Komeyui Japanese Restaurant

Komeyui is one of the hidden Japanese restaurants that has yet to make its mark on the Top 10 on Urbanspoon. But hey, that's the perks of being in Melbourne restaurants like this are scattered around like hidden gems waiting to be discovered food aficionados like you and I. 

As you can see, they are well stocked with a wide selection of Japanese sake and other alcoholic beverages from Japan.

     And of course, they cater to the Australian wine lovers too...

Entree  of the night, seaweed and mash potatoes

Here comes the #1 dish we orders, Tonkatsu drizzled with sweet and sour plum/tangerine sauce works perfect with the dollop of mustard

And of course, my favourite cold dish! #2 Gyu Tataki dressed with scallions, grated radish and lemon juice to bring out its best potential ...mmmm mmm texture was so tender and the fact that its cold makes its taste so much more refreshing.

Now this is a must try! Its #3 pumpkin cakes served with shitake mushrooms with a sweet sticky shoyu sauce. Best eaten when hot, the combination of the crispy outside and the super soft texture of the pumpkin puree was simply amazing. And you will not stop at just once piece.

#4 Chawanmushi! (Steam egg custard)  yes yes it is a tad bit pricy $12 for a little bowl of this yummy goodness but trust me guys its worth it! In my experience of making chawanmushi, its a texture and the smoothness of the custard was nothing that I'd be able to make .YET. But what makes this dish so special is that glossy sauce you see, its almost like a sticky broth that took hours to cook to extract such a rich flavour from the ingredients. It separates it from any regular Chawanmushi.

The #5 Sashimi here is to-die-for, the variety and the freshness of the fish was impeccable!

Maguro with seaweed. 

#6 Miso Cod fish

Now unfortunately, Komeyui does not have what it takes yet to raise up to the standards of Nobu's the Miso black cod. Its good but just not as good as Nobu,

#7 Curry Hotpot (Shabu-shabu) with pork and served with noodles. 

I'd rate this dish perfect for Winter but it wasn't my favourite dish.

Generous portions enough to be shared by 2-3 people.

And here comes the last dish, Macha and Black sesame ice-cream with home made sponge cakes.

Just we were about to get the bill, the chef approached us with this complimentary dish

Sea snails with Uni ( Sea urchin ) butter sauce

I was expecting it to be a tiny teeny size like the typical escargots that I am very familiar with

BUT to our surprise.. 

it was much bigger than we expected, even I struggled to bring myself to eat it after seeing its true colours. Taste was similar to escargots but ugh I just can't get pass how it looks. Almost alien like

And that's all for now folks! Thank you for reading :)

Nana is REAL

 His: Boots fr Windsor Smith, Pants & Shirt :- Country Road

Hers:- Bag from ZKIN Hong Kong, Large polka dot shorts fr little boutique in Bangkok, Forever 21 bustier top, Vintage Jacket from mom and wedges from Country Road 

Discovering St. Ali's again

On our way to South Melbourne, I was charmed by the vibrant surroundings where St Ali is located when we first went but I did not manage to take any photos then and that made a perfect reason to visit St Ali's again!  And I was also very much hooked by its 'pablo escobar pepperonata' 

Check out their MENU here! Am loving the quirky names 

Burst of colours on the buildings as you walk towards the restaurant , its not only unique it gives it very hippy town look where people come to relax and enjoy a good cup of coffee. 

 
St Ali's earned its recognition a few years back for one of the best coffees but recently its title has been snatched by Dead man espresso just allocated near by along with Brother baba budda topping the 'best coffee' list in the recent years.

So I ordered by usual latte, I must say its not too shabby ! Still has lots of character in it but it lacked the kick. 
Notice how i like to be situated near the coffee counter hahaha.. I am just drawn to the beautiful aroma of the coffee beans 

 My pick of the day was..the Mexican cousin. Corn fritters with baby spinach and smoke salmon on the side. I knew I should've order some crispy bacon to go with it BUT I passed this time only to find myself finishing this dish thinking how it'd taste so awesome with bacon. Sigh

 The moo sanga a.k.a Steak sandwich which was awesome  except for the ONE pea as described by Jon the hungry. 

I took a bite, giving in to how awesome it looked. And yes I would second that statement it does taste awesome.

 I knew it was gonna be a 'happy ending' when I saw this ......A perfectly poached egg. I am very very very picky with how i like my poached eggs. If it ain't runny! It ain't yummy!

  In contrast to the awesome surroundings, we found another place that gives a happy ending.. okay maybe not. 

Night out, dine out @Cumulus Inc part I

 We started the feast with a little cider and some duck terrine with prune and apple, we did also order some beautiful and creamy foie gras. Due to the hunger and distraction, I FORGOT to take photos of them after devouring almost all of it.. 

 Duck Terrine was amazing paired with the apple and prune chutney gave it a rather interesting sweet and salty taste. I preferred the foie gras but Eunice was loving this dish 

Next on was grilled yabbies with aioli and lemon , my favourite part....the claws!

 Look at that beauty, I am almost drooling as I type haha... the smell and the freshness of the seafood was just amazing. The last time when i was here they had Mackerel and calamari dressed in zeisty lime juice with leak BUT Cumulus tends to change their menu every now and then. Unfortunately for me, they took it off the menu. 

Check out their Cumulus Menu

 Partner in crime that night!

Cumulus Inc do not take reservation unless its 8 people or more and it is always packed when I am here, mostly the after work crowd. They have an open kitchen on display as well which leaves the place with delicious aroma of awesome food being cooked.

This dish of Duck breast with lots of garnish that i can't name it was on special that night and yes yes i would say its very very yummy! Look how succulent  it is !!

Most people visit Cumulus for its Whole Lamb shoulder ideally shared by 3 people, I shall upload that on the next post :)