While visiting Melbourne for the weekend, a friend and I wanted to try Japanese restaurant Kisume for lunch. I really wanted to try Kuro Kisume, the chef’s table upstairs (only 14 seats), but it had been booked out several weeks in advance so we settled on the ground floor sushi bar and restaurant. I chose seats at the sushi bar so we could watch the sushi chefs work. I was impressed to see a mocktail menu in the drinks list. I chose the ‘sakura’ of cherry blossom tea, soda, lemon and rosewater ($10), while my friend ordered the ‘yuzu’ of yuzu, soda, pink grapefruit zest and orange ($10).
We decided to try the Kisume Tasting Menu featuring Kisume’s eight signature dishes for $88 per person.
Course 1 – Cobia sashimi – These were juicy, oh-so fresh and I loved the light soy marinade on top. I would have easily polished off a few more pieces.
Course 2 – char-grilled edamame with sea salt, shiso flower and garlic oil. I absolutely loved the seasoning, particularly the charred garlic goodness, and just couldn’t stop nibbling at these.
Course 3 – steamed king crab gyoza with quail egg and bonito vinaigrette. This was a little odd to eat as I wanted to make sure I didn’t spill the quail egg yolk. I loved the smooth gyoza skin which wasn’t too thick or thin. The gyoza themselves only had a small hint of crab, which may have been drowned out by the raw egg, so I would have preferred more crab meat (but who wouldn’t?).
Course 4 – assorted sashimi box consisting of salmon and avocado rolls topped with salmon roe, nigiri topped with tuna and cobia, and kingfish sashimi. Nicely presented and very moreish. The salmon and avocado rolls already had a little bit of wasabi in them, so if you can’t handle or don’t like wasabi, let the chefs know beforehand!
Course 5 – Miso soup with tofu that was cut to represent a flower. This was nothing amazing but a nice simple miso soup.
Course 6 – foie gras beef eye fillet which I was very much looking forward to. This was the dish of the day for me. The thick slab of foie gras on top acted like a delicious umami butter that melted into the most tender beef. I was advised that the eye fillet would be cooked medium rare and I was happy with that. Succulent and so good! My only complaint was that I didn’t receive a steak knife which would have sliced through the beef a lot easier rather than having to use pressure to squish it down due to a blunt knife.
The restaurant provided barramundi topped with crispy puffed rice to my friend who doesn’t eat red meat. It looked so good! And it was a very large portion.
We also received thick cuts of cucumber garnished with coriander and mint as a side dish. The freshness was great with the protein but we did not get through it all.
Course 8 – dessert of caramel textures to share. Caramel and gingerbread sponge cake, caramel sauce and the lightest whipped caramel accompanied by freeze dried mandarin, ponzu gel, roasted puffed rice and caramelised pecans. This was a great way to finish our meal – light and carefully balanced.
It was a Friday late lunch, around 1.30pm, and I thought service was polite and attentive. I liked that our waiter was able and willing to go through the menu and options with us. The sushi chefs didn’t seem to mind that I was taking photos of their knife mastery but weren’t very talkative or interactive with guests. Our starters came out reasonably quickly with a bit of a wait for our mains. We both had a good experience at Kisume, though I’m eager to book into Kuro Kusime upstairs.
Kisume
175 Flinders Lane, Melbourne CBD
Opening hours: Seven days from 12 noon until late.
Foodgasm 8/10
Value for money 7/10
Service 8/10
FPJ score 25/30
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