179 King Street
Melbourne, VIC 3000
To whoever this may concern,
I am finally back~ d=(´▽｀)=b
I was in Vietnam for a while but I am back with this post :)
This time, it's Japanese BBQ! This is actually the first time I've been to a Japanese BBQ restaurant, it is usually Korean BBQ that I go to. I've always had an interest in Japanese BBQ but never had the chance to go so this was something I was really looking forward to!
As all BBQ places, it's not easy on your wallets. The Tori Matsu Course gives you a plate of everything for $29.90. That's a fair amount if you think you can't eat more than one serving of everything on the menu. The 90 minutes all you can eat is the same menu however there is no limit to how much you can order as long as you relatively finish everything you order. This menu is a bit more expensive of course, $36.80 for males and $32.80 for females. They won't kick you out on exactly 90 minutes unless it is really busy, I went when there was hardly anyone so they didn't say anything to me :) I'll go through each dish with the pictures below~
I've seen this BBQ plate in so many Japanese films but it's so exciting to finally to the real thing! :D
The interior looks very authentic and gives off a nice feel to the place. You really feel welcomed by the atmosphere in here.
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| Hot Japanese Tea $5 |
It's a Japanese restaurant so it calls for some Hot Japanese Tea. It was very fragrant but not bitter at all so that was quite enjoyable for me.
The vegetables! Mushrooms, pumpkin, sweet potato, eggplant, cucumber and carrots (yes the last two aren't in the picture, we just ate them as they were). This is kind of expected so I won't make any comments here :)
Okay, first meat dish; squid. Not the best in my opinion. The flavour wasn't that strong and it didn't seem to that fresh to me. We only ordered one serving of this.
Second dish, pork. This one pretty much makes up for the squid's lack of flavour. It was full of juiciness. We really liked this dish so we ordered two of these dishes. Only problem with this dish (for me, maybe not for some of you) is that there was a lot of fat in this but what can you do when they give you pork belly~ ^^ The second dish of this really pushed it for us though.
Third; beef porterhouse. Can't complain, the meat was cut into fine pieces which made it easy to cook and eat. Not as flavoursome as the pork but had enough for this dish. x2 for this dish too!
Fourth; Chicken~ I generally am a big fan of chicken, always yes for chicken. However this one disappointed me. It was difficult to cook, pretty plain to eat and didn't really go well with anything. If this was marinated then it would of been pretty nice but it wasn't, so what can you do? Only one dish of this.
Fifth; Beef tongue. My recommended meat dish. This was beautiful. I can't even put proper words to this. It was the best meat dish and you just need to get down here to try it. x2 for this dish as well.
Salmon Sushi (well it's nigiri but whatever, I'll let them have it).
This is one of the, if not, best salmon nigiri I've had in Melbourne. The rice was not too dry but also not too moist and the salmon was fresh and just simply melted in my mouth. This was actually our second serving, we ordered four of them to start with and then ordered eight for the second serving. Simply loved this.
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| Asabiraki Suijin Junmai Okarakuchi Sake $28 |
We had to top it off with some sake while we were here. They had run out of the cheaper varieties so we opted for this one.
There are well balanced umami, sweetness and richness of Iwate local grown Toyonishiki rice with its super dry crisp finish of SMV (Sake Meter Value) +10.
This sake would be a good supporter to bring
up the flavours of each dish.
As the SMV indicated, it was a very dry sake (higher value means more dry, lower means more sweet). It tasted quite similar to typical vodka if anything. It did however bring out the flavours of our dishes. A nice drink with our bbq indeed.
Wrap Up!
Tori Matsu
The pork, beef porterhouse and beef tongue were all amazing. The chicken and squid not so much. The beauty of this place is, we can choose what we want and only order the things we like. The sushi is absolutely a must get and the sake was a nice compliment to the meal.
For you who are curious to know, our total bill came to $106.60. Around ~$50 each for me and my friend. Yes it is pricey but I think it's a nice treat once in a while.
Food: 7.5/10
Service: 8/10
Price: 7.5/10
Overall: 7.67/10
If you're looking to have some Japanese BBQ and not too fussed with spending a bit more then this is definitely the place to go.
Til the time I crave again.
~R
