Food for your; stomach.

Mmm. Keep these izakayas coming to Melbourne. The fad is strong, with 3 places popping up in the recent months all over the city. And places like Ichi Ni, En Izakaya, Maedaya are very good and the price is always decent for the quality of the food.

So me, dadster and a friend of his decide to go a quick after work bite, and this place never ceases to SAY-TIS-FY. The staff is very friendly (other than the Maître d’, but that’s all I’m going to comment) and the food is always some really authentic Japanese pub fare. For those who don’t comply, “Izakaya is a type of Japanese drinking establishment which also serves food to accompany the drinks. The food is usually more substantial than that offered in other types of drinking establishments in Japan such as bars or snack bars, and may be compared to Spanish tapas.” - wiki. So yeah, to the dishes..

Entrees:

Edamame : Um yeah, these are just plain boiled baby soybeans in a pod. They’re damn addictive though, just pop and it shoots right into your mouth. There’s this awesome toy I saw in Japan where you can just pop em out, then put them in again. Best idea:ridiculous ratio ever.

Gyoza: Delicious gyozas, nice crisp, good meat. I don’t see how one could transcend this dish any further though. I think they can only be below average or good. One day..

Kushiyaki:

Tsukune: This is a chicken, mince/burger skewer. I like it. It was a bit too overcooked tonight though, but otherwise it has a nice smoky flavour.

Tori: Yeah, these are like the yakitori you get at those food courts, except a lot better. The chicken is uber moist and has that nice punchy, sweet teriyaki flavour. These are yum-yums.

BM: Pork belly (Butabara). Holy crap these are good. Tender melt in your mouth pork belly, with a nice crust of smoky salt. We ordered three serves of these blessed pieces of the pig.

Unagi: Chargrilled eel. These are really nice, but I do suspect they’re microwaved.. They still don’t have that exquisite texture they have with fresh eel. But nevertheless, a very good dish.

Small Mix Sushi: Their sushi is also always very good. Very fresh and the meister works his wasabi ratio well. The size of the morsels are also excellent.

If you ever want to enjoy a drink and have some fairly awesome Japanese “tapas” to with it, step by to Ichi Ni. In Japan these places are everywhere and Ichi Ni does a pretty damn good rendition. Although can be expensive, prices can be cheap if you know what to order ;) Plus the place is fairly spunk.