry is a great option. A bit plate with onigiri rice balls, salad of the day, poached egg with white sesame hollandaise sauce, grilled salmon and other bits and bobs (I had more fried chicken and some tsukune meatballs on mine too). The white sesame hollandaise is one of the best things ever, that rich hit you’re used to, combined with a strong sesame flavour which takes a bit of edge off the richness and the edamame throughout the onigiri giving it a bit of texture. 

If it was up to me, I’d be at KUU easily once a week. The vibe is very chilled out, staff are friendly and food is hearty but not at all heavy, because Japanese food isn’t ever heavy is it? 

KUU Cafe + Japanese Kitchen

190 Park Street

South Melbourne