Ichi Ni

12 The Esplanade, St.Kilda
Ph 03 9534 1212

After reading about Ichi Ni over at Ed’s blog, and with our inclination for all things Japanese, we of course had to head over to this newish izakaya/eatery for a looksee.

The venue itself, which sits on the Esplanade overlooking the bay, reminds me somewhat of Gonpachi in Tokyo.  It has a kitschiness which is kind of enthralling, keeping your eyes entertained as you check out all the features. In the entrance is a little take-away vestibule where you can pick-up takehome packs of sushi and sashimi, and Japanese beers and shochu.  I noticed similar vestibules in restaurants in Japan.

There is the obligatory cry of “Irrashaimase” (welcome) when you walk through the door, which is kind of nice too.

We started with a small plate of nibbles while we sipped our Kirin and waited for our dining companions to arrive.  There was warmed briney edamame, burdock kinpira and a zucchini tsukemono (pickle). They were all very authentic, and very good with beer.

After Bria and Cam arrived, we decided to skip the main dishes and go with all the smaller dishes and kushiyaki (skewers), to get a good cross section of what was on offer.

Salmon carpaccio was a great starter – slivers of salmon sashini dressed in a light dashi/mirin/shoyu combination. It had been garnished with nuts and slivers of crunchy snow pea shoots.

Tofu with avocado was also very interesting – a dice of firm pressed tofu and avocado, dressed with a sweet miso paste concoction.  It came served with sheets of toasted nori, so you could wrap mouthfuls of the stuff in salty seaweedy goodness.

Oysters, served with a ponzu and spring onion dressing.  The oysters were plump and fresh.  Love the detail of the little sakura shaped pickled carrots on the side.

One of Dan’s favourites, chicken karaage, is practically an izakaya staple.  These spiced deep fried morsels of chicken thigh meat (no breast please) is certainly one tasty morsel, and perhaps one of the best I’ve had in Melbourne.

Then a sashimi plate to share.  I can’t remember how much this cost, but I remember being surprised at the value.  It was wonderfully fresh; salmon, tuna, kingfish, swordfish and roe, just to name a few.

Then it was time to start the kushiyaki, or grilled skewers.  We of course had to start with the wagyu (which wasn’t cheap!), and to be honest, I’m not that sure it was worth it.  I’ve had wagyu which knocked my socks off, and this was just…meh.  It was served, as it should be, with wedges of lemon.

I think I have forever been spoilt in regards to consuming grilled eel, after sampling the delights at Fujitaya in Miyajima.  Nothing compares to the delicateness of their anagomeishi, and everything else just seems clunky and overly sweet in comparison.  That being said, this was your bog standard unagi (eel), slathered in LOTS of sweet sauce.

Tsukune are chicken mince meatballs, skewered and grilled with a sweet teriyaki style sauce.  They were fantastic.

Wedges of eggplant grilled on the stick, and covered with melting cheese.  I must admit I would have liked the eggplant to have been caramalised more, and the cheese to have more colour.

Ebi (prawn) salad was a kickarse dish of freshnesss.  Perky salad leaves, pickled red onions and carrot julienne, and prawns cooked and coated in a spiced mayonnaise dressing.

Then onto dessert. How’s this for an ice-cream degustation?

As there were four of us, we decided to sample all four ice-creams.  From the top we have pumpkin – a wonderfully creamy pumpkin pie spiced flavoured ice-cream (my favourite!).  Then cheesecake – another creamy, lemony New York style cheesecake ice-cream.  The balsamic vinegar – a really bizarre gelati style ice-cream, that yes, was overtly balsamicy, but good.  Then edamame – a vanilla ice-cream studded with edamame (soy beans), which were like chewy frozen nuggets of beany flavour.  I think i’d go back, just for the kookiness of the ice-cream alone!

Overall, I like Ichi Ni, and look forward to going back to try a few more dishes.  There were a few misses, but then, there were some amazing hits.  Definitely worth the journey.