Mr D and I absolutely adore Japanese cuisine, we can’t get enough of it. We’ve been eyeing Izakaya Kuuraku but never had the chance to try it, until now…BOOM! Walking in, it felt more like a bar with seats – music pumping and heaps of people having after work drinkies. We were lucky enough to check out the omakase menu which means you leave it up to the chef to decide what you’re going to get. We tucked in and let our tummies enjoy the food.

A pre-entree of seasonal blanched veggies with yuzu jelly wasn’t anything spectacular but it wasn’t bad either.

Seasonal blanched veggies with jelly

A plate of entrees came out and they were beautifully presented. The beef tartare was so delish but it was quite onion-y (there was a lot of raw onion in there). The oyster was fresh but the star was the chicken parfait. It was a touch on the salty side and it needed something to balance it out, like a piece of bread.

Beef tartare, oyster & home made chicken parfait 

I’m not a huge sashimi fan but the sashimi here was oh so fresh and oh so delish. We had a range of tuna to king fish and loved each and every one of them.

Assorted sashimi

It was the nigiris turn to come out and play. Oh, the chef will have already seasoned them the way they are to be eaten so put away those soy sauce trays.

Tuna

The sea perch was so light and silky, it was one of my favourite fish on the night.

Sea perch

Seared kingfish

The star of the nigiris – tuna belly with truffle oil. It was fatty, it was smooth, it was soft and with that truffle oil, it was delicate and absolutely TOTES AMAZEBALLS.

Tuna belly with truffle oil

Yakitori are chicken skewers and Izakaya Kuuraku definitely knows what’s going down. Part of the menu were skewers and oh my effing gosh, it was the BOMB! Asparagus wrapped in pork belly was a bit healthy wrapped in a little fatty goodness. Something so simple was just so delish.

Asparagus wrapped in pork belly

Chicken thigh skewers wrapped with chicken skin and yuzu were juicy and so succulent.

Chicken thigh wrapped with chicken skin with yuzu and black pepper

Mr D was waiting all night for wagyu skewers and this did not disappoint. It was so tender and literally melted in our mouths.

Wagyu

Another chicken thigh skewers and another winner winner chicken dinner.

Chicken thigh with leek

The final yakitori was the chicken meatballs with truffle mustard and oh gosh, they did it again. Something in that sauce combined with the juiciness of the chicken, words cannot describe it at all.

Chicken meatballs with truffle mustard

To prepare us for dessert we all had a salmon rice ball in a bowl and tea / broth was poured over it to make a little rice soup. It was so light and fragrant and we couldn’t get enough of it.

Salmon Ochazuke

The night ended with a matcha tiramisu and it was quite strong in matcha flavour and the cream was so light and fluffy. It wasn’t overly sweet and even Mr D finished his portion and he is not a cream fan at all.

Matcha Tiramisu

Izakaya Kuuraku serves fresh sashimi, amazing nigiris and awesome sauce yakitoris. Will we be back? Most definitely for those chicken skewers.

Disclaimer: I was invited to dine by Izakaya Kuuraku and all opinions expressed are my own.

131-135 Bourke St, Melbourne VIC 3000
Tel: (03) 9939 1516
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