Yakikami, South Yarra

Where: Yakikami, 150 Toorak Road South Yarra

What: Skewer heaven

Who: Perfume Genius, Encyclopedia of Food

Bloat score: 2 – The belt had to be completely removed

As eluded to in this review of Gray and Gray, my absolute favourite thing as a retiring vibe curator is someone else suggesting what we should do, which is exactly what Perfume Genius, our resident scent queen, did. Having heard good things about Yakikami, a Japanese barbecue restaurant in the heart of South Yarra, she sounded it out with me and Encyclopedia of Food (who, alongside her exhaustive knowledge of everything food-related, makes her debut on WFYB). 

I think back upon my years of dining in South Yarra from when I used to rent southside nostalgically but not necessarily positively, so was interested to venture back via the most perilous ramp found in any Melbourne train station. I’m pleased to say Yakikami was, by far, one of the best dining experiences I’ve had not only in South Yarra, but of Japanese food more broadly in Melbourne, and I’ll absolutely be back.

We found ourselves parked in front of the yakitori counter, watching chefs apply their virtuoso knife-wielding skills and chargrilling chops at the charcoal Josper (hibachi) grill.

Yakitori means ‘grilled chicken’, with ‘yaki’ meaning ‘grilled’ and ‘tori’ meaning ‘bird’, although other meats such as pork and beef are known to be used. Yakitori stalls first appeared in the middle of the Meiji period in the 1880s – not before due to various prohibitions against the consumption of meat, particularly during the Edo period – but initially featured offcuts and innards because chicken meat was considered a luxury. The arrival of broilers in Japan from the US in the 1960s and the democratisation of chicken made yakitori much more mainstream. One of the characteristics of yakitori, which is evident in the construction of Yakikami’s menu, is that not a single part of the chicken goes to waste. Binchō-tan charcoal, which Yakikami uses, reaches temperatures of over 1,000 degrees and doesn’t emit any unpleasant odours, so you won’t escape smelling like a smokehouse.

The menu is an expansive one, so go in with a plan of attack – either ask the yakitori chefs for recommendations or opt for Yakikami’s $150 omakase menu. (As an aside, chef Roy Yu said he wanted to offer an omakase that was meat instead of seafood-focused, something that’s common in Japan).

We had collectively decided we were at Yakikami for one thing and one thing alone – the skewers, whether they were from the vegetable, binchō-tan (prized cuts of chicken) or nomad (named after Nomad Farms in South Australia) section. We opted to steer clear of the sushi, sashimi and pricy wagyu steak (even though this is literally why Yakikami is famous) section, and though I’d heard amazing things about Yakikami’s chicken ramen with its 18-hour steeped broth, we thought it’d be too hard to share among the three of us.

Turns out three is an awkward number at a yakitori restaurant where everything comes in pairs, but the Yakikami waitstaff graciously altered all the portions to ensure we each got enough. We chose two things from the starters’ menu – the cold freshly made, in-house goma tofu with sesame and macadamias ($22.50 for a portion and a half, and which you can also choose to have grilled) as well as the kingfish carpaccio with yuzu dressing ($28).

The goma tofu was a definite highlight of the meal – the tofu was custard-like and gelatinous, and tasted like Asian soy milk in solid form. So imagine my surprise when I looked up goma tofu to find it features no soy milk whatsoever but is instead made from three ingredients: ground sesame paste, water or dashi, and kudzu powder, a type of starchy substance.

Goma tofu is the most well-known dish in shoujin ryouri, a mostly vegan cuisine that was developed in Buddhist Japanese monasteries. According to the blog Just Hungry, the job of grinding the sesame into a paste for goma tofu was relegated to novice monks – the hard work was considered character-building. Home cooks use pre-ground sesame paste (nerigoma) or tahini to eliminate the back-breaking work, and have been known to use a combination of potato starch, tapioca starch and corn starch as a substitute for kudzu powder.

The six slices of kingfish carpaccio – ideal for our group of three – were predictably fresh with a citrusy undercurrent from the yuzu.

The shiitake mushrooms ($18 for three) were the first to arrive, and even after we’d eaten all our remaining skewers, they remained a standout. Perfume Genius remarked that the shiitake had a pleasant snap to them, and we all enjoyed how the mushrooms enveloped our tastebuds with their savouriness.

It’s always a pleasure to find fellow okra lovers and the chargrilled ones at Yakikami drizzled with soy garlic (also $18 for three) were a sensory delight. The sliminess of okra puts a lot of people off, but their texture is what I love most about them.

Faced with the dizzying array of chicken yakitori, we followed the yakitori chef’s recommendations as well as our predilection for offal. First up: the chicken gizzard with garlic salt and crispy garlic ($21 for three). Gizzard is known for being slightly tough and chewy – in the best way possible, it must be said – and Yakikami’s gizzard was enlivened by the smoky breath of the binchō-tan and the sweetness of the interlaced onions.

We likely wouldn’t have zeroed in on the chicken tail with salt ($27 for three) were it not for the yakitori chef’s rave reviews and we were exceedingly thankful. As Encyclopedia of Food mused, it’s hard to go wrong with morsels of crispy and fatty. The simplicity of the preparation of Yakikami’s skewers – this one came garnished sparingly with salt with a lemon wedge for squeezing – only accentuated the high quality of meat on offer.

Next up were the chicken hearts with sansho pepper and spring onion sauce ($21 for three). I’m strictly a liver and gizzard girl when it comes to my offal consumption, but I greatly enjoyed these. To perhaps offset the gaminess of the hearts and in a departure from the minimalist condiments for the last few skewers, these came with a bitter, creamy spring onion sauce that we took the liberty of dipping a few of our different skewers into. Perfume Genius’s only comment was that she would’ve liked a more acidic accompaniment for the hearts.

We were initially worried that ordering the chicken skin rice ($32) alongside the chicken skin yakitori with salt ($21) would’ve been overkill, but we couldn’t go past either. We needn’t have worried – they were vastly different in their preparations, and equally as good.

The chicken skin rice was my favourite dish of the night. Wafer thin layers of chicken skin had been immaculately deep-fried (or perhaps air-fried if the chefs at Yakikami are anything like my parents) and the discernible grains of rice were coated in a light savoury sauce. The creamy onsen egg atop only accentuated the richness of the dish. A must-order dish!

The chicken skin skewer proved how dissimilar a cut of meat can taste with a different application of heat – caramelised at the edges, immensely fatty. My only tip with this skewer – and with all of them, really – would be to eat them when they’re fresh out of the grill. We let this sit for a while, and it wasn’t nearly as good at room temperature (we only have ourselves to blame!!).

Unfortunately by this stage, the food was rapidly reaching the sides of our stomachs – hence why we were slowing down – but we had still two skewers left, and one of them was perhaps the richest skewer of the night.

Tsukune ($30 for three) are Japanese meatballs that are typically skewered and grilled over charcoal. The ground meat used doesn’t have to be chicken – it could be pork or even fish – but chicken is most common, hence why tsukune has become synonymous with chicken meatballs. They’re usually seasoned with either salt or a thick Japanese sweet soy sauce known as a tare – Yakikami’s were garnished with a tare glaze, which became caramelised over the grill and immensely delicious. You could get your tsukune with grated parmesan, but we opted to have ours dipped in a creamy egg yolk, which I can’t recommend highly enough.

One of the last yakitori we had was the chicken oyster ($30 for three). I had to look up what this meant – there are oyster-sized pieces of meat on the backside of the chicken; every chicken has two “oysters”. They’re largely regarded as one of the tastiest – and underappreciated – parts of the chicken due to their tenderness and sweetness. The chargrilled chicken oyster we had was incredibly moist, with chargrilled sheets of crisp skin.  

As full as we were, we weren’t that full, which is how we found ourselves with the brûlée cheesecake. I can’t remember much about this except that it was good.

Drinks are typically an afterthought for me, but they aren’t at Yakikami. We went alcohol-free this visit, and can recommend each and every one of the mocktails we had – the passionfruit and cucumber-forward Kami’s Tears, the Hani Kami with its tantalising combination of honey, cranberry, green tea syrup and pomegranate, and the Mikan Berry which contains my #1 favourite ingredient in any beverage – yuzu.

And there we have it! A filling, nutritious, perhaps not so balanced due to the sheer amount of chicken involved, but sustainable meal due to the different cuts of chicken we enjoyed. I’ve heard great things about Yakikami’s omakase, particularly the pan-fried king prawn with a lobster bisque sauce – I’m salivating just typing that out – so I’ll be back.

Yakikami is open Wednesday to Monday from 12pm to 3pm and from 5.30pm to 10.30pm.