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Sake Bar Kura is quirky little hidey-hole restaurant located at the end of a derelict laneway (Malthouse) which runs off another lane (Flinders). The industrial/rustic Japanese entrance, complete with sauna-like cladding and kooky sake barrel, seems kind of surprising in the environment. Which I guess is one of the reasons this eatery is quite popular with the white collar lunch brigade.

The lunch set menu ($15) consists of pickled vegetables, entree of the day, grilled or fried fish, miso soup, main dish (13 to choose from) and fruit. I think that $15 is a reasonable price to pay for such a selection, but perhaps it is just a tad over what I would normally spend for lunch on a regular work day (I usually aim in the $6 to $10 bracket).

The venue itself is rather funky. The timber cladding on the outside follows inside to some very rustic (and extremely heavy) tables and bench seats. A certain amount of design has been influenced by Japanese aesthetic, partnering clean lines with natural elements such as a faux slate walls and bamboo featurettes. A little technosavvy device on the table will alert staff when you need them, which I initially thought was rather neat, yet felt reluctant to exercise. Call me old fashioned, but I like the game of catching the waiters eye when they wizz past.

But let’s get down to it - the food. Today the lunch set included pickled zucchini and daikon, a meat ball with braised fennel, and deep fried fish/prawn ball. Of the three, the deep fried fish/prawn ball was probably my favourite, but then that old adage of “deep frying leading to goodness” is never far wrong. Personally, I think the pickled veg could have had more pickle about them - the flavour just vaguely dabbled in sweet and sour.

I chose the Katsudon for my main - a panko crumbed pork fillet served with a demiglass (sic) sauce on cabbage and rice. The pork itself was wonderfully tender and juicy, but what really added interest was the demi-glace. Past experience of katsudon sauce has been a dark brown worcestershire-like brew. But this one was full of the taste of tomato and was very very picquant (vinegary?). It really was quite interesting. I don’t know how traditional it is (and to be perfectly honest, this sauce was far from being demi-glace as I know it), though I have read that the Okayama version of the dish uses this style of sauce.

EG went the attractively plated Sashimi don - slices of fresh salmon, tuna and kingfish with wasabi, ginger and soy on rice. As you can see it was attractively plated (…though I still think you can’t beat the ridiculously cheap sashi don at Don Don), and the fish was wonderfully fresh. The warmth of the rice beneath went to warming the raw fish on top.

To finish, we were given a quarter of an orange. Yup. One quarter. Obviously $15 doesn’t allow for much more than that ;-). Oh, and another puzzling thing. We ordered green tea and were given two western style cups with a green tea bag in it. What the?!? This just didn’t make sense. Once again, call me old fashioned, but what the heck happened to teapots?

So whilst the food was somewhat interesting, I think it misses the mark in some areas. It would do well to foster the location with some more interesting, inventive and value for money food. And teapots. Yeah. That would do it.

Written by mellie on July 14th, 2007 | Tags: bars, Japanese, Korean, restaurants | Category: Uncategorized |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Subscribe to comments | Leave a comment | Trackback URL