We spent the Saturday night in Daylesford and Steve made a reservation at Kazuki's. The dining room offered cool respite during a very warm day and I loved the restaurant from the moment we stepped in. I loved the cool and airy decor, the mural on the wall, the pretty lampshades...
I also loved the story behind Kazuki's and its logo:
Mountain - Mt Fuji – Mt Franklin
Fish – Koi (Japanese carp) – Trout (Tuki rainbow trout)
Mist, cloud or water – connecting two countries
Water drops – The Southern Cross
Oak leaves – Kazuki’s family crést
Plum blossoms – Saori’s family crést
Bottom branch - Family (Kazuki, Saori & two children)
A man fishing at the top of Mt. F – Kazuki
Kazuki arrived in Daylesford a few years ago and he and his wife Saori set up Kazuki's which in its short life span has achieved its one hat award.
I also loved the story behind Kazuki's and its logo:
Mountain - Mt Fuji – Mt Franklin
Fish – Koi (Japanese carp) – Trout (Tuki rainbow trout)
Mist, cloud or water – connecting two countries
Water drops – The Southern Cross
Oak leaves – Kazuki’s family crést
Plum blossoms – Saori’s family crést
Bottom branch - Family (Kazuki, Saori & two children)
A man fishing at the top of Mt. F – Kazuki
Kazuki arrived in Daylesford a few years ago and he and his wife Saori set up Kazuki's which in its short life span has achieved its one hat award.
The food opened up with a tofu shot with dashi and a bread roll with black seaweed butter.
I loved the softness of the bread roll and the saltiness of the butter, reminiscent of Vegemite when spread on the bread.
I was offered another roll and I accepted but it never arrived. I was offered a roll three times by the three different wait staff and I accepted three times but said bread roll never materialised...but my plate was always there. They must have thought I ate a lot of rolls!
On a Saturday evening it's a fixed degustation menu with options to add some special courses. We decided to both go for an extra course of oysters and share the special luxury course of crab and shaved Spanish truffle.
I loved the softness of the bread roll and the saltiness of the butter, reminiscent of Vegemite when spread on the bread.
I was offered another roll and I accepted but it never arrived. I was offered a roll three times by the three different wait staff and I accepted three times but said bread roll never materialised...but my plate was always there. They must have thought I ate a lot of rolls!
On a Saturday evening it's a fixed degustation menu with options to add some special courses. We decided to both go for an extra course of oysters and share the special luxury course of crab and shaved Spanish truffle.
Oysters four ways – abalone, shiso, tempura, gravadlax with oyster cream was beautifully presented and just delicious. We loved the different flavours and the stand out favourites were the tempura oyster which was salty and crunchy as well as the gravadlax with oyster cream which was a thick slice of delicious salmon, a creamy emulsion and then intensified by the actual oyster.
Beef tataki, anchovy, radish, potato, yuzu was our next course. The flavours were very clean and pure with the crunch of the fried potato strands. I think the anchovy was meant to season the beef but I didn't get much saltiness so a little more wouldn't have gone amiss.
The scallop ceviche, jalapeno, quinoa, coriander was breathtakingly delicious. The crunchy toastiness of the quinoa and the soft, sweet silkiness of the scallop, flavoured with a spike of jalapeno and the fragrance of coriander was just tongue tinglingly brilliant. Reminiscent of the wonder yellowtail sashimi with yuzu soy, coriander and jalapeno at Nobu, this little variation had an added textural dimension and more in depth sweetness from the scallop.
The scallop ceviche, jalapeno, quinoa, coriander was breathtakingly delicious. The crunchy toastiness of the quinoa and the soft, sweet silkiness of the scallop, flavoured with a spike of jalapeno and the fragrance of coriander was just tongue tinglingly brilliant. Reminiscent of the wonder yellowtail sashimi with yuzu soy, coriander and jalapeno at Nobu, this little variation had an added textural dimension and more in depth sweetness from the scallop.
I was really looking forward to the Moreton Bay bug dumplings, sake emulsion, ponzu jelly, rainbow chard. The ponzu jelly melted into the emulsion darkening it and flavouring it. The dumpling filling was sweet and dense with a good bouncy texture and the wrappers were thin and pasta like not unlike the wonderful tortellini we had the night before at Grossi Florentino Upstairs.
The ultimate special dish we decided to share followed - Spanner crab omelette, sauce american, avruga, shaved Spanish black truffle. Whilst this was good, it didn't overwhelm me with deliciousness like previous courses. The sauce american was a bit thousand island dressing like so too rich to eat by itself so a puddle of it was left.
The ultimate special dish we decided to share followed - Spanner crab omelette, sauce american, avruga, shaved Spanish black truffle. Whilst this was good, it didn't overwhelm me with deliciousness like previous courses. The sauce american was a bit thousand island dressing like so too rich to eat by itself so a puddle of it was left.
We continued on with the fish dishes and moved to snapper, brandade, scampi, confit pepper, caper berries. This was a move away from the Japanese inspired dishes and was almost Mediterranean. Bright flavours and fish that was cooked perfectly - it was delicious and we enjoyed the sweet and sunny flavours of the confit capsicum whi.ch was a backdrop to the delicate white fish flavour.
For the last of our savoury courses, we ended on such a high - pork belly, Asian vegetables, wombok and mint salad served with a BBQ pork bun each which we were advised to dip into the broth. Less Japanese and more Chinese - who cares as it was so good. The pork belly was like char siu and the pork buns were sweet and soft and so pillowy and delicious.
The richness and heaviness of the previous meat course was kissed away by a kanmi translated as bitesize sweetness which was a delicious sorbet served in a cute glass container. It was icy and sweet and just what was needed to cleanse the palate and prepare it for dessert.
Lemon verbena crème brûlée, cardamom, genji was dessert and I forgot to take a picture. I remember the creme brulee was good but I wasn't keen on the cardamom ice cream mainly because I'm not a fan of cardamom so it was never going to be a winner with me.
Dinner at Kazuki's was refreshing and we loved the clean flavours that came through each dish. It thoroughly deserves the acclaim it is receiving and I would definitely recommend people to try it.
Lemon verbena crème brûlée, cardamom, genji was dessert and I forgot to take a picture. I remember the creme brulee was good but I wasn't keen on the cardamom ice cream mainly because I'm not a fan of cardamom so it was never going to be a winner with me.
Dinner at Kazuki's was refreshing and we loved the clean flavours that came through each dish. It thoroughly deserves the acclaim it is receiving and I would definitely recommend people to try it.
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