Yamato Japanese

I was out on Friday night having a drink with SC at Cookie and we were talking about our favourite Japanese restaurants in Melbourne.

Out of nowhere SC asks me "Are you hungry? Because I'm starving and I want to take you to this really nice Japanese place. Wanna go?" Um duh, when do I ever say no to trying a new restaurant? Hint: The answer starts with N and ends with ever.

After a short stroll we arrived at Yamato Japanese which is in one of the lane ways off Little Bourke St. The actual restaurant is tiny. If you get claustrophobic, your name will be Houston and you may have a problem.

We were greeted by the usual enthusiastic Japanese hospitality and seated at a table for two in the corner. The ambience is very traditional Japanese, lots of woodwork, paper hangings and Jap art. The main dining area can fit about 15 people and they have two sectioned off areas for larger groups. And by larger I'm talking 8 people max.

Anyway, onto the food! We started off with pork gyozas. They used wonton skins instead of the usual gyoza skin, but it tasted pretty good to me, I don't like doughy dumplings. We also ordered the seafood tempura, which consisted of battered prawns, salmon and vegies. As far as tempura goes, it was better than average I'd say. We also tried the tofu and salmon steaks, which both came out on sizzling hot plates accompanied with vegies and I enjoyed both dishes. The bill came up under $50 including our drinks, so there's no concerns with value for money at this eatery.

I'd definitely come back and try some of the other dishes, like the sushi and sashimi, which I didn't get to try because my dining companion doesn't eat raw fish. I know, WTF?!