Shira Nui

Address: 247 Springvale Road, Glen Waverley
Tel: 9886 7755

SOPHISTICATION IN THE SUBURBS

It is a far too common occurrence in the suburbs that one enters Japanese restaurants only to find them staffed by waiters, and far worse, chefs, from Hong Kong or China. Sushi shops are the new juice bar and it seems as if everyone is trying to cash in on the craze, even if it means substanddard food.

Shira Nui suffers no such downfall. Upon entering this little 30 seater restaurant in Glen Waverley, one is immediately greeted by calls of 'irashaimasu' (welcome in Japanese). The chef, Hiro Nishikura proudly displays his certifications and credentials behind the sushi bar. As time would reveal, these were well earnt.

We went on a weekday for lunch and had no trouble securing a booking the morning we were going. However I would suggest booking as the restaurant is small, and does attract the business element from around the area. When we were there, it had no trouble filling up all 30 or so seats by 1 pm. The reason for this became apparent. The sushi lunch menu offers exceptional value for around $15-20. There is also hot food available, but undoubtedly the strength of this restaurant lays in its sushi/sushimi.

We had the $20 lunch set which included 2 small entrees, miso soup, chawan mushi, and a bowl of sushi. The entree included a few pieces of gently poached eggplant in a pool of dashi broth topped by Bonito flakes. Most definitely a highlight of the meal - simple, yet the flavours worked well together. My dining companions agreed. The cold noodles in a light mayonnaise with rocket were nice but not spectacular.



The chawan mushi was an eggy custard served warm with flecks of fish at the bottom. This custard had a suitably silken texture however one minor complaint is that it was a touch salty.



The sushi spread consisted of a couple of pieces each of Salmon, Tuna, Eel, John Dory (and another white fleshed fish I can't place) and egg served on a bed of sushi rice. The fish was firm and tasty, with none of the fishy taste one associates with fish that has past its sushi use by. The eel had a lovely fatty flavour to it that was only enhanced by the way it was cooked.



All in all it was a great meal that was only marred by the slightly inattentive but well-meaning staff.


Rating: 17/20

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

Paradise Indian Restaurant

Location: 190-200 Jells Road, Wheelers Hill Shopping Centre
Website: http://www.paradiseindian.com.au
Tel: 9561 6661

THE QUIET ACHIEVER

I have often wondered about how this unassuming little suburban Indian restaurant survives. The shopfront appeared small and few customers could ever be seen leaving or entering. However, upon entering the restaurant I was surprized to find it bigger than it appeared from the outside. Despite it being a Monday night, the business was still reasonable.

For drinks my dining companion and I had mango lassi, on which Paradise had put their own twist by adding a pinch of cinnamon. It was not too thick unlike some other lassis, and cinnamon worked well without being too sweet.

With regards to the mains, we had butter chicken ($14) and lamb kesari ($13) served with naan ($2.50) and steamed rice ($3.50). The chicken was nicely presented in a clay pot, and it was even better to see they had refrained from using lashings of butter as is common with many suburban Indian places. The lamb kesari was very competently executed with the yoghurt and onion complementing the lamb as opposed to overpowering it. Any traces of saffron evident in the dish were too subtle for my admittedly insophisticated palette to detect.

In summary, this is a very reasonably priced restaurant that I would have no hesitation going back to. The service was polite and friendly, but a touch inattentive when it comes to matters such as water which pulls this restaurant down slightly.

Rating: 15/20