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Maha

31/7/2012

As a former lady of leisure for all of a week and a half, it was right and fitting to enjoy various mid week lunches and and ideal time to try the offerings from Maha.

Price start at $35 for 2 courses, $40 for three and $45 for 4 courses.

Given that my dining companion was under time constraints (oh the burdens of work) we were advised that 3 courses (cold entree, hot entree and main) would be the quickest way of doing three courses so we decided to follow the advice from our super efficient and slick waiter.

We were served a platter of olives, picked veggies, almonds in a yoghurt dressing and a pine nut dip which was like a smooth hummus and incredibly delicious. We also had some warm bread. The 4 little dishes worked great together as the almonds provided texture, the veggies were sharp and lemony and the pine nut dip salty and creamy. Yum!

Next up was a salmon croquette with Japanese mayo which looked like a slab of halloumi. Simple salmon flavours with a slight crisp and still moist but not greasy. Pretty good croquette.

Spatchcock came with an eggplant puree and some black chilli. I enjoyed the juicy chicken but Stefanie fund the spices a little too overpowering.

Our main courses were pan fried trumpeter fish that come on lentils and also the renowned 12 hour roasted Mt. Leura lamb shoulder pistachio and green olive tabouleh. Side dishes were a tomato cous cous and a fresh garden salad with some savoury crunchy shards of something I can't describe or remember!

The fish was meaty and perfectly cooked and the lamb was just amazingly delicious. We couldn't finish everything and found it exceptionally good value for money.

Stef rushed back to work but I enjoyed the relaxed environment that I treated myself to some me time and had a pot of tea and read a book. I felt very comfortable and looked after whilst seated alone.

As I left the restaurant I caught sight of Treagan from this year's Masterchef series working hard in the kitchen! If my lunch is anything to judge her by then she is a great chef!

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The Sharing House

29/7/2012

Sunday lunch and we had plans to shop at South Wharf so lunch would take place at the Sharing House. Our last visit had been good enough to warrant a return and it was convenient for us location wise.

Again the concept of sharing food is one we enjoy and like and we did order quite a number of dishes.

We enjoyed our little table with a view of the water and although it wasn't incredibly busy there were a few tables. Hopefully by time Summer comes, South Wharf will be more popular.

Beans on Toast - New season broad beans, nettle pesto and buffalo mozzarella on toasted ciabatta
Fish Fingers - Spanish mackerel wrapped in sourdough and served with marie rose sauce
Scampi, mac n cheese - Macaroni, taleggio, baked scampi tails

Beans on toast was fresh and green - a good dish with a taste of Spring and could probably have done with a touch more seasoning but nevertheless enjoyable.

Fishfingers were good with a thin and crispy coating, strong tasting mackerel and a piquant sauce to cut through the fish.

Mac n cheese could have been great as the sauce and pasta was yummy but I didn't like the scampi and subsequent seafood flavour. I think I'd have prefreerred it either plain and simple or with either some bacon or tomato. Mac n cheese is a great comfort dish that requires no pimping up in my opinion!

Kedgeree - Smoked haddock risotto, curry, quail eggs
BBQ quail - Quail with watermelon, BBQ sauce, chilli peanuts

The delicate flavours of the kedgeree was good but the consistency wasn't soft and creamy enough and the grains of rice remained distinctly unfluffy and therefore not that oozy plump comfort food consistency.

Quail was very strongly flavoured sweet and caramelly and the melon was a good contrast.Would have loved more meat on the quail.

So far and everything was ok. Some positives, some negatives but overall still lots of potential. Biggest disappointment came with the Caesar Salad though.

The slow cooked egg was disintegrating and the egg white had the consistency of phlegm. The leaves weren't fresh and crunchy to be good and the whole dish lacked flavour and was a bit flat and sad. Simple dishes like salads need to be done really well or at least well enough and I've definitely had better even in local pubs and cafes.

So twice we've been the The Sharing House and whilst the first time was good enough to warrant a repeat visit; this time it didn't do well enough for me to particularly want to return of my own accord. It is close to home though...

The Sharing House on Urbanspoon

Rockpool Bar and Grill

23/7/2012

We've been to Rockpool once and really enjoyed it and it's always been a special occasion type place for us as we know that when we go, we'll splurge and it'll end up being a hefty blow to the wallet. That coupled with the fact that reservations are necessary meant that we never returned yet we have been to Spice Temple several times. Strange - but Rockpool just seems to be require a little too much effort for us so it's been dropped from our places to go list.

Karly had a conversation with me about potentially going with her mothers' group just to the bar area for the burger and that reminded me that we could make Rockpool more accessible and work for us for lunch or a less planned dinner.

So on a Monday lunchtime, when I had the week off (in between jobs you see) I propositioned Steve and he met me there for lunch. There were perhaps two other dining couples in the bar area and one or two seated at the bar on high stools.

We found this less formal area to be just as comfortable as the main area, slightly more relaxed and it worked for us.

The bar menu had enough to keep us entertained and enough for us to want to return and either repeat the experience or try something new.

We decided to go for a burger, the meat pie and share some chips. We were informed the pie would take 20 minutes so we went for a started of seafood ceviche to share to break up some of the time!

The ceviche was zingy and citrussy with a big hit of lemon which just stopped short of overpowering the delicate fish. There was a decent amount of fish and Steve and I enjoyed it.

I went for the acclaimed burger or as the menu describes it David Blackmore’s Full Blood Wagyu Hamburger with Bacon, Gruyere Cheese and Zuni Pickle.

The brioche was light and toasty, soft on the inside, slightly crisp on the outside and round the edges. The burger was juicy and meaty, lightly seasoned. The pickle and relish had the perfect balance of sweet and sour and added crunch to the soft bread and pattie textures. I just managed to eat it with my hands without it all falling apart but there definitely was some juice dribbling down the arms! Undisputedly a wonder burger and one I would happily pay the $25 for. It's twice the price of a Grill'd burger but it is definitely twice as good.

Beef and Guiness Pie with Potato Puree was Steve's choice and the crucial question is whether the 20 minute wait for it was worth it.

Happy to report that it was! The pasty was beautifully golden and flaky. I'm not a fan of pastry as I find it dry but this was buttery and delicious and it was packed with beefy goodness. I thought it might be a bit dry and I think I'd have loved some gravy if it were my dish but Steve loved it. The mashed potato was decadent and creamy and the whole dish was just heaving with butter! Great if post lunch activity consists of lying on the sofa, not so good when there are a couple of client meetings to attend and some accounts to review!

We shared the chips which were a pricy $12. Arguably, we could have shared these across 3 or 4 people though so I guess that makes it slightly better value. Good chips though - crunchy on the outside with a fluffy centre and no hint of grease.

Lunch at Rockpool was a success and we look forward to hitting the bar again whether for lunch or dinner. I just hope there is always room for us!

Rockpool Bar and Grill on Urbanspoon

The Press Club

21/7/2012

Chef's Table at The Press Club - all very exciting! We were seated just behind that worktop right in the thick of things.

As soon as we were seated, we were greeted warmly by everyone who passed by. Our drinks order was taken and it was confirmed that we'd be having the degustation menu and were pretty much at the mercy of the kitchen! I think it would have been nice to see a menu so we knew what to expect or be able to read descriptions of our dishes. However our waiter Gary, was great at describing the dishes to us each time they came out.

George Calombaris himself came out and welcomed us and prepped a couple of canape / amuse bouches to go with our champagne. In the shell was some delicious mashed potato and steak tartare with something pickled too. But where was the oyster I was expecting! The little joker had removed the oyster to serve on a cracker with apple marshmallow and a drizzle of 50 year old balsamic he was given from his recent Italy trip! Delicious!

Bread was a seaweed bread with a cod roe butter - salty and slightly reminiscent of the sea it was darn tasty.

We were then served a plate of veggies and a little glass jar. In the jar was sweetbread, scorched cauliflower, green beans, Ortiz anchovy, almond gel and almonds. Crunchy, nutty, odd tang of salty and slight hint of meat.

The veggie dish was Jerusalem artichoke, parsnip, smoked walnut, toursi onion, kalamata olive with some chestnut sauce and a chestnut jelly oh and some grains too. Fresh sweet vegetables, salty olive and some toastiness from the grains.

The two dishes came together well and were a good light start to the banquet ahead.

Swordfish - "Poseidon god of the sea", sea weeds & vegetables, ouzo mayoneza, Nicola potatoes came out net. Loved the meaty swordfish and a little bit of calamari.

Hapuka - Trahana, parsley, strawberry clams, maratho, kalamares, lahano. Sweet hapuka steamed just so it was cooked so it was still moist - deliciously fresh and yummy.

More wonderful fish - John Dory with pearl barley, kremedi, jowl, black garlic, greek mustard. More robust than the previous cleaner fish dishes. I felt the menu was moving away from the light and heading towards comfort food territory. I loved the autumnal feel of this dish with the yellow smeak of pumpkin, barley grains and bronze mustard that was more sweet than hot.

And we turned the autumnal and comfort food feel a notch or two up with venison - Leg, fakes, patzari, mastica, spiced chocolate pastelaki, raspberry. Gamey and lean with tasty lentils this continued the feast of delight. The little pearls of raspberry gel and the spiced chocolate is the modern molecular gastronomy touch I guess but the root of the dish was still firmly grounded in the familiar and I liked this combination of modern and tradition.

So then we moved into heavy, hefty, protein territory with Wagyu - 24 hour oyster blade, flank, olive oil puress, heirloom carrot. We were also treated to some rare Wagyu steak which we notice no one else received!

This dish was decadent, luxurious and all a but much! It was delicious but hard work to get through it. I was worried that we had reached the end of our tummies' capacity and the pleasure factor had now gone out of eating...so let's take a quick break away from the food.

Here you see the pastry chef who was working on the other side of the table to us and he was so entertaining. He also jumped up and went into the kitchen and cooked some chickens when it got busy.

He sang whilst he worked and it was obvious he loved what he was doing. Watching the kitchen was mesmerising and things did get pretty frantic at various points. Chef held it altogether (although he did get a little shouty) as did another chap (we later learnt he was Glen and was GM of the Made Establishment who own the restaurants) who seemed to direct dishes to the wait staff to distribute.

Sitting at the Chef's Table we came to learn people's names, and we could see who was good and who was not quite as good! Poor Peter - it was his first night and he struggled at times with the pace and knowing the dishes. Our waiter Gary was great as was a lady called Katie. We were introduced to George the GM (as well as George C of course) and Glen who was helping out at the pass in his dapper suit. It was great to see all things come together. I just wanted to jump in and get involved and help out!

Anyway as I said earlier we were getting pretty full now. Our next course was what they called a refresher and it was a piece of blackcurrant meringue, lime gel, lychee sorbet and freeze dried lychee. Incredibly cold and zingy it really refereshed the palette and after that little taster we were ready to go again! Amazing!

Our dessert was Sokolata - "Stelios Parliaros", red pepper, malt, bitter chocolate sorbet. I loved the chocolate mousse log that was silky and light and Loved the sorbet and crunchy bits. I wasn't a huge fan of the red capsicum relish that I felt belonged in a cheese sandwich.

I think this dessert was what we were meant to have as part of the degustation menu but because my inside voice had externally voiced that I wanted one of the beautiful souffles earlier in the night and Gary had heard me, meant we were also treated to one of these works of art - Soufflé - Passionfruit, rhubarb, caramelised filo. It was like eating passionfruit clouds; just amazing and so light on the stomach.

In spite of having eaten so much, we still felt great. So much so we rounded the night off with an espresso martini and some port and we also met up with some friends and had a few more drinks. Now usually after such a menu, Steve and I just want to go home and rest but after this meal we still felt active and energetic which was great. I think the buzzy atmosphere and the bright lights of the Chef's Table helped.

We thoroughly enjoyed our Press Club experience and cannot wait to repeat it! The food, whilst perhaps not quite as adventurous as Attica or even Cutler and Co the night before was just so delicious. Plate after plate that came out was of such a high standard and whilst we benefitted from some perks by being close to the kitchen, I know for sure that quality across the board was high.

I liked the fact that the food flavours were homely with a touch of the familiar. I like that it was about the produce with just small nuances of the modern worked in seamlessly. I understood where this food came from and could feel the roots of it and it didn't leave me confused. We loved the personal and passionate service and we truly had a great time.

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Cutler and Co

20/7/2012

Steve and I had a great meal at Cutler and Co but my photos of the meal are terrible so I can't share them with you.

We were shown to a good table to one side of the back dining room and seated at the table next to us was none other than Mr George Calombaris with is partner. They were joined by another two friends one of them being Adriano Zumbo!

This was the start of Steve's birthday celebrations so we decided to go for the degustation menu and matched wines.

We started of with a selection of appetisers comprising of some braised octopus very similar to the famed dish at Cumulus. There was also the most delicious cigars that came in an authentic cigar box and were filled with a foie gras pate with a sweet jelly at each tip. The pastry was crispy and the foie gras filling so deep and moreish and the sweet jelly just cut through the richness. There was also a wonderfully fresh sweet and salty oyster each and some Manzanilla olives. All washed down with a Rutherglen dry sherry which at first without the little snacks was quite overpowering but the complex and deep flavours of these little tidbits mellowed it out.

After such a heady start the next course of swordfish sashimi, avocado, daikon and fresh wasabi was like a breath of cold fresh air in a warm and stuffy room. The wasabi cleared the sinuses and the meaty swordfish sashimi was clean and cleansed the palate. I loved that the avocado was slightly pickled or seasoned - such attention to detail.

Hand picked mud crab, buttermilk potato, almond and brown butter came next. And we were back to deeper richer flavours and this one was comfort on a plate. The mashed potato was rich and creamy and the crab swet and plump. This was like a really refined fish pie that was hugely enjoyable and warmed the soul.

The next course was vegetarian - hay baked carrots, goat's curd, toasted grains and ash for Steve and beetroot tartare, smoked egg, rye and sorrel for me as I don't like carrots. Steve declare the sweet carrots a hit and I enjoyed the sharp pickled beetroot, smoky tang from the egg and a creamy flavour from the yolk.

Next was the dish of the night - smoked and fried duck, morcilla, golden raisin and beetroot. Crispy, meaty, highly savoury and the sweet - so many flavours all cleverly layered and beautifully presented. We loved this!

The courses continued - braised beef cheek, smoked tongue, kohlrabi and onion soubise. Nothing could follow the success of the previous course and I don't doubt this was great but it did pale into insignificance after the triumph of the duck!

Dessert descriptions didn't really appeal - apple and sorrel sorbet, fennel meringue and dill. All a bit strange to me but actually enjoyable. The sorbet was fresh and zingy, the meringue had a hint of aniseed from the fennel and the dill was fresh. The second dessert was violet ice cream, chocolate ganache, sour cherry and clove meringue. The sour cherry was really refreshing, the chocolate ganache sweet and rich and the violet ice cream surprisingly good and unsurprisingly reminiscent of Parma Violet sweets.

I think I prefer dessert to be a little more predictable and familiar. Whilst I didn't not enjoy these give me a little bit of tradition any day.

Every course at Cutler was good with the duck dish being entirely memorable and superior. Service was slick and professional and they had typed out menus ready for us to take home so the attention to detail in both service and food is second to none. I'd have liked service to be a little warmer and passionate perhaps; maybe less formal is a better way to describe it - maybe a bit more personal like the team at Cumulus.

The one gripe we did have at Cutler was we found the lighting very dim to the point it zapped all our energy away so after dinner we found ourselves very sluggish and were good for nothing but bed! That might have something to do with the volume of food consumed and wine but I do feel the darkness didn't help and perhaps a buzzier environment and more light may have helped lift our weary souls!

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Henry and the Fox

18/7/2012

Weekday girls get together and a 30% discount meant we were bound for Henry and the Fox.

Tucked away we weren't quite sure whether we were at the right place but a friendly welcome assured us we were.

The dining room is bright and airy and it's a pleasant place to enjoy breakfast, lunch diner or coffee. It wasn't the busiest but then it was a Tuesday evening and I anticipate, given its location it probably fares better with the lunchtime and coffee trade.

We found the wait staff friendly and helpful and enjoyed the flat caps and breeches uniform reminding us British girls of home!

We opened with one of the specials which was polenta chips with a truffle mayonnaise.

Crispy on the outside and soft and gooey on the inside, they were barely firm enough to hold. With a salty coating and the heady mayo dip they warmed the cockles on a cold night. I tend to find polenta chips a bit bland and it's all about the texture and the dip and these were pretty decent on both fronts with the crusty outside being the highlight. A slightly firmer centre would have been better I think just to give it a bit of substance.

We all opted for a pizza each so between us there was bresaola and scamorza, prosciutto and fior di latte, lamb, pine nuts and feta, pumpkin and goats cheese.

Verdicts were mixed. We enjoyed the crispy pizza base which verged on being on the dry rather than greasy side and the concensus we prefered that over oily pizza. The tomato base was good - tangy and sweet. The downsides were that the goats cheese on the pumpkin pizza was overly strong and unpleasant. The scamorza was barely there. I'd have preferred more fior di latte on mine.

Pizzas were served on a piece of greaseproof paper and then on a plate and we found the piece of paper annoying as cutting the pizza ripped the paper.

The pizzas were light enough that dessert was welcomed. Claire and Lucy went for chocolate panna cotta with strawberry cream and it went down a treat as did Charlotte's quince, pear, custard, coconut crumble and coconut ice-cream.

I declared the steamed honey & hazelnut pudding, honeycomb and lemon curd ice-cream a delight. The pudding was light with sweet finish and toasty fragrance from the hazelnut. The lemon curd ice cream was like being kissed gently by a lemon fairy - just beautiful.

Along with a drink, our three course meal came to about $20 per person which was such a bargain. Even without the 30% discount, the pizzas are less than $20 which in spite of our mixed responses are very reasonably priced.

Henry and the Fox on Urbanspoon

Shadowfax Winery

15/7/2012

This was a last minute decision following a morning at Werribee Zoo. We decided to give the wines a go but were distracted by all the delicious looking food so tried to get a table. We were initially shot down so we stuck with the wine tasting but we persevered and asked again and this time we were lucky!

We started off sharing the flatbread which we all enjoyed. The bread was doughy and the topping flavoursome enough to enhance the bread. A splash more balsamic wouldn't have gone amiss though.

The boys had a salami pizza each and Karly and I ordered the slow braised beef cheeks on creamy mash potato,roasted shallots and cherry tomato. We were expecting whole beef cheeks that could be cut into with a spoon in a stew like braise with lots of juices so we were a little taken aback when the dish came with a cylinder like tower of shredded meat atop the mashed potato.

I was worried it would be too dry but the meat although shredded was moist and tender. The mashed potato was decadently buttery and the shallots added sweetness and the tomato just cut though all that richness. Definitely more successful than it looked,

The pizzas were good too on a crispy and light base with good topping and we all enjoyed sharing the wedges.

We thought this was a well priced lunch - enjoyable and satisfying and exactly what was needed on a Sunday afternoon.

Shadowfax Winery on Urbanspoon

The Graham

14/7/2012

A Saturday lunch and Steve decided we should try The Graham in Port Melbourne. Given the wind a rain a hearty gastro pub was just what we needed.

I liked the decor of the white walls, high ceilings and general feel of the place. Our waiter was friendly and we were seated in a small dining room with three or four other small tables and one bigger one. It's nice to fill a small room as it creates a bit more of an ambience rather than a few tables in a large space.

We started off with some oysters that came with a pickled mushroom and some caviar and a dressing that I can't remember. I do remember thoroughly enjoying these though and wishing there were more!

We also enjoyed some chicken potsticker dumplings which were generously sized. I loved the thick casing. Some people prefer a thin dumpling wrap but I love carbs so I liked the almost pasta like denseness of these. I also enjoyed the seaweed salad they came on.

For our main courses we struggled to decide what to have so opted for two that we both liked and said we'd swap plates halfway through!

We went with:

Char-grilled wagyu porterhouse, potato & thyme confit, bone marrow jus
Chestnut honey glazed duck, rainbow chard, baby turnips & honey jus
Maple glazed brussel sprouts and bacon

Both dishes were very well cooked. The Wagyu porterhouse was soft and silky and the bone marrow jus deeply savoury. I wasn't too convinced by the smear of garlic cream that the mushroom was in and found it a bit overpowering so left that.

The duck was flavoursome and tasty with little blobs of something sweet to enhance the duck meat. And the brussel sprouts were just bitter enough to cut through all the richness whilst still remained decadent as the wonderful buttery and bacon flavours came through.

The Graham is a great gastro pub with good service, pleasant surroundings and efficient and capable wait staff. Prices err on the expensive side but I guess when everything is so good it has to. The wine list is impressive too and sadly we couldn't take advantage of it as we had evening plans and I still had champagne cobwebs in my head from the night before.

I would recommend the Graham for sure as somewhere to go for something classical and straightforward where the food is honest and tasty and when reliability is important.

The Graham on Urbanspoon

Takumi

13/7/2012

Friday night was date night and a celebration of my new job. I arrived twenty minutes late though due to having a few glasses of bubbles with the work crew that over ran but Steve was comfortable enough with a beer!

In spite of my late arrival I was still made very welcome and even better didn't even need to look at the menu as Barley Boy had sorted it all out.

All I had to do was relax, sit back and enjoy more champagne and this time proper French champagne.

As a pre cursor to the cooked dishes we enjoyed:

Salmon sashimi infused in tangy carrot, onion and soy sauce seasoning
Scallop sashimi drizzled with sizzling oil and citrus soy sauce
Thinly sliced wagyu eye fillet grilled on the outside topped with finely diced onion, lightly dressed in refreshing citrus seasoning

They were all pretty delicious. I think the scallop needed a little more soy and citrus but the salmon was well balanced and I could taste the creamines off the fish come through the tangy dressing.

The beef tataki was an interesting contrast to the much loved Nobu version with thicker slices of beef. Although the flavour od this version wasn't as clean and complex as Nobu's it was still very enjoyable with thick beef and sweet onion coming through. A little drizzle of something citrussy or salty would probably have just lifted the flavours to another level.

Now it was time to cook and we had abalone, premium ox tongue, premium eye fillet and chuck steak. I actually enjoyed all different cuts of cow. The tongue was dense and rich almost liver like but just on the right side as I don't like liver. I loved the chuck roll which was fatty and beefy. And the eye fillet was just so tender in the mouth.

Abalone was good too - slightly salty and I enjoyed the dense and chew to it. Wrapped in foil with a splash of soy the flavours were simple and really about the produce.

The hot plate gets very hot but unlike Korean BBQ it doesn't get smelly or smoky as the smoke is sucked out before it can even leave the griddle. Steve was in charge of cooking and he did it so well.

We also enjoyed the dipping sauces for the beef, miso soup and steamed rice. I asked for some chilli and received a spicy Korean sauce which was yummy.

Dessert was a choice of green tea, black sesame or red bean ice cream. I went with green tea and Steve opted for the black sesame.

The ice cream came on a bed of cornflakes with some cubes of cake and a red bean sponge sandwich. The cornflakes added crunch to the soft cake and ice cream. I found the red bean sponge a bit too dense and I don't like red bean so Steve ate mine but I enjoyed the rest and it was a light way to end the meal.

Service was always friendly and our glasses were kept topped up throughout our meal. I enjoyed the ambience and surroundings. I think bigger portions of meat would make it better value.

Takumi on Urbanspoon

Izakaya Den

12/7/2012

This was a return trip for me and a first for my dining companion Stefanie. We headed there straight from work and went behind the thick curtain. We arrived just before 6pm on a Thursday evening and the place was pretty empty. It did fill up quickly though.

So we worked our way through the menu and I didn't take pictures of everything.

The deep fried sweetcorn fritter things were as delicious as I remember especially with the green salt. Inside it gets a bit soft and gooey. Yum!

We decided to try all three sashimi dishes on the menu. I loved the thickness of the seared tuna but wasn't too keen on the creamy wasabi sauce it was on. The salmon was a disappointment as we felt it was sliced too thin and the dressing too tart so none of the buttery creaminess of the salmon came through.

The kingfish sashimi was the best though with sweet caramelised onions and sliced thick enough. Delicious!

Another of dishes I enjoyed was the rice hotpot with mushrooms and a runny egg.
Stef thought the rice was still a bit hard but I enjoyed it and loved the deep savoury flavours that come through.

We also enjoyed a plate of simply grilled mushrooms with soy sauce. The grilled Korobuta pork was also tasty and we wish we had tried the ocean trout and the Wagyu but sadly we can't have everything!

Dessert was the Den trifle and the apple millefeuille which the waitress recommended. The trifle was like a sundae with green tea mousse, a barley flavoured ice cream, crunchy rice puffs and it was light enough to still feel clean and fresh and not too sweet that its overpoweringly sugary.

The applie millefeulle was a tower of sweet apple sorbet drizzled with a honey syrup and some freeze dried berries and apple running through. I thought the apple was a little synthetic and sweet but enjoyed the icy smooth texture.

I'd forgotten how good certain dishes at Izakaya Den can be so it was good to be able to be reminded of this. Stef and I sat at our little bench at the kitchen bar for a good two hours or so and never felt rushed or pressure to leave in spite of the fact that it got busier. Service was efficient and friendly enough.

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