Hi Everyone! It appears we meet again! :) I gotta say, I am about to talk about something that happened literally weeks ago :O I am so far behind in finishing my post drafts, it's not even a joke! Well it actually is a joke, a disgrace if you will. Life has me in a wrestling move, maybe something called a... choke-hold? That analogy has lead me to realise I'm not well-versed in wrestling terminology, so let's do a restaurant review instead!
160 Little Bourke Street
Melbourne VIC 3000Shou Sumiyaki, nestled just inside the big colourful gateway of Chinatown, is this cool little Japanese Restaurant I visited a few weeks ago. Or do I mean... Koren BBQ Restaurant? No no, I mean Japanese. I think. It certainly had a Korean BBQ vibe to it, as the food comes delivered to your table on dainty little plates which you can cook yourself on the table-top grill. Luckily I'm not as arrogant as the Japanese food purist on the next table, and can just shut up and enjoy the good food.
We ordered a special combo so that we might try a bit of everything, and were given a good amount of food in my opinion- which some may say is a little too much. The starters included fresh cucumber salad in a sesame/white miso dressing, a crab dish, miso soup and lovely steamed rice. My memory is a tad hazy on the details as it was so long ago and I didn't make many notes. Bad Jade, BAD Jade!
The friendly staff removed their shoes to walk into our sacred dining zone and fired up our grills. Thus commenced the meat procession, in which they carried little plates of meat out to the table and explained what each plate was in case we didn't know. Scotch... Oyster blade... Ribs... Wagyu... the words were flying around as we discussed our favourites and their prefered cooking times.
I discovered something about myself during this dinner - I. Love. Ribs. I'm not just talking about the visible rib cage of my svelte boyfriend, I'm really talking about the edible type. Ever had chicken ribs? You should. My friend's dad is a butcher and he does some amazing marinated chicken ribs. It's cut up into little individual rib bones with a bit of tender and delicious meat attached! I'm also partial to pork ribs, and am working on my goal of one day having the Flinstones style giant ribs attached to the side of my car. A girl can dream. There is something about the meat in that area of an animal's body that I really enjoy... the taste, texture and fat:meat ratio - it's has it all.
I'm sure my eyes glazed over mid-meal as I was transported back to my Osaka home-stay in 2003. We stayed in a little traditional hut in the mountains and in between riding uni-cycles and playing with a three-legged stray dog we cooked our own meals from scratch. One night we made a dish named "Niku yaki" meaning 'grilled meat'. Basically we had a bucket full of hot coals with a mesh grill lid and we grilled vegetables and meat on it while sitting cross legged in a circle around the cooking pit. I have to say, Shou Sumiyaki was a little more up-scale than that and we even used Wagyu beef as a matter of course.
I spent my dinner blathering on about this or that, and warning my friends passively about one of my pet hates: People who can't pronounce Wagyu Beef and incorrectly say 'Way-goo'. It makes me die inside.
We each got $10 beers and the whole thing worked out to $50 each. For some fresh, good quality food and a big old Japanese beer... I was very impressed! Next time I feel like grilling my food I will think of this place before any other :)
this sounds great! ill have to check it out sometime.
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