Ichi Ichi Ku

After a run around the tan my ravenous friends and I decided to check out the breakfast menu at this cute little hideaway and it did not disappoint.
After agonising over the choices all of which looked delicious we went for the chai Bircher, which was amazing almost like a dessert with poached pear and raspberry syrup, the pulled pork which comes with perfectly poached eggs in Panko crumbs and the cheesy polenta porridge, all of which were amazing.
We were tempted to stay for lunch or at least try the desserts but decided to leave it for another visit of which I hope there will be plenty :)

I love unexpected discoveries (in my case it usually is food related) makes the day just that little bit brighter. This little gem, tucked away on the corner of Park St and Domaine Rd was discovered after a leisurely stroll around the Tan with some friends. It’s called Ichi Ichi Ku (some relation to Ici Ni I think), every time i think of the name i have this inexplicable urge to grin cheesily and flash a peace sign with my fingers.
As we walked in, I had momentary visions of sneaking away on days off to read a book and sip on green tea matcha lattes. The place is truly cute and cosy, it sits about 15 people at a stretch. The fit-​out is japanese vintage izakaya kitsch, distressed timber panels and japanese wallpaper, light fixtures and stools that I’d love to steal.
On to more important things like food. The menu drove me crazy, it’s just one of those places where you want one of everything, I must admit I did see some brown rice sushi rolls behind a glass counter but I was distracted by the food that was placed on a neighbouring table (not a sushi roll in sight). The three of us dithered over the menu, trying to maximise the full potential of our collective eating capabilities. Here’s a break down of this slice of happiness that occurred a few weeks ago.
STARTERS
We decided for the starters, Ebi mayo tiger prawns as well as a variation of a Gomaae Spinach salad. The battered prawns were perfectly crisp on the outside, springy and firm on the inside and with just a little bite of wasabi mayonnaise. Lets just say the two serves of the spinach salad was not quite enough, the creaminess of the tofu and sesame dressing and the chilled spinach perfect combination — LOVE IT.
MAINS
We had 4 mains shared amongst the 3 of us, it was an accident (really we aren’t that gluttonous). The kitchen made us a brown rice chicken teriyaki don instead of the perviously ordered brown rice beef Yakiniku don, and the manager/​owner (amazing service) just gave the extra main to us.
The other two dishes were a brown rice salmon teriyaki don and a chicken and tempura udon noodle soup. All the rice/​don dishes were accompanied by an assortment of pickles, spring onions and toasted sesame seeds. The meat portions, especially for the chicken and beef were generous… very generous. It was generously seasoned and just beautiful to east. The salmon teriyaki was succulent and just perfect. I was quite partial to the udon noodles (i do generally have a big weakness for noodles in soup so I might be biased), they give you a lump of freshly grated ginger to mix into your dashi based udon soup, it gives it this unbelievable zingy freshness. To be completely honest, I can’t really tell you which one is better, they are all worthy… I was a little overwhelmed putting it mildly.
DESSERTS
We were ready to give up by time we decided that there was no way we’d get to finishing any of the mains, when we saw a table near us get served dessert. The dreaded FOMO hit us. An ice cream platter of green tea, white chocolate and berry and a rosewater turkish delight. It was beautiful, magical and devoured within 15 minutes. my favourites were the rosewater and green tea ones. I do recall us ordering a green tea tiramisu, but was in no condition to even look at it by the time we were done with the ice cream.
We rolled ourselves out satiated and in need of a siesta… maybe next time I’ll actually go for proper run around the Tan before coming back

This place has consistently delicious Japanese food with a splash of Ebi mayo to melt the cockles of your heart. The wasabi tempura prawns was a stand out and deserved a second order. The sauces are lovely and authentic and take you into the enjoyment zone. I love this cute little place and feel that South Yarra is enriched with more culinary diversity with a good Japanese hang out.

Great place to get your coffee and have a chat whilst waiting for the number 8 tram. Special requests to make one quickly before the tram arrives are taken as a personal challenge; have seen them happily make one in 1min before it arrives.

This is a cozy space at the intersection of Domain and Park, convenient to the #8 tram. It has a pleasant Japanese feel to it with wall and ceiling decorations. Hopefully you like cozy as it has only 6 or 7 small closely spaced tables.
The edamame was good (how does one mess up a bean) but had too little salt. The Ebi mayo was on the other hand totally amazing!
For mains we had the Ichi Ni roll and Unagi roll. Both were amazing and made interesting use of toppings like Mayo and tzatziki.
For dessert we finished with black sesame cheesecake which was fabulous, and an Ichi Lick of green tea ice cream and biscuit, which was tasty but over frozen.
All in all an excellent experience.