Izakaya Kuuraku

There's a lot of Japanese to be had in Melbourne's CBD and generally I find most Japanese places to be of decent quality. I was invited to try their 'semi' private dining experience. From the outside, you can't really see much, but as soon as you go inside, it's a very large open space. It feels like a very swanky bar that serves decent food and drinks by the bar. On a busy Saturday night, this would be a fun option to try with friends. Back to the dining experience, we sampled a lot of food. and we had a dedicated sushi chef make our food in front of us and talk us through the experience. It felt very authentic. The chef was so knowledgeable and friendly and loves his cuisine. It made the experience extra special. As for the food. The seafood is dependent on what they get on the day at the markets, so you know it's going to be good. There is a focus on yakitori here and I never thought I could enjoy yakitori any more than I did. The matching sake was a nice touch. We had a really fun time. I'd love to take my friends here for a fun night out. If it ends up retailing at the $100 mark, then this was a spectacular experience in terms of value and food.

Nothing majorly interesting about this place. Food was decent, some skewers were okay while other dishes were better. Favourite of the night was definitely the garlic edamame. The agadashi tofu came in a weird thick dashi, which was more like a gravy than broth. Place is more targeted towards fans of Japanese anime culture as large tv screens are airing anime during your meal. Our waiter was not great, he didn't know the specials of the night (Christmas Eve) and had to go ask twice to remember it all, and provided lack luster service.

Tried the wagyu beef here and the dish was called Wagyu Kushi. It was amazing!! Since this was a Japanese establishment, I wanted to try out the Japanese whisky Hibiki. So I’m a single malt scotch lover and as much as I wanted to go for that, I chose to try Hibiki and I wasn’t disappointed at all. In fact this was strong and had a very similar taste to the Glenlivet or Macallan. I also tried something out of the ordinary - instead of a going for sushi or sashimi, I went for their KFC; yeah that’s Kuuraku Fried Chicken. If you haven’t tried Japanese fried chicken you definitely want to try this. Holy smokes it was so good! This is very unlike the usual KFC’s chicken. I’m going there again!

Sorry no raw fish, please. Fish was smelly and they served the worst sashimi I ever had in Melbourne. At the table, I complained about the unfresh sashimi to the person who were serving the table. A word from the kitchen, "Sorry", was returned by the person and I was charged for the full cost for the dish. I have no interests to return to the restaurant.