In my opinion, Shoya is one of the best fusion-Japanese
in Melbourne; it borders on ridiculously authentic, with fresh sashimi which
sweetly melts in your mouth, whilst also introducing new flavours and
techniques into the mix, like creating a dessert out of a tomato; with every
dish being beautifully plated up every time. Usually when I eat at Shoya, I
order the banquet omasake, but after many people commenting on how exquisite
the a la carte menu is, I had to try it for myself.
We started with the Salmon Sashimi ($19.8) which
was a beautiful little dish we knew would be a winner. Fresh, delicious raw
salmon waited to jump into our mouths.
The Beef Tataki ($12.0) is something I usually avoid, as I prefer
tuna. This tataki consisted of lightly grilled Wagyu beef served
chilled with grated plum radish, quail egg and ponzu sauce, which ended up full
of flavour but still very chewy by the end.
Nama Shii Hotate ($16.5 for 3pc) was
described as mashed scallops softly surrounding the quail egg topped with
shiitake mushroom in a gentle tempura. The tempura fried quails egg and
mushroom combination was nice and delicate, whilst the green tea salt garnish highlighted
the moreish taste.
Chawanmushi ($8.5) is my absolute
favourite Japanese dish. A steamed egg omelette with chicken, prawn, shiitake
mushroom and bamboo shoots so soft and beautiful I am always left wanting more.
Great .
Eel is definitely not my thing,
and I mostly blame the miniscule bones that pepper the eel flesh. This Unagi
Kabayaki ($32.0) however, had no bones!! I was able to enjoy the heavier eel
meat covered in a semi-sweet pepper sauce.
Being a carb queen, I hastily
ordered the Mentai Potato salad ($9.0); a mashed potato topped with spicy cod
roe, but ultimately ended up as nothing special. It was a nice and creamy mash,
with the salty roe making it slightly better than average, but nothing you
couldn’t do at home.
To end the meal, we opted for the
Sea Urchin Cheesecake ($16.0) which was silky soft to taste, but I had no idea
where the sea urchi was as I didn't taste any saltiness at all. Nevertheless,
maybe that’s what made it great. The nut crumble was an easy way to create a
crunchy texture to contrast the smooth cake.
TL;DR Shoya will make for a beautiful meal out, every time.
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