Kagurazaka Japanese Restaurant

Not a bad Japanese experience, ambience could be better for a Japanese restaurant, very uninviting place butthe food was good, service was ok, menu had a good selection of traditional Japanese food. The Saki was very good and overall I would go back just needs some life in the atmosphere. The building is dated.

Winter has well and truly set in so the first thing I did after being seated at my little window table for one at Kagu Ra Zaka for lunch this Saturday was order a piping hot 300 ml bottle of Ranman Tokusen Ginjo Sake. This arrived within minutes and really hit the spot — rich, mellow and sweet, while still retaining the classic sake balance of acidity and bitterness. After a quick visit to Google I was able to establish that it’s made with Miyamanishiki sake rice and comes from the Akita Prefecture, if by the off chance you’re one of those people (like me) who needs to know these things.
It apparently goes well with seafood, so in keeping with the Japanese comfort meal theme I ordered tempura soba. This is a bowl of buckwheat noodles (you can also order it with udon, but these are too thick for my taste) in dashi broth with a side plate containing two battered king prawns, sliced pumpkin, capsicum and zucchini. I had exactly the same dish in a little ramen place in Tokyo a couple of years ago, and apart from being twice the price, this was pretty much identical — which is exactly what I was hoping it would be.
The broth was tasty, garnished with some sliced leek, and went really well with the tempura. The only thing I would have done differently was use a slightly lighter batter, but that’s just me being picky. By now my warm sake was cold, but actually I think I preferred it this way — the flavours are more distinguishable.
Kagu Ra Zaka (which, if you need to know these things) is named after a district in Tokyo with a large French population and a lot of dining options. This one however is conveniently located right here in Toorak Road, just around the corner from Chapel Street. The service is fast and authentic (at least the waitress was able to understand my high school Japanese when I asked for the bill), and the food is good.

Unilocal & other online directories confirm they are open till 23:30. The signs on their own restaurant says they’re open till «late» — so how is it possible that when I came here at 22:15 on a *Saturday night* they were closed? Is 10pm on a weekend deemed as «late» these days? Are the advertised hours of being open till 23:30 some kind of sick Japanese joke? Who knows, but I was horribly disappointed, and it caused my guests and me to scourage Toorak Rd looking for a decent alternate Japanese establishment for dinner.

Arrive at hotel and decide sushi is what we all felt like for dinner. Remember that we have this fancy app that can tell us what local sushi places are nearby. Thank goodness for that. We also took it a step further and asked the hotel front desk staff where their favourite sushi restaurant was near by. Their high praises for Kagurazaka Japanese Restaurant narrowed down our selection from three to one in an instant.
You can tell the Japanese you’re about to eat is freaking amazing by the fake plastic meals depicting their menu in the front window. Our leisurely stroll had us walking in their doors within five minutes of leaving the hotel. We were greeted with a warm and traditional Japanese welcome and enquired if they had take-​away options. They did and our hostess handed us their takeaway menu and offered us to sit at one of their tables while we decided just what delicious eats we would order.
My salmon sashimi was melt in your mouth like butter good and frankly, I think I was on such a salmon high I momentarily set myself adrift on memory bliss. My mixed sushi (9 pieces) was equally perfection sushi-​fied. For $ 22 and a happily satisfied stomach — worth it.

It’s hard to miss this little Japanese treasure walking down Toorak Road, the restaurant is framed with traditional rice paper screens, decorative bamboo and authentic Asian dining settings.
There is lots to choose from off the menu at Kagurazaka, they have a great range of freshly made sushi, soups, rice and noodle dishes. All the meals are prepared in an attempt to provide traditional Japanese cuisine in a fuss free atmosphere. If you are a lover of oysters there is one particular dish you should not go past; the kaki-​furai. This dish is oysters which have deep-​fried and served with a savoury dipping sauce, quite an experience not at all like how I am used to eating oysters, but very tasty all the same.
Kagurazaka also has Japanese sake and tea to go with your meal, or you may BYO a bottle of wine from home to enjoy and save a few bucks.