I only really wanted to choose one restaurant to book while in Melbourne, and Komeyui has been on my list for several years and seems to regularly pop up as a great restaurant to visit. Some of the research I did shows that this omakase would be interesting, since they also offer kaiseki options, so I wanted to see what dishes they’d have on offer!
Autumn sunset – fresh oyster, scallop, grapefruit, scampi caviar
Hello scampi caviar, I haven’t seen you in so long! So many of my favourite things in a combo I haven’t had before!
The Jewel of Heard Island – cured toothfish, shaved qukes, yumepirika tart, miso oroshi ginger sauce
Okay this plating is so fun and interesting too! I definitely love the way the dishes are presented here. This is my first time having cured toothfish too, and it was nice! The yumepirika rice tart was very crunchy, which was a great contrast to the fish.
Onsen Tenaga Ebi – steamed scampi, soy curd skin, ginger ankake
This was the cutest dish of the night! Look at it! An adorable little scampi complete with flower decoration! Of course, I took multiple pictures of it as a result. The chef also recommended to scoop the brains out of the prawn to mix into the ginger ankake. How fun and tasty!
Konnichiwa Wagyu-san! – Seared Mayura MB9+ wagyu, truffled creme fraiche, shaved shiitake
Even the menu description is excited! This doesn’t look like much but it was my favourite dish of the night! I thought it would be the scampi, but as soon as I bit into the beef, I knew. The truffle oil and the shiitake made it nice and aromatic, but it was the bite of the beef that sold me. It was tender, but there was this lovely hint of resistance, like sinew? But not chewy – I don’t know how to describe it exactly but it’s my favourite kind of texture where it gives a little, before it gives way. Sooo good!
And then came the 10 piece nigiri selection!
Snapper, alfonsino, tuna, and Salmon with fried radish (I think it was fried radish) were the first in the lineup. The salmon was actually a pleasant surprise because that fried radish?? was very crispy and the texture worked so well! It’s something I haven’t had before in that combo so I was very happy with it!
Josper Wagyu Bouillon – Josper grilled MB9+ wagyu soup, cherry tomato, shallot, pumpkin.
Soup time! What a cute little soup! It took me a while to remember what a Josper was, but I recalled it being a super fancy oven! This was a light, clear soup that was perfect to have between courses.
The last few nigiri were kingfish, scampi, otoro, wagyu, scallop, and anago. I was curious as to how this wagyu would taste, considering the previous wagyu dish was so good. The seared wagyu and shiitake from earlier was definitely a clear winner!
What’s also interesting is that I seem to recognise anago! The size and shape is different from that of unagi! It was good to have this as the final piece!
Born in Kochi-ken – matcha gateau, adzuki red bean paste, yuzu panna cotta.
I was super amused at the olive branch in the middle, only because my pigeons love olive branches haha! The waitstaff recommended alternating between the two desserts, but I had a clear favourite, the yuzu panna cotta.
There was also a most delicious matcha and soybean tea that was served at the end! Funny story, I tried to order this at the beginning, since I saw it on the menu, but I was told that coffee or tea was included at the end, so that I could choose another drink if I wanted. The tea turned out really tasty, and it was so good that I got an extra pour of it!
Overall it was quite enjoyable, and I liked the variety of dishes. It’s been so long since I’ve done any kind of fine dining and this was a great experience!
And we’re not quite done yet. On the way to the bathroom, I noticed the photo on the wall. Wow, pigeons!! Haha I can’t believe they’d have a photo of pigeons! I found that adorable, but was also puzzled that someone would actually print a photo like this! I mean, I took a similar photo in Sydney lol, maybe I can “publish” a pigeon photo!
