That Jess Ho

Graham has a habit of giving me shit whenever I go out…in a loving way.

He also likes to look through photos of everything I eat and occasionally asks if I can steal a menu.  In case you were wondering, the laminate ones are the hardest, especially when I’m only wearing a body suit and a leather jacket.  There is just no friction or anything to hold things in.

A month or so ago, Graham asked me in our break between doubles when the hell we were going to eat out.  The day before it was announced/rumoured/twittered that Tempura Hajime would be closing at the end of the year.  This was also rumoured the year before, but they chose to stay on.

So, to investigate, I made a phone call and booked for six.

I have to confess, I have been six times, not including the time I went with Graham.  I book for six, because that is the most people that Daisuke Miyamoto (the chef) will cook for at any time.  In case you didn’t know, Tempura Hajime only serve 12 people a night and separate the seatings by at least half an hour.

Trust me, I asked about the timing thing.

It’s one of those secretive affairs where you enter through a door off park street that you would probably walk past if it were not for the text message they send you the day before your booking telling you how to get there.  The waiting room is dark, minimal and somewhat mysterious if it is your first visit (and you’ll soon discover the dining room is a stark contrast) and you will be offered a drink (or more) until the rest of your party arrives, or until Daisuke is ready to serve you.

When we came in, we were approaching the middle of the other seating’s meal.  Daisuke has two large deep fryers with only three temperature controls (which means he’s super-pro at this) containing a mixture of soy, tea and sesame oil.

Even though Noriko asks if anyone has allergies or aversions when you book for the table, she’ll present everyone with the ingredients of the menu as it changes seasonally and ask again, and from the beginning, even with the GFC, the price has only gone up $4, to $72, and they have not cut down on the courses.  This is incredibly good value.

Needless to say, this time was as good as amazing as all the others.  Graham thought Daisuke was an angry chef, but I was like, “Dude, you’re asking him a million questions while he is cooking, and have you seen YOURSELF in the kitchen?”

We started with ocean trout and kingfish sashimi, which is perfect and impossibly fresh and sweet.  It should be noted that they use fresh wasabi, and not that powdered pastey shit, which is just…wow.  I have to admit, I wasn’t a fan of wasabi until I had it fresh here.

And on the side, chicken with cucumber in a miso-sesame dressing.

Once you finish this, they set you up for the last tempura you’ll ever be satisfied with; a tempura dipping sauce which you add freshly shaved daikon to and lemon with salt.  They say that all the tempura goes with either,but not to mix the two.

Let the fry-up begin, I mean…hajime.

This is the first time I have had fresh corn off the cob, here.  I usually have baby corn when I come, it’s a welcome change.

Amanda’s favourite of tuna and avocado wrapped in nori with teriyaki sauce and kewpie mayo.

Prawn.

A very welcome referesher between tempura is the seaweed salad. You may want to notice how little oil the sheet of paper has on it.  Ah, what a pro.

Asparagus. You see, Daisuke usually serves you up the item after carefully chipping away stray strand of tempura on a tray before he presents it to you only naming what he is giving you, followed by a, “Thank-you,” and moves to the next person.  I think by this stage, Graham had asked him what he put in his flour, his oil, and probably what his idea of the perfect date was, already.

And my personal favourite of sea urchin wrapped in nori and scallop, which comes rare with the raw sea urchin inside.  I would say this was the sex, but my friend asked me if we were eating vaginas after he started flicking through the photos.  Tut-tut.

However, I do have to say this is sweet, silky, crunchy, soft and salty all at once with the thin sheet or nori typing all those sea flavours together.  I went with a friend who once asked for another and Daisuke smiled and replied by saying that despite him offering to pay more for another, he only had enough ingredients to make twelve for the night, anyways.

Golden sweet potato.

John Dory, which was a perfect example of how long Daisuke had been doing this for.  Cooked so breifly, that when he cut it, it was still rare in the middle, upon sitting for a few more seconds as I took the photo, the residual heat only just cooked the fish.

Picture Wayne’s World-styled I-am-not-worthies right now.

Then, comes the apple sake, which I took a photo of, but thought I would spare you with, because it is really just a glass with clear liquid and ice (which is also clear) in it.

Mushroom stuffed with prawn, which has this great bite from the protein in the chicken as well as the raw-texture of the mushroom.  And yes, Graham asked what type of mushroom this was as well, it is button, Graham.  Button, what type of a chef are you?

We gave him shit for a while.

We had to.

Oh, and an unusually large oyster from Tasmania, which was so, so creamy and just-warm in the centre.

At this stage, Daisuke had only changed the paper once.

Eggplant and chicken.

And the dish that marks the end of the savoury dishes: kakaigedon, which is a tempura of vegetables and seafood on rice with teriyaki sauce and ground sesame, which he puts through a very cool one-handed device.  I think Graham wants one.

I think this is one of my favourite courses here, but I could easily say thought about everything.  This is one of those places where you can’t find fault with the food, nothing was below expectation and even the simplest item (ie, sweet potato) made us wow.

And finally, the yogurt pannacotta with Cointreau and grapes, otherwise known as Mickey Mouse.

So, the point of this trip, other than to eat amazing tempura and unsuccessfully shut Graham up, in one way, is to find out the future of this place.

I spoke with Noriko and she said they aimed to go back to Japan next October and will have a friend come in and cook with Daisuke and train him up take over the business from February(hopefully) until they leave.

Very sad for us, I know I will miss them, but thankfully, I still have 11 months to go back and eat Daisuke’s tempura before making up another excuse to try his protege’s stylings.  Ok, so admittedly this may not be my last time.

Yep, I may have changed the URL, but I will forever be Fatty McBeanpole.

Tempura Hajime

60 Park St,
South Melbourne, 3205

(03) 9696 0051