Washokudo Evis Japanese Eatery

Taking over the old Aka Tombo space, Evis is a new Japanese casual-diner specialising in yakitori and other skewers. I’m so excited to see this in Melbourne where we've not really been offered much Japanese food beyond basic sushi, donburi and ramen. Evis’ yakitori (2 skewers per serve of various cuts of chicken) include classic crowd-pleasers negima (chicken thigh and spring onion) and tsukune (chicken meatball), plus skewers of crispy skin (かわ), heart (ハツ), and giblets (砂ずり). They were all wonderful: flavourful and succulent. By the skewer, there is also a range of kushi (fried or grilled vegetable skewers), and some pork, beef and eel skewers. However whilst I’m personally excited to see their enthusiasm for barbecuing things on sticks, there is a large menu of other authentic Japanese small plates including tons of tofu dishes, and favourites like takoyaki, okonomiyaki, ox tongue, fried chicken and the obligatory edamame, gyoza and pickles. The drinks menu had about a dozen sakes available. All the food I’ve tried has been absolutely great. In terms of ambiance: for me this needs some work: the bright lighting and loudish J-pop made it feel more like somewhere for a quick bite, than the bar/izakaya I'd hoped for to spend a leisurely evening in grazing and drinking. However, I think they’ve been focusing their energies on the food so far, which from what I’ve sampled they are absolutely nailing.