Wabi Sabi Garden

According to Cheapeats this is a more expensive version of its' sister Wasbi Sabi Salon in Smith St Collingwood. Around the corner from St.Kilda Junction at 17 Wellington St., undeterred by the price, it was near full capacity on Thursday night Better reserve a table if you want to go
There is a very nice atmosphere about the place, the Japanese furniture in the entrance, the wood sculpted letters on the white wall, the small Japanese garden and the tree of lights in the main dining room, that cannot be completely destroyed by noisy, raucous guests whose roars or screams of laughter limit enjoyment of neighboring patrons whilst informing of their own.
Small bare blond wood tables, white linen napkins and hard chairs complete the scene
The menu is small and the wine list tiny for a place that does not accept BYO.
For starters we chose to share the $45 Sushi/Sashimi. All the fish, prawns and scallops were fresh and good quality but the sushi were small and fell apart and the platter was somewhat smaller than I expected. Grilled black cod in special Kyoto sauce ($33) was beautifully prepared but not a lot to eat and I preferred Nobu’s signature black cod which was not much dearer.
The flounder tempura served on the deep fried skeleton of the fish ($32) was in an indifferent batter and the dipping sauce dominated by one taste – sweet Pick of our mains was the pork belly stew, a good size serve ($28) tender and tasty in a lovely sauce Initially slow for the first course service became to efficient with plates being removed very quickly and wine glasses before they were empty.
In all this is a reasonably good but somewhat expensive suburban Japanese restaurant
They also do takeaway
Score: 13/20