Yuzu at Church Lane

480 Collins Street, Melbourne


Named after one of my favourite fruits, the yuzu fruit, Yuzu Cuisine is a popular restaurant for business lunches and drinks on Collins Street. Although the address is noted as 480 Collins Street, the entrance of Yuzu is actually on Church Lane, which is reflected in some places which refer to the restaurant as Yuzu on Church Lane.

Church Lane

Extensive bar area

Separated dining area

Yuzu mocktail

Yuzu iced tea

I personally love the citrus fruit know as yuzu and take any opportunity to order something flavoured with it. So when I saw the drinks menu at Yuzu Cuisine I was delighted and instantly ordered a drink. Although the drinks were quite expensive I absolutely adored them, as they contained the lovely flavour of yuzu while not being overly sweet.

Miso soup

Wafu eye fillet beef set $20.90

I chose to have the wafu eye fillet beef set because I wanted something slightly more substantial, as I was quite hungry. The quality of absolutely everything in the set was amazing. Not only was the beef tender, flavourful and well seasoned, but none of the other elements were looked over as well, such as the tender and crispy chicken karaage, the sushi and sashimi or even the rice. 

Chirashi zushi $20.90

My friend chose to have the chrashi zushi as they were looking for a lighter meal in terms of both flavour and size. I have personally tried chirashi zushi at a number of different restaurants around Melbourne and would have to say that this one tops them all. The beautiful arrangement of fresh fish on top of a seasoned bed of sushi rice was elevated to a higher level with the addition of small amounts of mushroom, which added an earthiness to the dish.

Yuzu Cuisine is a great place for a lunch, whether you are passing by or working in the city. The only thing I could find wrong with Yuzu Cuisine if I were nitpicking was that the serving sizes were quite small and the price was high, although that is definitely reflected in the quality of the food and drinks.

Food Rating 8/10

Overall Rating 8/10

Mamasita

1/11 Collins Street, Melbourne

As one of the most well known and popular Mexican restaurants in Melbourne, Mamasita is notorious for being difficult to find a table during their dinner service. Their long queue times are not the only thing they are known for through, as they are one of the leaders of the Mexican restaurant expansion in Melbourne and boast an impressive range of tequila and mezcal.

Specialist tequila & mezcal bar

Tortilla chips with guacamole and salsa $10.00

We started off the night with some of their tortilla chips with guacamole and salsa, as well as some tequila and mezcal by recommendation of their mezcalier. The guacamole was nice and creamy but the salsa was slightly watery. The recommendations of their mezcalier were spot on though as we thoroughly enjoyed our first taste of authentic mezcal.

Street style corn $4.90

Corn on the cob is a popular street food in Mexico and has been adapted to many popular restaurants in Melbourne, each with their own twist. The corn at Mamasita has received many good reviews and praise so I definitely had to try it for myself. Unfortunately the corn that I was served was extremely mushy and did not have the natural sweetness I would expect. Ultimately all I could taste from the corn was the toppings.

Pork taco & Campechano taco $14.00

I couldn't decide which taco I wanted to try so I ordered two different ones. The campechano taco had beef cheek and the inclusion of cactus in it, however it did not stand out against the other taco. The second taco had pibil style pork hock with chicharrón and pickled red onion with pineapple on top, which had both lovely flavour and texture, albeit a bit heavy.

The food had some highlights as well as some disappointments to it, however most of my experience from the night was based solely on the service. The service for the night started out magnificently. The person who I believe was the mezcalier gave us a basic run through of tequila, mezcal and the differences between the two, after which he asked us about our preferences which he used to give us more information and recommendations for drinks. We were really happy with this service and I personally was prepared to give Mamasita a high rating for their service alone. However, our food was served by another waiter who simply slammed it down onto the table without even looking at us. When we were ready to pay, the same waiter who slammed the food onto our table took our bill. I paid in large notes as I did not have any change, but the waiter simply assumed all of it was the tip (it was a sizable amount) and did not offer any change, which I thought was extremely rude. To be honest, I was having a good night until the end of it and after I left Mamasita I was left in a sour mood.

Food Rating 6.5/10

Overall Rating 5.5/10

El Churro Cafe - Spanish Doughnuts

710 Glenferrie Road, Hawthorn

Churros have been a popular snack in Australia for quite some time, which has seen many restaurants serve churros and churro specialty pop up. Spanish Doughnuts is one example of these stores. With small take-away stores in both Flinders Street Station and Southern Cross Station, they are already a well known name to Melbournian commuters.

Hawthorn's Glenferrie Road

Non-alcoholic sangria $5.95

Iced chocolate $6.95

3 original churros $8.95

El Churro Cafe serves a variety of different churros, from the original churros, to filled churros as well as churros with toppings. We chose to order a few of the original churros, which could be described as lovely, crispy fried sticks of dough coated with a generous amount of cinnamon sugar.

Spanish chorizo $8.95

The Spanish chorizo hot dog was bursting with flavour from both the chorizo and the toppings. It was a lot more exciting than a normal hot dog but I wish I could have just ordered a big serving of the savoury churros that were served with the dish, as they were delightful.

Although both the store and the service was a bit dull, we enjoyed the food served. Not only was the food inexpensive, but it was also the type of food that was great for sharing and catching up with friends, which was exactly what we were doing.

Food Rating 7/10

Overall Rating 7/10

Woochon

380 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne

Woochon is known between our friends as "that boiled beef restaurant" after we visited once for dinner and my friend made the mistake of ordering a dish of boiled beef which was almost laughably bad and expensive (we do have a laugh at his expense every now and then). We found ourselves heading to Woochon to try it one more time as they are open 24/7 and we found ourselves hungry in the CBD at 1am.

Woochon

Side dishes

Kimchi pancake $18.00

Although the kimchi pancake smelled lovely coming out and looked tasty, it was a bit disappointing. The pancake itself was too doughy and not crispy at all, while the taste was on the bland side, which I did not know was possible when using an ingredient with a strong flavour profile such as kimchi.

Chicken giblet $18.00

The chicken giblets suffered from the same problems that affected the kimchi pancake. The giblets had become overcooked and rubbery and even though the dish had chilli and other ingredients incorporated, it was still bland and lacked any discernible seasoning.

Woochon provided quite a disappointing experience. All of the food we ordered was cooked poorly and underseasoned, which leaves me thinking that the only thing Woochon has going for it is that they are open 24/7.

Food Rating 6/10

Overall Rating 6/10

Oishi Kitchen

286 Chapel Street, Prahran

Oishi Kitchen, which comes from the Japanese word oishii, meaning delicious or tasty, is a fusion Japanese and Korean restaurant on the iconic Chapel Street, located in the heart of Melbourne's Prahran. 

The famous Chapel Street

Oishi

Side dishes & edamame

Usually when I go to a Korean or Japanese restaurant, one of the things I look forward to the most is their assortment of side dishes. Oishi Kitchen's offering was different from what I normally see, so I was quite excited, however the coating on the fried squid was cold and as a result was also mushy and soggy.

Mandoo $9.00

The mandoo at Oishi Kitchen were made the way I like them, with a crispy outside and a slightly softer filling than the traditional Chinese dumplings. Another plus was that the filling was seasoned well, which I find a lot of places seem to neglect.

Grilled pork belly $17.00

Creamy garlic prawn & kimchi fried rice $16.50

The two dishes we ordered as mains were the grilled pork belly and kimchi fried rice. The two main dishes were solid overall, however nothing really grabbed my attention. The kimchi fried rice was a bit on the wet side but was seasoned very well, the creamy garlic prawns had a strong black pepper flavour which I quite enjoyed.

As a standalone restaurant, Oishi Kitchen solid dishes and friendly service. The problem that arises is that they are located on Chapel Street, which is the home of many of Melbourne's culinary gems and to put it bluntly, Oishi Kitchen can't complete.

Food Rating 7/10

Overall Rating 7/10

Darac Grill and Bar

51 A'Beckett Street, Melbourne

Darac Grill and Bar has always been on my list of places to visit, but unfortunately every time I pass by the area they are full. Luckily we were able to squeeze into a table one night as we were passing by, even though the restaurant was packed due to the rain.

A'beckett street

Small but cosy

Seafood rice crust soup $18.00

To call the seafood rice crust soup incredibly disappointing would be an understatement. The dish was basically a thick and flavourless soup with a small amount of rubbery seafood and crispy rice cakes left to soak in it. Perhaps the biggest disappointment was the price of the dish, which set us back 18 dollars.

Spicy seafood sausage stew $29.00

The spicy seafood sausage stew was the complete opposite of the seafood rice crust soup. As Darac is known for their Korean army stew, they offer quite a few different versions of it. We chose the seafood variant and what we got was a beautifully presented stew which was bursting with a variety of ingredients and flavours.

Unfortunately, Darac Grill & Bar did not live up to the expectations that were set by the recommendations of my friends. Even though the spicy stew was one of the best I have tried in Melbourne, it was countered by the fact that the seafood rice crust soup was beyond disappointing. While this particular experience was not the best, it will definitely not stop me from coming back to Darac, albeit with a bit of caution on what I order.

Food Rating 6.5/10

Overall Rating 6.5/10