Yokoso Izakaya - Melbourne

I have to say, the Wagyu hot pot is definitely one of the best dishes I've tried this year.

I had a wonderful dinner at Yokoso. I shared all the dishes with two friends and we all loved each one. Our favorites were the wagyu beef balls and the tempura. The sparkling sake was also fantastic!

Upon arrival, the staff greeted us warmly and the service was impeccable. The banquet was well-organized and the food was delicious. I highly recommend trying the Teriyaki Chicken, as the chefs cook it to perfection, bringing out all of the amazing flavors.

Food is outstanding, as is the service. <br/ <br/ Sure, I could tell you about how the Wagyu is actually Wagyu, or the fact that they have a Szechuan-inspired dish on the menu that pays tribute to the great Chen Kenichi’s dad, but sometimes...that is all. Can’t recommend this place more highly. If you’re done with pizza, burgers and goddam BBQ, get yourself into Yokoso Izakaya.

(Disclaimer: True rating is 4.5 however on Zomato this is closer to a 4). Personally, my favourite dish at Yokoso has to be their okonomiyaki. You may as well deliver a truck of this stuff to my house! It’s a savoury pan-fried pancake, which in this case, happens to be vegetarian. It is topped with fish bonito flakes, which flap (kinda creepily) in the wind. A kid on the table next to us got a little scared because he thought the food was living!But while it’s not living, the okonomiyaki is a beast of a dish. The crispiness of the batter makes it a delight to bite into, while the Japanese mayo and okonomiyaki sauce are just irresistible! The okonomiyaki at Yokoso is quite thick so we struggled a bit to eat it with chopsticks. But I happily pushed through the struggle. WHO KNEW VEGGIES COULD TASTE THIS GOOD?!?