Market Lane in the city is where you go to complete the Melbourne Asian foodie’s trinity – Flower Drum, Hutong Dumpling and Shoya.
Shoya is a multi-storey venture into Japanese food. The basement and ground floor houses traditional Japanese BBQ, first floor is traditional Japanese seating providing a la carte and degustation dining and the second floor is the sushi counter. There are also karaoke rooms and an executive lounge on the upper floors.
Although I would have loved to try a degustation option, given the high prices ($100 and above) and that one of our party was a student, we opted for the cheaper BBQ option with meat and seafood at $59. The “Gouka Tokusen” Special set still provided an abundance of food. We started off with Wagyu sashimi (thinly sliced fresh raw Wagyu beef) and a small bowl of salad. Then platter after platter was brought out to be cooked over the smokeless Japanese grills, from rib of Wagyu beef, Wagyu beef sirloin, thin rounds of ox tongue, juicy pieces of pork belly, marinated chicken, vegetables, huge prawns, scallops, squid florets, rather chewy abalone and kingfish. All this plus steamed rice, a bowl of warming miso soup and a choice of red bean, black sesame or green tea ice cream for dessert.
Oh, and I also opted for a serving of sea urchin cheesecake ($12) just because I couldn’t resist the adventure. On tasting the fluffy cheesecake I couldn’t detect any sea urchin at all, but the waitress informed me with delight, as if revealing the answer to a puzzle, that it actually consisted of 30% sea urchin. It seems a bit bizarre to use such an expensive ingredient in a dish where you can’t actually taste it, but now I know (and you know) what sea urchin cheesecake tastes like.
We had a lovely night at Shoya as all of the food was fresh and carefully prepared and I thought that quantity and quality of the food was good value for the price. However, I won’t go for the Japanese BBQ next time – I mean, how innovative can you be with barbecue? I’d rather save my money for a proper degustation, or else try the $28 Shoya set lunch menu which my friend J and Eat My Radish tells me is delicious.
The BBQ looks very similar to Takumi, though this one at Shoya sounds like better value.
That was interesting that the sea urchin cheesecake didn’t taste like sea urchin when it supposedly was 30% sea urchin. What a waste using it in a cheesecake then!
.-= Rilsta @ My Food Trail´s last blog ..Review: Old Town Kopitiam Mamak, Melbourne =-.
Twitter: myfoodtrail
| January 8, 2010, 9:34 am
Hi Rilsta
I’ve not been to Takumi but my friends say that the lunch set there is also good value ($13.80). It sounds a bit like poor man’s Shoya? The sea urchin cheesecake wasn’t too expensive so I wouldn’t dissuade anyone from trying it – but not if they’re hoping to make out any sea urchin. Black sesame icecream on the other hand was very nice – though possibly Goshen still does the best version for me (and for $4.50!).
Jetsetting Joyce
Shoya lunches are delicious (and great value indeed)! I love the kaisen chirashi set — the chef arranges the sashimi to look like art. Definitely worth going.
Hi Carmen
Thanks for the tip. To save my dollars I think I’ll take my parents there for lunch when they’re in town, they are big fans of Japanese lunch sets, being regular visitors to Sono at Portside (Brisbane).
Jetsetting Joyce
Yah…I have to agree. The lunch menu definitely looks like better value. I wonder how this place compares to Kokos lunch menu? Kokos is $40pp…which is quite exp but I don’t know if it’s because of the location, the atmosphere or cos its actually THAT good. Thoughts?
Twitter: gracie.sia
| November 15, 2010, 6:50 pm
Hi Grace
I’ve not tried Koko’s lunch menu but $40 sounds very expensive. Many years ago I did eat there and the food is good – but not so good to be worth $40 for lunch. The setting is very nice though, with the slick decor and the views of the Yarra. For my money, I’d go for lunch at Shoya instead.
Jetsetting Joyce
I’ve heard from several sources that Shoya’s lunch set trumps Takumi – and that Takumi only really comes into its own at night! Conversely, I’m told that it’s better value to visit Shoya during the day, but I’m only really hungry at night (if that makes any sense) so it seem like such a waste…also, I understand they tend to upsell quite a bit, I really hate that! =o( I may go soon though, for a special occasion though I don’t think I’ll try their sea urchin cheesecake if it doesn’t taste as unusual as it sounds – did you give their chocolate pud dessert a try??
Hi Vee
A lot of people have been saying how great Shoya’s lunch set is, so I think I may do as you suggest and hit Shoya at lunch and Takumi at night. No, I didn’t try their chocolate pudding – I tend to shy away from Western desserts in Asian restaurants (Japanese cheesecake doesn’t count). If you decide to try it come back and tell us what it was like!
Jetsetting Joyce
Maybe we can do a lunch catch up there next month? It looks great
.-= Gourmet Chick´s last blog ..Stuffed butternut squash =-.
Twitter: carawaters
| January 8, 2010, 8:25 pm
Yay sounds good. I’m sure you have an eating itinerary all set up and you know where to go for an eating date!
Jetsetting Joyce
It’s pricey, but the degustation is so, so worth the money.
Twitter: rbbrown
| January 9, 2010, 12:50 pm