On a warm (Melbourne summer) Friday night I met a friend for dinner in South Yarra. We didn’t have a place in mind to eat, and I remembered eating at Kagu Ra Zaka a LONG time ago (more than 10 years!), and the food being quite good.
Perhaps it is a testament to the restaurant that my first meal there stuck out in my mind. The dinner we had was overall quite good. Nothing spectacular, but all dishes were tasty and used fresh ingredients. The restaurant itself had a distinct Japanese feel to it and was well laid out (which felt like ‘dining’ as opposed to being cramped and chaotic).
The restaurant is well signed from the street as can be seen above.
We started with the mixed sashimi platter as an entrée. It was a mix of tuna, kingfish and salmon, as well as some condiments such as wasabi, pickled ginger and seaweed. The quality of the fish was fantastic and the ‘fresh fish delivered daily’ signage in the restaurant certainly holds true.
The mains soon arrived, along with rice.
The first main course that we ordered was seafood in creamy garlic sauce. There was so many ‘potential’ ways that this dish could have gone wrong. However, the seafood of prawns, squid, pipis and scallops was still a fresh taste below the creamy garlic sauce. The sauce itself was very moreish and not too heavy (think ‘not carbonara’).
The second main dish was a beef fillet teppanyaki. The beef was tasty and good quality and when matched with sauce and veges on a sizzling plate it was good overall.
The service was overall quite good. My friend had some queries about the sashimi and seafood dishes, and they were all answered well by the wait staff. In typical Japanese style, the service was very efficient, but still friendly.
We ended the night with a quick look at the sushi prep area, where there is also ‘Japanese style’ seating.
Overall its a good Japanese experience, with friendly staff and good quality food. Perhaps it is lacking that ‘wow factor’, but certainly no complaints. A good meal!