As a proud Sydney-sider, when it comes to classifying the status of my relationship with Melbourne, I cam sum it up in two words. It’s complicated.
Hate the cold. Love the style. And, when it comes to dining out, as a pro foodie, I’m split squarely down the middle when deciding which state does it better.
Especially against the backdrop of a recent midweek corporate conference in Mahl-burne – which I have never traditionally treated as an opportunity for a food pilgrimage.
However, this time while there, suffering through snooze-approved keynote speakers and a hotel room with disappointing water pressure, Wednesday night happened. And, Chapel Street came to the party with other plans.
The host with the most was Mr Miyagi – an eatery that has been sitting on the Windsor strip for 12 years now (the equivalent of a millennium in restaurant years). And yet the queue outside there on a hump-day suggested that this place could have opened last month. Not a soft launch sort of crowd either. A proper, elbows-in, waiting-by-the-door-for-a-table crowd, on a school night, in the depths of a Melbourne winter.
Inside, it became obvious fairly fast why nobody seemed to mind the wait. Low lighting, exposed brick, and a soundtrack with just enough old-school hip hop to feel like a night out circa 1998. Plus, an open kitchen throwing off enough energy to make the whole room feel slightly electric.
Even though I attended with a very platonic local friend, I got the impression Mr Miyagi would also work as a genuinely good date spot and possible even greater big-group spot at the same time. Somehow without compromising on either. Between you and I, (and Sydney Social 101’s 100,000+ monthly readers) The Harbour City has plenty of restaurants that nail one of those. Doing both, on a Wednesday, 12 years in, is a different achievement entirely.
The Food, Which Did Absolutely Nothing to Make the Flight Home Easier
The menu at Mr Miyagi runs in three rounds, built for sharing. And, effectively ensures nobody leaves hungry. Or, dealing with FOMO that they didn’t try the dumplings.
A classic way to kick things off is with a bowl of the Shiso Edamame ($12.5) – blowtorched soybeans with shiso salt. Chase this with the Rainbow Cracker ($24.5), tuna, kingfish and salmon stacked on a black sesame cracker with a zesty green mojo sauce and yuzu mayo. And go wild with a serve of Shiitake Dumplings ($21.5) – which brought soy-pickled shiitake, shiso and mixed sesame seeds in a chilli bean oil that had just enough heat to keep things interesting.
The trio made for the kind of entree combo built for a photo before it’s built for eating. Though it delivers on both counts.
The Salmon Nori Taco ($19.5) deserves its own paragraph. Huon Valley salmon belly, sushi rice, spicy napa cabbage, Japanese mayo and chilli oil, folded into a taco shape that confirms the power of a cultural cuisine collab. For those who fear fusion, try this Mex-Jap mix, and you’ll see things differently.
Taking the advice of Mr Miyagi’s Venue Manager, Dimitri Deam, I double down on the Prawn Roll ($14.5) and order two. As a result, my plus one and I get a very delicious second serve of Skull Island tempura prawn dressed in honey soy mayo, tucked into a toasted brioche roll that had absolutely no business being that good at 9pm on a Wednesday.
Finally, come mains, the MFC (Mr Miyagi’s take on fried chicken with Mr M’s secret seasoning and Japanese mayo) was the dish that I would happily fly back to Melbourne for on its own, while the vego-friendly Shio Koji Eggplant ($33.5), ginger marinated and finished with Japanese curry hollandaise, roasted peanuts and grilled spring onion, was the surprise of the night. Not the dish expected to steal the show. Absolutely the dish that did.
TFDE (To Full. Didn’t Eat): For the protein peeps, the Miso-Mundi ($44.5) comes highly recommended. A Humpty Doo barramundi fillet, glossed in a burnt miso kombu butter, plated alongside compressed nashi pear, a bright yuzu dressing and fresh ginger. Rich and savoury from the miso, cut clean by the pear and yuzu, I was told it has the kind of balance that takes real skill to land.
No Karate Kid-themed restaurant would be complete without a proper finishing move, and the Chocolate Mess ($14.5) was exactly that. A rich Valrhona chocolate panna cotta, paired with salted almond chocolate soil and a miso-chocolate fudge, it landed somewhere between elegant and downright indulgent, salty and sweet doing their best work right up until the very last spoonful. Fitting, really, for a restaurant that spends the whole night building up to a knockout. Finish him, indeed.
The Bit Where Sydney Has to Admit Something
There’s a version of this review that stays loyal to Sydney the whole way through. This isn’t that version.
Because somewhere between the Rainbow Cracker and the second round of cocktails, it became impossible to ignore the fact that Melbourne is doing something with midweek dining that Sydney is still catching up on. A genuinely cool Japanese restaurant, 12 years deep, still packed on a Wednesday, still buzzing like it opened last week, is not a small thing to pull off. It’s the kind of longevity most restaurants can only dream about, let alone maintain while staying this busy on a night that most Sydney venues would happily call quiet.
Credit where it’s due, then. Begrudgingly and slightly against instinct: Mr Miyagi is a genuine Melbourne institution, and Chapel Street on a Wednesday night, at least for one evening, had it over Sydney.
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