Valentines day 2022 and I thought that it would be nice to try something new rather than cooking dinner for Dr L (although now I come to think of it, I kind of did cook dinner again), so we made a reservation at the new-ish Japanese BBQ in Brisbane, Shimo. Hidden behind La Dolce Vita, they took up the space that used to be the famous Embers Steakhouse which closed down a few years back.
Despite being so well hidden, the place was completely full very shortly. I liked the setup with stone and wood finishes. I also really appreciate being able to BBQ without the obstruction of a ventilator dropping from the ceiling. I can attest that after our meal, we did not end up smelling like BBQ for some days after.
For us dining as a couple, there were really only two options, either order a set for two or go a la carte. Ordinarily I would have opted for a la carte because sometimes set menus dont encompass everything that I would like to eat and often it is more economical to build your own menu with all the things I wanted instead. In this instance however, it took a lot more thought on my part. When clarifying with the waitress how much meat came with one serve, she said it was 80g which is really about half the size of what other places have as their single serves. With the waitress recommending at least 3 single serves of meat per person, it became apparent to me that it was inevitable we would have to get some rice and salad dishes to go with the meat unless we really wanted to break bank for the meal. So after considerable deliberation which even caused Dr L concern for my being so out of character and taking so long, we ordered the set and added a dish of pork jowl.
I also ordered a yuzu cocktail. This was quite sweet and not very strong or fruity for that matter. The portion was a bit small and half of that was comprised of ice, making it also not very good value.
Despite some reviews that I had read online, and how packed the restaurant was, the food came out extremely quickly. In fact our table was full within 10 minutes of our ordering, which was really great.
The set came with some kimchi and cabbage salad. The Kimchi and pickles were some of the lightest tasting Kimchi I have ever had before, it tasted like it really hadn't been fermented for much time at all and could have been a lot stronger in flavour. As for the cabbage salad, it came salted and doused with fragrant sesame oil in lieu of dressing. I enjoy sesame oil a lot but only sesame oil on top of cabbage was a bit odd, but it accompanied the meat well.
Normally we wouldn't have rice with our BBQ, usually just sticking with the option of lettuce wrap. However the set meal came with rice and given the amount of meat we had in the meal, we actually filled up on rice quite a bit. The onsen egg that it came with though was one of the best eggs I've had in some time. The white was not entirely cooked through but the yolk was deliciously gelatinous. It went well as a dipping sauce with the meat as well as an accompaniment with the rice. That egg alone would have made for a fantastic, albeit basic meal.
Our extra order of meat was the pork jowl. It came beautifully shaped as a flower with a generous sprinkling of salt and pepper. Although aesthetic, the portion was a little small. It was however very fresh and was cooked to result in a delicious crunchy texture.
This was the ox tongue, it came with a side of green onions as a condiment. These were chewy and thick cut but I don't consider them to be superior to ones I've had in other BBQ places in town. I did however like the green onion topping which added another dimension of flavour to the dish.
The wagyu platter comprised of Ribeye cap, Inside Skirt, Rib Finger and Karubi Steak. My favourite for the night would definitely be the rib eye cap. It was reasonably marbled throughout and quite tender. I would have enjoyed the rib finger, but although it was fatty, it wasn't really marbled throughout and was just quite greasy overall. The inside skirt was actually quite lean and tender but it came out in one piece with considerable scoring, but I had serious doubts as to whether this was actually an MB9+ cut.
This was the miso pork belly. It was quite thick cut but soft and tender. I liked the strong miso glaze on it to contrast the other unmarinated meats. Again I wish that the portions were a bit bigger though.
Finishing off our meal, this was the Ox Tail Soup. It was light with deep umami flavours that complemented our meaty dinner well. Although our salad was doused in sesame oil, I was surprised that we didn't get a small dash in this soup which would have elevated the experience a lot.
Our meal finished with a matcha ice cream each. It came out artfully displayed like the meat was in a small bowl with an inverted cone, a wedge of strawberry, some mochi and some red bean. The matcha flavour was adequate, it wasn't overly strong and the soft serve wasn't too icy.
Overall I had a pleasant experience at Shimo, although I would say that it doesn't represent good value for money, it was a nice place to dine out for a fancy Valentines day dinner and some work could be done to elevate some dishes. For now, I think I'll stick with my usual BBQ places and work on building up my own BBQ at home.
Taste: 6.5/10
Value: 4/10
Service: 7/10
Environment: 8/10
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