Kisumé — Restaurant in Melbourne

Location was convenient, restaurant looked cozy and welcoming, food was absolutely amazing! They tasted fresh, smelled good and were presented beautifully. We sat at counter hence could see the whole food prepping process and it was satisfying and interesting at the same time. Ambience was relaxing and chilled. Restaurant was very busy, the heavy rain couldn’t stop customers from coming in so I was impressed.

However, apart from all the good things, their customer service has plenty of room to improve on, especially with the price they charge customers I expect premium service. We had to find ourselves in situations that it was hard to get the waiters’ attention, even though there were plenty of them working on Friday night. For the whole night sitting there we were only got checked once if we’re happy with everything, and the couple next to us got asked more than 3 times. Once we managed to place our order, the waiter forgot 1 of the dishes and we had to wait a really long time until someone realised we had been sitting at our table with no food for quite a while then they came to check. No proper apology was given, just a quick brief sorry for the inconvenience. Sitting at the counter was a nice experience but not so nice when 1 of the managers (he looked like one or I could be wrong) walked pass by and hit my head with his shoulders, then he turned his head while still walking away and said to me “Pardon me”. That’s all. When the waiter took our food away their was soy sauce on the table but no cleaning was given, he then proceeded to place the dessert menus on the sauce and they got wet and ruined. Groups of staff would be standing around gossiping and chit-chatting, which I found very strange in a (kinda) fine-dining environment. We came to celebrate my partner’s birthday and I added a note when making a booking, I didn’t expect anything out of their way but I did hope at least when they served us dessert, a small line of Happy Birthday on the plate would be nice, or a simple wish to my partner when they brought out dessert would also be greatly appreciated but there was nothing. More small things happened here and there giving me the feeling that the staff working that night lacked lots of attention to details.

Another thing but this is on me, I’m fussy so I found it weird but everyone else might be fine with it. They don’t have male and female toilets but they combine both in 1 unisex toilet setting, which is completely fine but the toilets were not in separate rooms, they were all in different cubes but just 1 same room, which could be a bit inconvenient and uncomfortable in certain cases. Also customers and staff would use the same bathroom too. Again, this is on me, I’ve been to different fine-dining restaurants and this is quite odd to me hence I wanted to add in.

It was my first time dining here and will I come back? Probably not. Food was good but it’s not good enough to be returned customers when they didn’t show us their intention of keeping us...

Kisumé Friday 20th September 2024

Special SEA URCHIN NIGHT - Yummy

OYSTER, LEMON, DAIDAI 2 Oyster. Pacific & Rock Caviar Finger Lime Lemon snow made by freeze drying So fresh lightly sea just delicious SPANNER CRAB CHAWANMUSHI, SEA URCHIN Let’s unpack this. Amazing Chawanmusi on its own delicious Spanner Crab that takes like Spanner Crab. Which a skill in itself Sea Urchin wow I love you This a special dish. Absolutely devine. Stunning succulent delicious SCALLOP & CAVIAR Delicious naked scallop caviar dashi broth Raddish Wonderful delicious CHEF SELECTION 4 NIRIGI - LOCAL WHITE FISH, KING PRAWN, OTORO I didn’t understand the name of the first fish. Delightful to eat light fish flavour 2nd King Fish wow that was awesome so dam good. 3rd King Prawn. Massive Prawn you chew a lot. Then at the halfway to the end delightful fresh prawn tastes dance on the tongue. Yummy 4th OTORO Tuna belly. What to say about raw belly of OTORO. It’s just sensational soft melting in the mouth sending amazing delicious flavours everywhere. Just sublime. SALMON, IKURA, SOMEN, SEA URCHIN So refreshing. Pop pop candy of salmon roe. Salmon naked in cubes. Sea Urchin then noodles. Awesome delicious. No photos. SCAMPI SANDO, MILK BREAD, TARTARE SAUCE Oh my gosh. This is HEAVENLY The best sandwich ever. I didn’t get that in my school lunch box. Stunningly prepared Scampi in an amazing mayonnaise like sauce. Words won’t do it justice. Yep I loved it. CUCUMBER, SUDACHI, FINGER LIME, MINT Delicious palette cleanser. Great flavour everywhere. BLUE COD UROKOYAKI, DASHI, SANSAI, SEA URCHIN Stunning. Cod cooked perfectly. Skin crispy not scaled just torched so the scales sit up. Then grilled. A wonderful delicious fish that was beautifully crafted. AGED DUCK, SANSHO PEPPER, JUS Excellently prepared duck. Just delicious. Tiny pepper berries add hint spice delicious JAPANESE WAGYU 5A, MISO, MUSTARD 8.5 grade Wagyu miso pumpkin sauce wasabi sauce. Now that is a streak. Just melted away. Delicious FIREFLY GOHAN & CLAM DASHI Firefly SQUID the tiniest thing you have ever seen. And it’s delicious. At first nothing then the little morsel goes bang with flavour. Just delicious Clam in a ball like meatballs. Delicious light flavour of the sea. Wonderful Dashi. Great sough of palate cleanser YUZU SORBET, LEMON MYTLE, HONEY MERINGUE Light sorbet with toasted meringue. Toasted with hot coals in front of us. PETIT FOURS

Another great night at Kisumé. Big shout out to my Sommelier for the night Leanne. Her amazing descriptions of the wine matching was a delight to listen and sensational to...

Overall rating: 5/5

Best tasting dining experience we’ve ever had. Every bite, we turned speechless as the flavours of carefully cured fish and complex skills strikes our consciousness.

Heard the omakase set menu is a must try but we wanted to explore the different choices of food on the menu.

Crispy wagyu truffle (5/5): Damaging to the mind body and soul! Explosive in so many ways. Its complex combination of texture, umami and flavour is perfectly executed in this ball of goodness. The richness comes from all different directions, from the wagyu, the mozzarella cheese and the truffle.

Deluxe feature box $88 (5/5): each bite of sushi roll and sashimi was worth it. Such complex flavours that offer an experience which you can only find at Kisumé. Loved the sushi rolls more than the sashimi. Not a raw tuna fan, but with the watermelon on top of the sushi roll - complete perfection. Kingfish and scallop sushi would be my most memorable. However, the salmon sushi roll with avocado puree takes the win - such classic flavours with the perfect ratio of elements creating a masterpiece that took me straight back to Japan. After demolishing the sushi box, I considered not going to Melbourne sushi trains ever again.

Foie gras & beef tenderloin (5/5): this was also another successful contender of blowing me off my feet. First time having foie gras and I’m glad it was here at Kisumé because tenderloin steak was perfectly cooked and drizzled with their soy sauce that was almost drinkable. the foie gras tasted like a smooth rich and creamy duck pate that pairs well with the smokiness from the beef. The foie gras somehow elevated the entire dish to another level, bringing that much needed rich salty umami element onto the table.

Pork gyoza potsticker (4/5): grabbed a classic gyoza dish that is common in many Japanese restaurants but no one pulled it off as perfect as Kisumé did. Flavours of the pork mince were delicious and extremely juicy as you bite into it. The texture of the potsticker lattice was so thin and so crispy. Even just that fried lattice was good enough for me to enjoy so imagine having this gyoza all in your mouth, that has perfect amounts of crispiness, flavour and tenderness.

Drinks did not disappoint as well! So yummy and on the sweet side. My cocktail had a sweet and citrusy taste which was refreshing and lovely. The Japanese punch tasted like your Childhood nerds but in a more mature tone.

Most definitely would love to come back to try their omakaze.

Food: 5 Value: 4.5 Ambience:...