Kinya Japanese Restaurant Review

Location:64A River Esplanade, Yarra's Edge VIC 3008 (Basically the other side of Docklands, it's off Lorimer Street, where the Citilink building is, right off the hectic freeway)
Phone:(03) 9646 2400
Time: 8.30pm (hungry hungry dinner)
Cuisine Type: Japanese
Price: A bit too pricey, I can get cheaper and better japanese sushi/sashimi and tempura elsewhere



What got dished out:
I took a friend of mine to this restaurant and we ordered 3 dishes that filled us up. Normally what I find with Japanese cuisine is that it's really difficult to get "full" on the food as the servings are relatively small. (which means you have to order lots of things.) The first thing that we ordered was Kani Cream Croquette ($12.50) which basically was mixed crab meat and potato croquette with some mayonanaise and japanese bbq sauce.
I had no idea what I was ordering, I mean i don't even know what Croquette are. But I ordered it anyway, I like taking chances (NOT), actually i was hoping for the best.

I was pleasantly surprised when it came out because the outside was battered quite nicely and the inside was nice and soft. It almost melted in my mouth, and every single bite was just pure awesomeness. Shame, however that there were only 3 and I had to share. The funny thing is, I couldn't taste any of the crab-ness. It was more of a potato taste then anything else.
I did however found the bbq sauce a tad too much, it was more salty than anything else.

Obviously it wouldn't be right going to a Japanese restaurant and not order any sushi or sashimi so we also got a plate of Sushi Sashimi Moriawase ($35)
Our initial reaction was " OMG that's so huge" but upon further inspection, there was more "props" then the real deal and really there wasn't that much sushi at all.
Don't get me wrong, I like prettiness served on a plate but when it means I have less food, I'm not entirely enthused.
To be honest with you the sushi stuff wasn't all THAT great, nothing to shout on the rooftops about. I can't say that it was of freshest of qualities or that it was riveting stuff. It was passable. Actually, my biggest complaint was that the rice didn't stick together very well or to the fish.
Okay I lie, that's not my only complaint, the wasabi was a bit on the weak side, as in I had to a LOT into my dish before i could feel the "kapow" in my mouth.

Obviously, this didn't feel us up (at all) and we had to order a 3rd dish which was the Tempura Moriawase ($15.50) which was an assortment of tempura stuff. We had the option of an entree size or a main size. We decided on getting the entree size which turned out to be the better option as by the time we took our last bite, we completely and utterly filled ourselves up.
It wasn't the best tempura dish I've ever eaten, in fact it was quite ordinary. The batter was nice but everything was undercooked. The zucchini and carrot (i think it was carrot) was a tad too hard. The prawn was nice and frankly if I wasn't so hungry, I wouldn't have bothered with the whole tempura thing. It was definitely not worth the $15.50.


My thoughts:
I was hugely disappointed with everything that came out minus the Kani Cream Croquette. I was quite embarassed because I had dragged a friend out to this restaurant, reminiscing about the good ol times that I had here (some 3 years ago). It was also due to this restaurant that I opened myself up to fish, my last memory of it was pretty awesome (some of my friends had taken me here trying to convince me that eating raw fish was the way to go, I was really hesitant at the time but thoroughly enjoyed it and haven't stopped since).

So nothing was worse when the food came out and I was like "wtf is all this? this is so ORDINARY?!?!!?" Perhaps its due to the fact that since Kinya, I've been to a bunch of dozen Japanese eateries (better ones I must admit), that I've come to have such high expectations of the food that Kinya no longer meets the requirements to my tastebuds? I'm not sure.

I have to add my friend did enjoy the food, much more than I did. One thing to Kinya's credit is that their staff are actually OKAY looking! Sure the food's average but the male staff make up for their shortfall. I know I'm terrible... but what else can I say?

We did have a funny moment, when we had ordered the Kani Creme Croquette, a dish came out and I was like "Omg that was so quick!" and then looked at it and thought "OMG is this it? it looks so damn small?!?!? I feel jibbed" Having no idea what the Croquette was, I almost freaked out. Turns out it was appetizers (which was on the house), and it was just normal potatoes (cold might I add) with some japanese bbq sauce. Don't worry it wasn't that great either. At least Kinya's consistent, consistent at making average tasting food.

To be honest, I probably wouldn't go back to Kinya again. It's not worth the trouble, it's in a really odd spot, it's off Lorimer street, where the apartment blocks are (you can see them off the King Street exit from the freeway). The only good thing about Kinya is it's location. At night time, it's got this romantic view of the Dockland pier... and there's less people. So if you want to take your other half and spend some quality time and don't mind average Japanese food, then Kinya is the place to go. (btw, sorry for the low quality photos, I took these on my blackberry )

Personally I wouldn't go back, for that type of money spent, I know half a dozen better places to go to.