Shou Sumiyaki Sake Bar and Grill - Good BBQ Meats

I love finding new restaurants that turn out to be good. Shou Sumiyaki is one of those. My friend Kevin had organised for Andy's birthday dinner to be there. The restaurant can be easily missed along Little Bourke Street as the shop front is very small. The narrow long space is well split up into numerous ares, with private large areas, the bar area, and small semi sectioned dining area. The black finish of the tables and floors makes for a very elegant classy feel.


The menu has lots of options but we decided to go for the banquet of grilled meat. This consisted of various starter salads, sashimi and lots and lots of cuts of meat to be grilled over the coal BBQ. I usually associate the grilling of meat like this with Korean BBQ but I guess Japanese would do similar. The flavours of the meat were good, with some being marinated and others not. The wait staff were also really helpful in coming to cook the meat and cut it up for us.



What the banquet doesn't include, which is a bit strange, is dessert. We decided to order every dessert on the menu, and they were all excellent. Each dessert dish comprised a number of interesting elements, like the dish below with a panna cotta, caramel popcorn, good ice cream, mochi, red bean, biscuits and cake.



The ambiance in the restaurant is good, with sound surprisingly not too bad given the wooden floors. The service, as I mentioned before was efficiently and helpful, but also rushed. As there are 2 hour sittings, it is a bit of a rush to eat everything in time as there is a number of meat courses. I liked the food and desserts and thought the price was reasonable.

Overall Rating: 14/20, Good BBQ meats and desserts in a nice setting.

Scores: 1-9: Unacceptable, don't bother. 10-11: Just OK,some shortcomings. 12: Fair. 13: Getting there. 14: Recommended. 15: Good. 16: Really good. 17: Truly excellent. 18: An outstanding experience. 19-20:Approaching perfection, Victoria's best.