Dining with the Pair: Kuza

There weren't a whole lot of places open on New Years Day, so when we came across Kuza in Vic Park, we thought we'd give it a go. It has a very modern and more upmarket interior, with a monochrome colour scheme and a feature wall filled with various Japanese wines and sake bottles.

The menu is quite expansive, with plenty of choice for sashimi, sushi rolls, entrees, and even lunch sets.

Our drink:

Iced rose tea

We ordered drinks first while perusing the menu, and the drink that caught our eye was this amazing iced rose tea with lychee, strawberries and mint. This was a most refreshing and tasty iced tea, especially given the high temperature that day. The tea flavour itself was very mild, but the rose and lychee was a really lovely combination. It was sweet without being sickly and the fruit added great flavours to the drink. I absolutely love rose flavoured anything, so this was definitely a winner for myself.


Our food:

Seafood pancake

Our first entree to arrive was this modern take on the お好み焼き(okonomiyaki), or Japanese seafood pancake. This particular version was quite nice, though the seafood flavour was not that strong, and the overall consistency was not as thick and doughy as the traditional ones. Other than that, it was still a nice start to our meal.

Fried crumbed oysters

This was a really interesting dish. Fried oysters covered with panko (Japanese breadcrumbs), and served with a potato and mayonnaise sauce. I personally found the crumbed exterior to be too overpowering for the oysters, however, the dipping sauce was the most delicious surprise! It tasted like a very gourmet potato salad, and was well flavoured and complemented the oysters really well. It was definitely one of my favourite touches from this place.

Crab croquettes

The crab croquettes were quite nice, but very potato heavy with barely any crab, or at least crab that could be tasted. It came with a very nice topping of mushrooms, which was cooked well.

Miso eggplant

This is one of my favourite dishes to order at Japanese restaurants! The one I like the most so far is at Satsuki, and while this one was definitely one of the better entrees, it just doesn't quite compare. Still tasty though, so I can't complain!

On to the mains! I simply had to get the うなぎ (unagi = eel) lunch set. Anything that comes in a set is always fine by me. Possibly one of the many reasons I am always travelling to Japan. The cutest touch to this set was that the 卵(egg) was branded with the restaurant's name!

Serena decided to try one their ramen. She went with the original ramen with pork. The main thing is that it came with a soft boiled egg, which not enough ramen dishes seem to come with! Other than that, the broth was quite tasty and the pork well cooked.

Overall:

The place was quite nice, and prices were pretty average, contrary to my initial impression. The dishes all came out in a timely manner, and overall it was a pleasant meal. Probably not one of my top choices for Japanese, however it was great to try a new place!

Sara