Pabu, Collingwood

We made reservations bright and early for this restaurant, but we still got bar seats even though there were a couple of tables free.

Gaz thought the nine course banquet menu was a good way to taste the specialties of this restaurant. Indeed, it was recommended to us by our waitress as the ideal for two persons. The banquest costs $55 per person and includes two of their specials - tuna and salmon salad, and hachima slices.

The first few dishes came quickly. We were served miso soup and endamame, then the gyu tataki. It is thinly sliced seared beef topped with pickled ginger and spring onions with citrus soy. It was squiggled with mayo and drizzled with black sesame seeds. The beef was seared well, and the citrus had 'cooked' the thin beef slices somewhat so did not have the smooth texture normally associated with tataki. The mayo did not make the dish smoother.

In quick succession came the hamachi which were thinly sliced king fish topped with pickled ginger, pickled green chilli and spring onions in yuzu sauce. Again the acidity in the yuzu had cooked the fish somewhat so it is not the smooth texture associated with sashimi. When the dish arrived we thought that all it needed was a splash of coconut cream and it would have been a spin off from Chin Chin's kingfish sashimi dish! The pickled chilli and ginger did not add to the dish, but I may be biased because I am not a big fan of either.

Next came the maguro and salmon on rocket salad dressed with chef's secret spicy sauce and mayo. Erm.. The chef can keep the secret recipe to himself. The raw tuna and salmon chunks were fresh and delicious though.

After the salad, the restaurant became busier so the courses stopped for a long while. We could not help but stare at the window where the dishes were pushed out from the kitchen to guess which of the dishes would end up on our table. It did not help that for a time the kitchen was not completing any dishes and when they did the dishes sat at the window for some time waiting for someone to deliver them, or try to figure out where they should go.

It was a busy night indeed, and the volume meant there cannot be time wasted to re-do an order. So, when one of the skewers fell off a dish onto the counter, we saw the chef picking it and placed it back on the plate to be served.

Finally another dish appeared, this time the pork gyozas. There were four of them, which we devoured in quick four quick bites each (did I tell you this is a Jap tapas?). After another session of keeping an eye on the window, we received another dish. It was the nigiri dish, also four pieces in total. Two salmon, one ebi and one tuna, which we also devoured in four bites.

Another long wait followed, which gave us time to admire the lines of sake bottles at the bar. They don't call this place Pabu Grill and Sake for nothing! Many people ordered sake to go with their meals and there are pages and pages of varieties one could choose from. But what puzzled me is the 'grill' after the name... There was only one grill chef, and the taste of two of the skewers we received were not that great.

We were served the mixed grilled skewers next. As the waitperson was still learning, we did not find out what we were actually being served, except that they were chicken kitsune, chicken thighs, chicken and chicken. We ate them in the order they were presented. The kitsune were delicious, so much flavour! The chicken thighs were also very good, seasoned well and I could taste the smoked grill glavour. It was very nice. The last two were not chicken but pork, and beef, neither of which were seasoned nor grilled as well as the chicken thighs.

The waiting game began again. By this time we had been in the restaurant for nearly two hours and rather neglected. Thankfully by sitting at the bar there was always someone we could motion to, and we asked for more water. But they were too busy to take away the dishes piling on the counter.

The next dish was ebi karaage which was spicy marinated prawns. It was whole small unpeeled prawn deep fried to such crispiness you can eat it whole, head and all. The prawns were crispy and retained their crunch well.

The last dish we almost forgot because of the wait, but luckily did not, was thedessert which consisted of one scoop each of matcha, black sesame and yuzu sorbet. There was also half a melon mochi which tasted awesome.

I think we should have ordered individual dishes, perhaps five full dishes to get more food for money and less waiting time. Even though the waitperson who took our order assured us we would feel full with the menu, we still wanted more food, but would rather get fast food because of the wait involved.

It was good to have tried a new place, but this is not one where we would have to revisit.

Update: This restaurant is permanently closed. In 2015, the restaurant was fined $30,000 for unhygienic food practices.