Since coming back from my Japan trip, I’ve been loving Japanese food even more so when there’s a new Japanese eatery in town, of course I’d say yes to go and visit. Miss Kasumi, located in Kew away from the main road sits right on the corner of High Street and Derby St and serves contemporary Japanese cuisine. With ample parking in the side streets, parking isn’t an issue. When we stepped inside, we were greeted by oh so friendly staff and went eagerly to our table. 

To start off the night we had a few cocktails and they were magnificent and of course very pretty! The Louis’ Garden is very refreshing and you can really taste the gin in it.

Louis’ Garden – $18
Hendrick’s Gin, Elder Flower Syrup, Jasmine Syrup, SPecial Osmanthus Sake

We also got a pot of green tea which was magnificent and the staff kept refilling it with hot water.

Green Tea

To start off we got an anago sushi and this was AMAZING! It was soft, it was sweet and it was was beautiful. Side not, no need to dip it in soy sauce at all since it was oh so flavoursome.

Anago Sushi – $9
Saltwater eel, known its incredibly soft texture and natural sweetness

Now we got the Kasumi Premium set menu which was $105 per person so all we had to do was sit back and let the food come on in.

First up was the seasonal platter which consisted of seaweed salad, pickled radish and pork belly with saffron. The pork belly was crispy on the outside and oh so succulent on the inside. Eat it together with the sides and it was an explosion of flavour in my mouth.

Seasonal Platter
Seaweed salad, pickled radish, pork belly with saffron

For the cold appetiser, Mr D got the Salmon Tartar which was definitely fresh but it needed a touch more flavour.

Salmon Tartar with Crackling Rice
Delicately diced salmon fillet with avocado, served on top of crispy seasoned rice

I got the Angus beef tataki and this was beautiful. The garlic coupled with the vinaigrette gave it a little zing which was definitely needed.

Angus Beef Tataki
Flamed black Angus Scotch fillet, sliced and served rare with fried garlic, onion & garlic vinaigrette 

For the hot appetiser I got the baby scallop with quail egg and shitake mushroom and it just popped in my mouth. The flavours were perfectly balanced, I didn’t mind the deep fried part and I’m not a huge fan of anything deep fried.

Nama Shii Hotate
Mashed baby scallop surround the quail egg topped with shitake mushroom & deep fried to perfection

Mr D got the steamed egg with prawn tempura and he was so excited since he’s such a fan of the steamed egg omelette. However, he found it to need a bit more flavour and it was a touch on the small side portion wise too.

Kasumi’s Chawan Mushi
Special rich steamed egg omelette with prawn tempura 

The sashimi entree came out which consisted of tuna, salmon and king fish. My gosh this was fresh and it was so succulent and plump. The pieces were very generous in size too.

Sashimi Entree

The tempura entree came out and there were just so many things on the plate. Can you believe that’s for one person only? Unfortunately we found that the tempura had way too much batter and was dripping in oil and I felt very heavy after having it and couldn’t really taste the prawn / veggie inside the batter.

Tempura Entree

Next was the rice with our choice of soup. Mr D got the mushroom red miso and found it to be very intense and he couldn’t finish it. The steamed rice mixed with mushrooms was amazing though. It was salty, it was sweet, it was just everything you could imagine. Mr D polished off his bowl quite quickly.

Kinoko Gohan Rice & Mushroom Red Miso

I got the clear seaweed soup and it was quite salty and found that I wasn’t able to finish it either.

Shimeji Suimono
Traditional clear seaweed soup with shimeji and tofu

Now for the main, Mr D got the Poached Miso Salmon. It was cooked perfectly but found that the sauce drizzled on top of it was overly sweet. If they could put that on the side and we could dip the salmon in, that would have been perfect.

Poached Miso Salmon
Miso-marinated salmon poached, topped with salmon caviar & served with mixed greens

I got the wagyu steak and found it to be a bit tough and the mushroom miso sauce was a touch on the sweet side as well.

Wagyu Steak
Premium wagyu sirloin, grilled & served with mushroom miso sauce

Finally the dessert platter came out and yes, this was just for one person. If you’re a fan of green tea, you’ll love the green tea panna cotta and it’s very intense in flavour and very jiggly too! Mr D was a big fan of the mini chocolate macaron and it very chocolate-y but the outside cookie was quite hard and chewy and not crispy, soft and fluffy at all. However, the caramel cheese cake was to die for. Not overly sweet with awesome flavour, it was my favourite on the platter.

Dessert Platter
Caramel cheese cake, mini chocolate macaron, green tea panna cotta 

Miss Kasumi does amazing appetisers and entrees and desserts. I wasn’t a huge fan of the mains nor the tempura but the set menus are a great value, giving you a little taste of everything. The service was quick, the staff are friendly and definitely go for the sushi and sashimi if you’re not into the whole tasting menu.

Disclaimer: I was honoured to be invited to dine by Miss Kasumi and all opinions expressed are my own.

341-343 High St, Kew VIC 3101
Tel: (03) 8899 6660
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