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MELBOURNE | Shinbashi Yakiniku is a Carlton restaurant that specialises in yakiniku, which translates to grilled meat. In a dining context, yakiniku refers to a Japanese style of barbecue, where bite-size pieces of meat and vegetables are cooked on a grill. The Shinbashi part of the restaurant’s name comes from the part of Tokyo’s Shinbashi neighbourhood, which is home to a large number of yakiniku restaurants.
Owner Charlie Cheng opened Shinbashi Yakiniku in Brisbane ten years ago so has had time to get his concept right. We were invited to the much newer Melbourne restaurant a few weeks ago and, being a huge fan of Japanese food, were intrigued to see Cheng’s take on yakiniku.
The space is low lit, with dark furnishings, and grills in the centre of each table.There’s a combination of Western-style wooden tables and bench seating, and low tatami style tables, where you sit on a mat. On the menu you’ll find an assortment of options, from meat, fish and vegetables to be grilled, along with a few smaller dishes like takoyaki, karaage, and udon. Monday to Wednesday’s are popular here for the $60 all-you-can-eat barbecue and sides option.
The meat at Shinbashi Yakiniku is of exceptional quality. Australian Wagyu is sourced from Blackmore, Rangers Valley, Sher, and Stockyard, and there are also cuts sourced from Japan. We were treated to a side of takoyaki and some chicken soup before moving on to the main event, the Ultimate Wagyu Box. There are only three of these boxes available each evening, and it features a selection of the restaurant’s highest quality cuts of beef. Each piece was fantastic, but what particularly stood out were the Wagyu Short Ribs MB9 and the Wagyu Sirloin MB6. Wonderfully marbled and finely cut, each piece only needed a very short time over the charcoal before being ready to eat. The taste was sublime, and the texture buttery smooth. The meat simply melted with each bite.
As well as wagyu, we also tried the pork belly and jumbo ocean prawns, both of which were delicious. Whether you grill the meat yourself of get the staff to do it for you is your choice, but grilling your self is definitely more fun. To end, we were given an unusual small plate of butter cheese sweet purple potato. It was fine, but didn’t really fit in with the meal. A simply bowl of rice would make for a better side.
For drinks it’s a selection of soda, tea, and alcoholic drinks like sake, umeshu, beer, and wine. We tried a lychee wine, which was tasty but quite sweet, along with a favourite of ours, Choya classic umeshu.
There have been a quite a few Asian restaurants opening in this part of town as of late, at Shinbashi Yakiniku is one that’s well worth considering if you’re looking for a fun, tasty Japanese barbecue experience.
Shinbashi Yakiniku
294 Lygon Street
Carlton
Victoria 3057
Australia
Telephone: (03) 9347 3528
E-mail: [email protected]
Website
Open
Mon – Sun: 11:30am to 3:00pm; 5:30pm to 10:30pm