What I (cannot) Write About When I Write About Japanese Food.

Last month, I wrote a guide to omakase in Melbourne for Broadsheet.

When the editor approached me during the Christmas party, my reaction was “pffft, easy I already wrote one in 2023. It’s already in my head.”

Then she said: “write for an audience who does not understand Japanese food”.

Okay, time out. People who don’t what?

Turns out, she was right. I spoke to a few other people at the party, and some told me they heard of ‘omakase’ restaurants, but they would never spend $300 on a meal.

Some say Japanese is not their thing.

It wasn’t as easy as I thought in the end as I had to put my ‘parent’ hat on, pretending I was writing to my daughter.

Omakase on training wheels.

There are two types of readers.

One scans to see if their favourite is on the list, and the other scans to see which is the cheapest option they can afford¹. And to be honest, at this current climate, I bet type two vastly outnumbers type one.

Here’s my confession:

I did not eat at every venue in the list.

Especially Nori Maki.

When I was writing in December, it had just opened, and I had a hard time consolidating the concept of the location, and a menu that only offers handrolls.(You mean, a sushi train shop, without the train? A takeaway shop, without the takeaway?)

But I knew their price point would also delight the second type of readers.
For $30-$70, it is the iPhone 16e version of an omakase experience.
A great book end to the $300 alternatives in town.

Written, sent, published.

Still, not able to dine there, stung me a little bit. Guilt-trip me a little. Imposter syndrome a little.

So when Broadsheet asked if I’d photograph the place, I said yes.
I wanted to have a look.
To fact-check myself.

I don’t eat the food I shoot during assignment.

‘Photo food’ and ‘customer food’ are two different things.

Good restaurants will write it off, and see it as part of the service. Not so good restaurants, well, as long as it looks good, we can use any ingredients amirite?

As I shot the chawanmushi, I asked if the ikura (salmon roe) was from Yarra Valley, knowing the anwer to be ‘yes’.
It’s my magic trick.
The last time I did this in Aoi Tsuki, the Korean vlogger next to us had to ask the chef if I was a food critic or something².

You know how I know? Because —