Horoki Casual Dining Bar

Location: 19 Liverpool Street, Melbourne
Tel: 9663 2227

TASTES OF THE WANDERER

Don't be fooled by the Japanese name. Horoki, whilst staffed by Japanese (read: not Chinese/Malaysians/people from Hong Kong PRETENDING to be Japanese) defies being pidgeon-holed. It draws influence from as far away as Italy and Spain, as well as more regional sources like China. Chef Kenji Higuchi does a brilliant job of fusing these flavours together in a harmonious blend that justifies repeated visits to this tiny city restaurant.

The drinks list is very reasonably priced and Asian beer is well represented including favourites such as Tsingtao, Asahi and Tiger. However these are all just distractions to the main event which is the food of Kenji Higuchi. I ordered the Daikon Salad with Sashimi ($13.50) and the Baby Octopus Roast in Garlic Butter ($13.50). Both were excellent, although the Daikon Salad was a real standout. A large dish was liberally filled with cos lettuce, cherry tomatoes and topped with julienne of fresh daikon then julienne of deep fried daikon and seaweed. Around the edges were laid gleaming tiles of tuna, swordfish and salmon sashimi, all liberally covered with tobiko. The dressing was appeared to be a balsamic vinaigrette. The contrast in textures between the fresh and fried daikon was fantastic, whilst the lashings of tobiko eliminated any need for soya sauce with the fish. All in all, a brilliantly conceived and executed dish.



The Baby Octopus was served in a clay dish bubbling with garlic butter. It would not have been out of place in a Spanish restaurant. However, the dish was marred slightly by the chewiness of the octopus, which can probably be attributed to overcooking but this is only a small complaint.



In addition, we had the smoked salmon nigiri, which was served after having had a blow torch run over the surface, leaving a nice charcoal flavour to the sushi. In my opinion, the freshness of the fish and the quality of the cooking put this sushi up there with Shira Nui, the undoubted king of sushi in Melbourne.

My dining companions had the soft shell crab, swordfish tataki and steak tartare, and all received similar rave reviews.

As my dining companion (who had been here on previous ocassions) very astutely pointed out, it is hard to make a bad choice at Horoki. I will definitely be making a return to this very fine restaurant.


Rating: 18/20