Shoya

Ever found yourself salivating watching those cheesy commentators devour the food on Iron Chef? Well walk down Market Lane, and next to the Flower Drum we have own very own Kitchen Stadium in Melbourne - Shoya.

A split level restaurant, we make our way to the "fine dining" middle floor where we are seated at the sushi bar by our polite, professional waiters. We order a bottle of wine from the short but sharp list, and decide to indulge on the 9 course Omakase.

We wait with bated breath - and soon enough, a procession of innovative, unique and delicious dishes start to arrive. They are amazing in presentation, flavour, textures and smells - with an obvious dedication to ingredients and produce. The food at Shoya had the risk of falling into alarming and pretentious, but to our delight it was uniquely amazing.

Just like in Iron Chef, there was no budget or expense spared in the creation of the dishes. We were treated to salmon cappacio topped with truffle, Unagi topped with foie gras, Toro & other sushi in a bowl made of solid ice, a huge leg of Japan Imported tempura crab, and eventually the meal cumulated in a delicious cut of Wagyu Sirlion served in a sweet sticky sauce liberally topped with black truffle & a slab of foie gras.

My experience at Shoya surpassed the one i had at Tetsuya. The meal had the experimental elemental of VDM, whilst staying true to the confines of traditional Japanese food. One of the most pleasant meals and experiences I have had the pleasure of having in a very long time.

Pictures stuck on phone - still trying to work out how to download:

Please see tummyrumbles blog for some similar pictures:
http://tummyrumbles.com/2008/09/shoya-chefs-omakase.html

4.5 / 5 yums!

------
Where? 25 Market Lane, Melbourne 3000
What? Entrees $15, Mains $30, Degustation $100-$150