Tempura Hajime, South Melbourne

As a treat, Gaz and I went to Tempura Hajime for dinner tonight. After hearing so much about this restaurant that specialises in tempura, which happens to be one of my favourite foods (anything deep fried... yum yum) we just had to pay it a visit. This nondescript restaurant is almost invisible to the naked eye. Located between office blocks, the only thing that made me pause in front of its entrance is its wooden door against the other glass office building doors.

Everything in Hajime is in the minimalist fashion. And looking at the space we understood why. It's tiny. Guests sit around a bar looking at the chef operate his two copper woks full of hot oil, with a maximum seating for 12 people. The chef is assisted by two waitresses, who announced their presence each time they entered his open kitchen (hot oil... very dangerous).

Gaz and I had a great time chatting with the chef. We talked about his favourite food in Japan (ramen), the ingredients he used, kitchen utensils - he even showed us a directory of industrial kitchen gadgets he had - it's as thick as a phone book! We talked about where he is from, places to visit in Japan etc. We had a lot of fun that night, so here are pics of the food, but with limited descriptions because I wasn't concentrating on listening to the waitresses as they described each dish.

King fish, ocean trout, and another type of fish mixed with sour plum. The last one was very appetizing. Hajime served freshly grated horseradish with the sashimi, it was very fresh and strong!!

The above came with this dish - seared beef slices, in a broadbean and vanilla cream sauce. Underneath, there is a Japanese spring vege (the waitress mentioned a Japanese name, but I couldn't catch it).

King George Whiting wrapped in shiso leaf.

Behold the oyster...

... which gave us so much eating pleasure!

The humble corn. Steamed, then fried in tempura batter. Very juicy and sweet.

Stuffed mushroom with prawn meat. This was very nice :)

tuna roll with avo, a dot of mayo.

Asparagus.

Midway the meal, we were served cold seaweed salad. Which was just as well because I could feel my body temperature rising due to the heaty courses we had.

Prawn tempura, always a favourite.

Sweet potato, first steamed then fried in batter. Very sweet and soft.

Last course of fried seafood and vegetable tempura on rice with teriyaki sauce.

Yogurt jelly with a muscat sauce. Very refreshing.

The tempura was not oily at all, which happens when the food is cooked at the right temperature but I did feel my body overheating in the middle of the courses. This was well anticipated by the chef and the chilled seaweed salad served to cool us down. Tempura Hajime's is a unique dining experience indeed. It is a good experience for the special occasions.