Before I met my wife, I enjoyed Japanese food in Melbourne.
After Chika, everything sucked.
Akita sucked, Hanabishi sucked, Kuni sucked, Nobu sucked, Tempura Hajime sucked, Izakaya Den sucked, never been to Kenzan but surely it sucked too.
Because from a Japanese point of view, nothing beats their local childhood place, their mum’s cooking, and when she says ‘sucked’ she probably meant overpriced.
(I suspect I behave the same when it comes to Malaysian food - you should’ve seen my internal bleeding from Roti Bar’s $12 ais kacang I ordered for my daughter.)
Can you blame her though - $250 per person is the norm now for Japanese fine dining with ‘hats’.
I used to remember when Koko in Crown was the most extravagant Japanese joint one can bring his partner to. I mean, there's a river in the middle of the restaurant, and they’re still ‘only’ charging $150 per person on their most expensive degustation meal. Kenzan being the oldest institution is asking $80 per person for their banquet.
What I’m saying is, the landscape has changed, and my family is so out of touch with Japanese dining in Melbourne, that if you ask me, I’d have to dive deep into memory lane.
Specifically Market Lane.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Soy Sauce, Sugar, Mirin to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.