Yokozuna Japanese Cuisine (formerly Umaimon)

Address: 159 Oxford St, Darlinghurst NSW
Tel: (02) 9357 7808
Opening Hours: Tue - Sun 12pm till 10pm

Formerly Umaimon which was located near St Andrews Catheral School (corporate building), the owners have moved to a new location in the heart of Oxford St, Paddington.

Run by a small Japanese family, serving authentic and honest food at very reasonable prices.

Pictured below: Dumplings under a thin crepe shell - culinary genuis! I suspect the batter is light fried in a wok to produce the shell which has a charred, crispy savoury taste under which reveals a bed of Japanese gyoza.



Above: on the left is a special mackeral sushi - very finely sliced dried mackeral topped on an inside-out sushi roll. On the right is a raw salmon & avocado roll - these are both quite large so don't attempt it on your own! They are made fresh so be sure to sample!

Below: Fillet fish with tomato chilli - the fish fillets are always fresh, cooked to perfect and very tasty. Also highly recommended is the fish fillet with tartare sauce - Japanese style does not have that overpowering pickle/dill taste as normal tartare sauce does.

Pictured below: Beef steak - the sauces are always very savoury and light in true Japanese style.

Mao's Restaurant (Chinese)

Address: 263 Brunswick St, Fitzroy VIC 3065
Tel: (03) 9419 1919

Strolling through Brunswick St, Fitzroy there was not much open on a weeknight except bars and a few random restaurants. The menu sounded enticing enough so ordered 2 mains to share:

Hunan Chicken - light, hot/sour sauce which is typical of the Szechaun/provincial regions in China, served with mixed vegetables (see picture below).

Below: Cointreau Duck served with macadamia nuts - very unique as it had almost a popcorn flavour to it - shame the duck meat looked more like a highly processed beef - disappointed!

Conclusion: the descriptions are really let down by the bland flavour and catering towards westernised palates of sweet & sour pork & lemon chicken. Unless they pick up their game and buy better quality meat and mix up the stirfry dishes a bit more, I probably won't be paying for the calibre of these dishes again.

Spicy Fish Restaurant

Address: 209 Little Bourke St, Melbourne VIC 3000
Tel: (03) 9639 1885

Scallop & eggplant claypot – signature dish with hot, sweet & sour flavours with a claypot temperature (even though it arrived in a metal pot); scallops perfect texture (I prefer cooked through, al dente & consistent scallop textures found in Asian cooking of scallops).

Also: Spicy Szechaun Noodle Soup – hot, sour soup – not all that flash but included it for comparative purposes. Soup was too watery for the noodles to adequately absorb flavours.