Hobart's latest Japanese restaurant - Yamashita

When we heard that a new Japanese restaurant had recently opened in Hobart, we were very keen to try it out, so made a booking for last night at Yamashita, located on Criterion St in the CBD.

We were greeted instantly by the friendly waitstaff who were very attentive from start to finish. After ordering a tasting plate each of Japanese wine served with nori, we decided to order the banquet menu (which thankfully was available for two, as often you need at least four or six people for this style). For $58 per person, the banquet includes miso soup, edamame, salmon sashimi, wafu crisp tofu salad, mixed tempura, chicken karaage, eye fillet steak, fruit lover roll (which we substituted for a golden dragon roll) and green tea ice cream.

The value for money was excellent - each dish was incredibly fresh and perfectly cooked. The miso soup wasn't too salty and included a delicious silken tofu with an almost enoki mushroom-like structure, and the generous serve of edamame was very fresh. The salmon sashimi came out next, served with wasabi and soy sauce, and was so incredibly tender that it was a challenge to pick it up with chopsticks. The wafu crisp tofu salad was served as a green salad in crispy cups made of tofu and paired with a tasty roasted sesame dressing on the side - a great option to precede the hot dishes that followed.

 

 

The mixed tempura included prawns, sweet potato, mushrooms, zucchini and tofu and was a great balance of crispy tempura batter with perfectly cooked fillings. The chicken karaage was next, which were served as four chicken thigh clusters with a crispy batter and a side of slightly spicy karaage sauce. We were definitely getting pretty full by this point, so when the tender eye fillet steak came out on two plates rather than one, we knew we had to pace ourselves, however when we tasted the melt-in-your mouth beef that was cooked to a perfect medium-rare searing, it was hard not to inhale the dish. The final savoury option was the golden dragon roll - an 8-piece sushi roll with crumbed prawn, avocado and roasted sesame sauce, topped with cucumber, nuts, pickles and roe, and again was deliciously fresh with the perfect combination of crispy crumbed prawn, creamy avocado and refreshing cucumber pickle topping.

 

 

  

The final dish of the evening - green tea ice cream - was a lovely finish to end the meal, as it wasn't too heavy or sweet, but had a beautiful creaminess paired with the fresh matcha taste.

 

All in all, our experience at Yamashita was amazing. The extremely efficient service, along with the excellent value for money with the banquet that comprised a range of incredibly fresh and delicious courses, made this a restaurant to which we will return. Anyone looking for a great Japanese meal in Hobart should definitely head to Yamashita if they get the chance.