Nikuya, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane

July 09, 2016

Another visit to celebrate the birthday of my sister and I. There is a private room where you can book your group into in which we did which allowed us not only privacy but to also be able to enjoy each other's company as well as talk and giggle as much as we want, and of course, take as much photos as we would like without having the eyes of other diners looking upon you. Again, friendly and kind customer service never fails to make a dining experience better. Although it did take some time for some of the dishes to come out, the waiters would be very attentive and continuously letting us know if there were any delays. Although being in a private room sometimes has its ups and downs, as trying to get the waiter's attention for hot tea topup or water can also be a hassle as they don't always walk past your room too often until need be.

'Buta Gyoza' ($8) is a classic, Japanese pan fried pork dumplings and each serving comes with a light garnish and light soy sauce for dipping. A great way to start the meal and something everyone in the table would like. There are prawn and vegetable dumpling options available. Juicy and hot on the inside, lightly pan fried allowing it to have the golden look as well as steaming hot on the other side to allow for each of the pork meat to cook.

'Hire (Fillet)' ($29) is lean and tender pork fillet encased in agolden brown panko breadcrumbs allowing it to seal its natural juices and flavour. The dish comes with a bowl of white rice, miso soup, a small bowl of sesame seeds as well as a side of shredded fresh cabbage to add that extra bit of crunchiness and also veges side of things to balance your carbs and also protein as well as your vegetables. The shredded cabbage was fresh and remember to grind those sesame seeds and place it on top of the tonkatsu sauce allowing the pork fillet to be dipped and glazed all over by it. The Hire was well cooked, the panko breadcrumbs were just right not too thick and was crunchy. With every bite, you can taste the juices and the sensational flavour of the pork.

'Wagyu Cubes' ($36) are chunky pieces of MB6+ Wagyu beef pieces seared and caramelised served with a garlic and onion sauce with a few bits and pieces of rough cut veges such as potatoes, carrots, broccoli and pumpkin all on a hot stone plate. Although it may look messy, you should not doubt this dish as the Wagyu Beef melts in your mouth at the first instance you put it on your tongue, let the tenderness and let it sizzle away. The garlic and onion sauce is not too strong and I prefer it that way so that the true flavour of the Wagyu can be tasted more by itself. The veges were just simply complimenting the dish and also adding a bit of colour. What surprised me more was that the chunk pieces were actually chunky and the portion is definitely enough for one so don't be afraid of ordering this and thinking uggh, maybe this might only serve a few pieces of meat.. well, it doesn't.

'Una Don' ($22) is always a favourite of mine to have and I have tried the best to the worst in various different Japanese restaurants. At first, I wasn't sure how big the portion of the whole dish would be but most importantly, I wanted to really know how big their portion of the Unagi would be when served.

The Unagi itself was cooked perfectly and had its own huge punch of flavour which was great as it allowed the leftover sauce to drip all over the rice underneath it. What I loved about this dish was that the portion of the eel itself was not stingy, it was chewy and was thickly sliced allowing you to enjoy the whole dish fully. Sometimes, when ordering Una Don, you tend to get more rice and only a little bit of eel which kind of is a let down as you end up enjoying and eating the rice more and looking for more eel bits to eat.

'Katsudon' ($24) is another classic dish to have as not only does it make you feel warm, but the thought of having crumbed meat topped with an eggy onion sauce on top just gives you the giggles. A bowl of fluffy white rice topped with Panko-crumbed Kurobuta Pork Cutlet and loaded with a sumptuous onion and egg infused broth. As you can see from the pictures, the Pork Cutlet has filled the bowl entirely which is great to see as well as having the onion and egg infused broth poured over it, allowing the steam to rise when it reaches your table. The onion and egg broth is poured only to half of the pork cutlet which I do appreciates as sometimes over pouring can ruin the texture and also the taste of the meat especially when it has been previously crumbed, making it sometimes abit too soggy.

'Miso Rosu' ($32) is pork loin deep fried with a crispy panko breadcrumb drizzled with Aka Miso Sauce served with chunky potatoes as well as shredded cabbage to balance the whole dish. This dish also came with a bowl of rice, a small bowl of sesame seeds as well as miso soup. For this dish, you do not need to reach for the Tonkatsu Sauce on the table as you already have the Aka Miso sauce on top of the meat. The right amount of sauce has been drizzled on top and it did not cover the whole pork loin which allows only a side of the pork loin to be drenched in the sauce as well as get slightly soggy leaving the rest still crispy and hot.

'Kinoko Udon Noodle Soup' ($18) has a choice of two different types of noodles, Udon or Soba in which we chose Udon. This simple dish is served with your choice of noodles and a wide variety mixture of mushrooms ladled over with a broth. A very simplistic dish but will warm you up during winter and those chilly nights. Although there is no meat present in the dish, it allows you to enjoy the wide variety of mushrooms that it can offer and allow you to be able to taste the different flavours with the different textures of each different mushrooms. The broth was seasoned just right, not too salty nor too sweet and was a perfect broth to accompany the Udon noodles and mushrooms.