Had a Friday evening catch up dinner with my friend Stef in her neighbourhood. We didn't have a reservation so called beforehand and were told we could have a table if we returned it by 7pm. We aimed for that but traffic was not on our side so I called back to let them know we weren't going to make it. The waitress on the phone then advised we could have a table until 7:30pm and then she said 8pm so we decided to press on.

We ended up seated at 6:30pm and were at first at a table at the front of the restaurant but it was a tight squeeze so we were moved to the back which was better. But the waitress who moved us, didn't tell anyone else so we had to wait a bit before we could get someone else's attention for menus and water. Anyway after this little hiccup everything else went smoothly.

We ordered a few things to share:

• Tori kara - fried chicken
• Agedashi tofu
• Double salmon roll and spicy tuna roll
• Tempura
• Wagyu sukiyaki hotpot

It's a family style casual restaurant. So casual that one of our neighbouring diners sat cross legged and barefoot on her chair...The food comes out quickly and it's homely and mostly satisfying.

The tempura is probably the stand out for me and it came with a type of tartare sauce mayo rather than the usual soy based ponzu which was delicious. The fried chicken was also good. The hotpot was a good serving size with lots of thinly sliced beef and mixed mushrooms. 

The sushi rolls were probably the disappointment as the fish wasn't very generous and with the tuna one, the spicy sauce completely overpowered the little fish that was there to the point of obliteration.

Other than that, as a neighbourhood restaurant for a Japanese fix it's a dependable option.

Whilst the story behind Papirica intrigued me; home cooking becomes a pop up and then a permanent cafe I have to admit that my experience of okonomiyaki, that Japanese pancake, hasn't really been all that positive. Granted I have never had it in Japan so have nothing to compare it to and the versions I have eaten have been on the heavier, mushier and greasy side of things so I'm not sure I'll enjoy this but happy to give it a try...

The menu is short and the meat is mainly pork. There are three different types of okonomiyaki, three rice dishes and three sandwiches. There is plenty for vegetarians too. We order:

• Pork with bonito flakes okonomiyaki with extra of mochi rice cake and a fried egg
• Buta kim chi donburi which is stir fried pork and kim chi with a sesame mayo dressing on rice topped with a fried egg

It's not too long before the dishes arrive. I do wonder if the place is busier whether there would be time delays. Both dishes look appetising. The okonomiyaki is pretty much smothered in sauce so we have to pull it apart to try and see what's in there. When we do so we see thin discs of pork, some dense rice cakes and the layered pancake with what looks like cabbage - almost rosti like.

The homemade sauce and mayo is not as overpowering as it looks and the pickled ginger adds a nice tang that cuts through some of the density of the dish. It's rib stickingly good. Great to share - not sure who I would fare with a whole one. I'd like to try it with cheese next time which is on the add on list.

The donburi isn't the biggest bowl of rice in the world but it's sufficient. The quality of the kim chi is up there. It's not as astringent and strong as some and I really enjoy this mellowed out version. There's tang and spice but just enough.

Special mention to the two fried eggs - perfect egg yolk cooking!

The okonomiyaki ends up being $21 with the extras and the rice dish $15. I'm sure there are cheaper and likely larger versions out there but I am convinced of the quality of both dishes that I think it's a fair price to pay.

IWhen your birthday falls on a Friday, it means celebrations every day over the weekend right? So for Steve Saturday celebration of his 41st birthday we went to Kisume. We'd been advised to request seats at the sushi bar so I called up a couple of days ahead and they noted the request.

On the night we turned up on time for 8:15pm booking after a couple of heady cocktails imbibed en route and to our delight we took up our seats at the sushi bar.

As expected, it's far from the zen atmosphere of more traditional Japanese restaurants and it's this upbeat electric mood that makes Kisume approachable and popular for the mainstream. Although I love Minamishima, I also understand it doesn't appeal to everyone and some may even find the omokase style daunting. Here it's fun to try and voices can be loud and questions asked.

I overhear one of the sushi chef discuss salmon with one of the wait staff and he says it's white fish which I have never heard before so I take the opportunity to ask him. He explains indeed salmon is white fish, tuna is blue fish and there's also silver fish such as mackerel and sardine. It was great to learn and chat and he shared that he has only recently re-located to Melbourne for the opening of Kisume from Sydney. I love a story behind my food.

There's the sushi bar menu featuring a huge choice of sushi and sashimi as well as an omakase option. I've seen so many pictures of the deluxe feature box that I feel I really need to satisfy my tastebud curiosity. Our waitress advises that it's sufficient enough for two as a main course and perhaps order a couple of other dishes. 

Order just a few? When there's such a vast menu to choose from and I haven't yet mentioned the main menu where there are lots of other delicious sounding items like grilled mackerel, udon noodles, saikyo miso salmon.

So the box comes in two layers and there's an array of sushi and sashimi. It also comes with an aerosol canister to spray soy sauce on our sushi so we don't over season. How fancy and at the same time a bit of a novelty. It works though and it means the fish is the hero. It's not all fish though and there's a spicy raw beef atop a disc of cucumber which is delicious and possibly my favourite and some beef nigiri with truffle.

It's a delicious box of delights. The thinly sliced raw prawn with caviar is probably my least favourite but that's not to say it's bad.

By way of accompaniments to our box we go with:

• Tuna tataki - seared bluefin tuna, wasabi tofu, chilli yuzu ponzu
• Tempura kakiage - whiting, prawn, mushroom, asparagus, eggplant and corn

Our waitress helps us make the choices. She recommends the tuna and says the tempura is a goer if we have big appetites. The tuna is actually forgotten but when we flag it to her it comes out pretty quick. I'm not actually a huge fan of the tuna. I like the big cubes of fish but the wasabi tofu I find bland except for the strong wasabi flavour which I'm not a huge fan of anyway.

The tempura tower looks impressive and the different salts are a nice touch. It's not as crispy as I'd hoped and it is a little bit greasy. I think next time I'd choose two other accompanying dishes and there are plenty to choose from.

In spite of the waitress advising us that we have ordered enough, I feel I can take on more and she suggests the Wagyu truffle balls which come out looking like black truffle but they're deliciously meaty scented with truffle and a melted mozzarella filling. Yes they are delicious and yes I could have eaten more of them.

I don't really feel like asking our waitress about more savoury dishes though. But I will bear in mind for next time, that I can do more! Our waitress is pretty busy. In fact all the waitstaff seem a bit frantic. They don't come across stressed and they are all helpful and friendly but busy. As we decide to drink cocktails and beers, there are a couple of times it's the friendly sushi chef who either flags waitstaff down to bring us the drinks menu or goes and gets one for us himself! I guess it is peak time on a Saturday night though...

We loved our dinner at Kisume. The sushi bar is fun and I would say try and get seats there but it's not the end of the World if you can't and still go in spite of that. Whereas with Minamishima I would actually rather wait until I can secure sushi bar seats.

I'm really looking forward to trying more dishes at Kisume perhaps at a less busy time though as service, although far from bad, was spread a little thin. Except for the wonderfully helpful and charming sushi chef.

Newly opened on Little Collins Street along with a handful of other popular eateries, Sushi and Nori gets pretty busy on a lunch time.

Priced at a higher point than other sushi trains at $4.50 a plate and $8 for a premium dish, it's certainly not an every day kind of lunch. But it has to be said the quality of the fish is worth it. In my opinion, it's fresher than any of it's sushi train counterparts and I like the selection they have. The premium dishes tend to be more plates of sashimi or other ceviche type so less of the rice which is my preference. Yes I have a pricey palate!

I've been twice now, each time with a work colleague and the cosy seating has been conducive to chatter. Both times I've enjoyed the sushi and sashimi. The udon is nothing to write home about with the fried chicken getting soggy in the broth so save your $7 for sashimi! And I did have to keep asking for water refills.

Food aside; my first tip would be to avoid the seating that's not around the conveyor belt because having to get up and go to the tiny pick up area to obtain your food is a big, fat pain and I'd rather wait for a better seating space or skip it.

Value for money I'd still go Tetsujin. Authenticity and for that Japanese feel I'd go Sakura Kaiten but for freshness and deliciousness, Sushi and Nori is the one for me!

Sushi trains epitomise quick satisfaction for me and when you want food quickly, there's nothing better. Sakura Kaiten was recommended to me and so my husband and I popped in peak time on Friday night. Lucky for us there were spare seats so we squeezed in. 

Where sushi trains score high on food speed satisfaction, they struggle with comfort and personal space and Sakura is no different but if it's that authentic Japanese feel you want then it wins on that score. There are the zippy little food transporters that get pushed from the kitchen to the customer. There are Japanese anime figurines all over and it just feels street style authentic. The toilet roll holding Yoda in the bathroom was a little bit of a shock when I entered but it caused a giggle.

There's a wide choice of dishes both to order and also journeying round the conveyor belt. It's possible the widest choice I've seen. Certain dishes were delicious - tuna belly, salmon belly, fried chicken...all good. Not so good was the abalone nigiri. My piece was decent but my husband's had a huge gristly piece attached that hadn't been removed. There was also a whelk looking one that was a bit fishy and sandy for my tastes. Lucky I could remove the memory of it with another delicious piece of tuna.

I found the quality of the produce better than Hotaru. The sushi skills are unrefined though as some of the cuts weren't as precise as they could be; the abalone being an example and the jalapeno in the kingfish dish was all different thicknesses and sizes some bordering on chunks than slices. Our bill came to just over $100 for the two of us including a beer and a soft drink but still within reason.

I had my favourite kamo seiro with chilled soba noodles. It comes out on a tray with a hot bowl of duck broth, the bamboo mat of chilled noodles and a small bottle of the shichimi togarashi to spice things up. I love the chilled version because the noodles retain their bite whereas the hot version I find overcooks them. The broth is so flavoursome with slices of pink duck breast and pieces of eggplant and some enoki mushrooms.

Steve had the teriyaki chicken set lunch which is a small bowl of teriyaki chicken on rice and a plate of either warm or chilled soba noodles. He went with chilled and thoroughly enjoyed it.

It was a tasty lunch that feels light on the tummy but satisfies the tastebuds. Welcome to the neighbourhood Shimbashi. We're going to be great friends. 

It's been a long time that Emporium has had Calia hiding behind construction work. All that time has resulted in an attractive and appealing shop front with a bistro style restaurant and retail outlet with classy looking offerings.

A midweek lunch with friend / colleague tempted us in and we were quickly seated at a large shared table. Service was pretty quick and friendly.

Bowls of food are served around the $20 mark with a couple of more extravagant options. Our YOLO attitude saw us splurge the 30 plus dollars on the Calia chirashi bowl and the Calia Wagyu bowl. 

Both dishes were beautifully presented and came quickly so perfect for a lunch hour. The sashimi is undeniably good. Stonkingly fresh, the toro just melted in the mouth as it should. The soy based dipping sauce was delicious and the rice just right. Often I find the rice a bit too vinegary. This was a joy to eat. It's definitely a light lunch though but I don't begrudge the $35 as the quality is definitely there. 

My friend also did not begrudge the $32 for the Wagyu beef and declared it delicious. The perfectly cooked egg did look very appealing and I know I'll be going down this route next time.

Whilst I don't think the price point a turn off and it's on balance with the quality of produce, and the fit out is evidently classy, it still feels like a restaurant in shopping centre so there's no big sense of occasion or 'destination dining'. I think it will appeal to those from cities with swanky malls where it's the norm to have fine dining venues within them; the Hong Kong, Singapore type of shopping centre. My parents would love it as it's quick, good service, can bring the children and not feel they're going to be a problem and the food quality is there.

For me it doesn't feel like I'm going somewhere special for my feed although the actual feed is a good one.

The white table cloths and old world decor make it an occasion type restaurant for family birthdays where generations come together or grown ups night out or an intimate date. It's not stuffy, far from it, but it is classic.

We loved the sound of the dishes on the Tasting Menu so it was easy to go with that. The dishes came out promptly. Service was friendly although the one waiter who serviced our area was a little stretched when we were at maximum capacity and it wasn't always easy to get his attention. When we did manage to attract him, his response was speedy so it wasn't a bad experience.

The formula of the Tasting Menu hasn't changed from our previous visit. We started off with a series of small bites:

• Oyster shot with mirin and sake
  
• Ora King salmon and kingfish tartare
  
• ‘Black truffle’ potato croquette
  
• Tempura zucchini flowers with goat’s milk fetta
  
• Wagyu bresaola, enoki mushrooms, pickled daikon

The oyster shot was a yummy blend of sweet and salty with a deep savouriness to the liquid. Oyster shots are never the most attractive of dishes, reminding me of the animals preserved in liquid formaldehyde found in old museums and high school biology labs and this was the same. I guess the clear brown consomme like liquid and the shot glass contributed to this! But at least it tasted good!

Next I worked on the warm tempura zucchini flower which was a classic rendition with familiar flavours that have been proven to work and ever consistent, worked again.

The bresaola was well balanced in flavours too with some saltiness from the cured meat, a tang and a crunch from the pickle and then the earthy mushroom.

The salmon and kingfish tartare on a cracker was pleasant enough but need a little citrus kick I feel.

​The small disappointment was the small croquette that looked like a black truffle but didn't have much flavour to it and I found the filling a bit mushy and gluey. A small morsel though so not bad enough to have a huge impact on the overall enjoyment of this first course.

I didn't take a photo of the next course because it was more a dish of foam so it wasn't easy to see the individual tortellini:

• Mushroom wonton-tortellini, peas, truffled Parmigiano-Reggiano sauce

Where the previous fish dish was light and bright, this pasta came with a punch. Flavour wise the cheese foam was intense and rich. The tortellini filling was creamy and decadent and the peas added intensity with a sweet finish. It was delicious but I couldn't eat more than the three pieces served and for me the sauce was just on the side of manageable. Any more cheese in it would have been too overwhelming for me.

It was a little weird to have the noise of a 21st birthday party come through to the refined dining room and even weirder when I wen to the ladies' bathroom and could barely get in with all the young ladies vying for the mirror, reapplying lip gloss and spraying hairspray and perfume. I was transported back to the 90s when I would have been one of them which was a strange sensation given I'd just had a very grown up and civilised meal. This little experience just didn't quite sit with the whole fine dining package.

There are three, two hatted restaurants all within 15 minutes walk of home for us - Cutler & Co,, St, Crispin and here. At all three the food is of a strong standard. I struggle with the darkness of the dining room at Cutler & Co. on an evening and here I felt the ambience especially with the nightclub ending of our meal was also a little off. I think my favourite for food and ambience would be St. Crispin but it's a pretty tight two hat race.

Called in on Saturday just after 6pm after a cinema date with my girlfriend Kirsty. It was a belated birthday get together and we thought we'd have a couple of drinks and some food.

Sake was pretty empty and we were given a choice of sushi bar or table and opted for the comfort of a table.

A quick peruse of the menu and cocktails were chosen:

Pink Blossom - served short
Choya umeshu, fresh strawberries and cranberry juice shaken with passionfruit and lime

Miss Wednesday- served over ice
Japanese shochu, rose and lychees shaken with vanilla and fresh lime. Our twist on a lychee Caiprioska

They were delicious - fresh, fruity, fun and exactly what we were looking for. Service was pretty prompt and quick although they brought us still mineral water when we just wanted Victoria's finest vintage. Our waiter was knowledgeable and proficient and really aside from the water and an attempted delivery of a dish we hadn't order, it was a pretty slick set up.

The dishes we ordered come out pretty quickly so it's a good place if you're wanting something pacey. If you want a longer leisurely meal then perhaps ask them to go slow.​​

• Prawn shumai | ponzu sauce
• Wing | vintage soy | mandarin

I've had the prawn shumai at the Hamer Hall premises and I like the noodle casing and prawn filling. Definitely a crowd pleaser.

We ordered two yakitori, the wings and the fillet (unpictured). Both were delicious. The wings had a sticky sweetness whereas the fillet was smoky with a hint of citrus.

Again the rest of our dishes arrive quickly and it's fun to be able to pick and nibble Asian tapas style.

• Rice cracker crusted tuna | pink grapefruit | vintage soy
• Kingfish jalapeño | yuzu soy | jalapeño | coriander
• Spider maki | soft shell crab | sudachi | shiso
• Crispy duck | green tomato | hassaku | nasturtium 

The sashimi is all spankingly fresh. I don't taste the pink grapefruit in the tuna so it makes it fairly standard tuna sashimi. Tasty but not necessarily creative and the pink grapefruit could have made it more than ordinary.

The duck was a bit difficult to eat as it was two big pieces so easy to share but with just chopsticks we couldn't cut it and I tried to bite it but it was just a bit too tough to do that. 

It was all executed well and everything tasted good so it hit the expectations but it wasn't mind blowing but I'd happily eat it all again.

• Chocolate aero | crystalized violets | Madagascan vanilla 
  

We share dessert and it was a very good dessert, Chocolate, honeycomb ice cream - really it's a true crowdpleaser and a delicious way to end things.

Our bill came to $275 and it did include all the food plus 4 cocktails. It's a pricey evening and I've always thought Sake to be expensive but enjoyable and little sister Sake is definitely from the same genepool. It's a slick operation but it's also pretty slick on the wallet.

Since moving North side, we've struggled to go South of the river in spite of the appetising lure of Hanoi Hannah, Saigon Sally and Tokyo Tina. We've been able to resist their charms thus far. But this Saturday we found ourselves in Windsor at a 40th birthday party and decided to pop in for a late feed. Well late for us old fogeys but it was more just after 10pm and Chapel Street was pretty pumping!

Tina was still bustling in spite of the off peak hour but we were warmly showed two places at the bar. Steve is doing Febfast and I didn't want to cause him too much grief so in spite of the impressive drinks list and the fact it was Saturday night and we were in a bar it was green tea for two. And we didn't feel too out of place!

We ordered pretty quickly and our food arrived even quicker! I love it when food comes out speedily. And the service is smiley with lots of checking in to make sure all is good.

Our first two dishes to arrive are:

• ​ORGANIC SOBA SALAD Salmon Sashimi, Pumpkin, Snow Pea, Ponzu Ginger Dressing
• WAGYU BEEF TATAKI Miso Mustard, Pickled Onion & Nectarine 

My initial reaction to the soba salad is that it looked dry but and lacklustre but actually it was really tasty Fresh flavours, pickly tones and zest. Yummy. The tataki was also tasty with a sweet richness from the miso mustard. I like my beef tataki cut a touch thicker but I'm being picky!

Traditionally Hawaiian and basically a form of ceviche, Tina's twist was to have it on top of warm rice. With fresh lime, coconut milk, shreds of chilli, sprigs of coriander and fresh sweet tomatoes this was delicious. The fresh snapper and fresh coconut shavings were really brought out of their potentially bland selves and joined the flavour party! And these are my kind of flavours.

We found Tina hospitable and the food delicious. Worth the journey and I'm a little bit jealous that there in spite of all the wonders of the North side, we don't have a Tina!