Orient Express, Crown

Orient Express is a Sushi Train restaurant located in the Crown Casino, Southbank. They are the very first in to have the double decker sushi train which serves cold and hot dishes. It is indeed a unique concept that is new and fresh.

It is unfortunately not easily noticeable because it is located at a corner on the upper level food court where KFC and McDonalds are. I wouldn't have discovered this place if it is not for the advertisements.

The setting of the restaurant is what you will typically find in a sushi train Japanese restaurant, with the bar seating. Only thing different is the double decker sushi belt, the top being the hot dishes and the bottom for cold dishes. They actually have radiant heaters on the hot sushi belt to keep the dishes warm. It feels really hot if you put your hands into the tube. The sushi belt is like a subway tube that can be opened and closed.

Other than the dishes on the sushi train, there are also about 50 hot dishes that can also be ordered from a list if they are not available on the sushi train. I'm not sure if it's because they are new, but the list of dishes was just a list, it wasn't a proper menu. We had the list on our table for a moment before it was taken away by the waitress to the other customers.

It would have been really helpful if they had a proper menu on every couple of seats so people could just order straight away and anytime. Also, the list of dishes only had the names and prices on it, there were no pictures or descriptions on them which we found rather difficult to figure out what the dishes were. A thumbnail sized photo of every dish they have would be really great to help provide a picture of what we are about to order and eat!

Ebi Sushi

Ebi Tempura Sushi Roll

Agedashi Tofu

Crab Stick Tempura

Salt and Pepper Calamari

I have no idea what is this dish called. It looked good so we just took it off the sushi train. The outer layer is crispy fried rice noodles with cheese and pine nuts as a filling. It has a sourish taste to it which was very odd and not to my liking at all.

Chocolate Mousse

Overall, the food here were not as special or good as I thought it would be. The photos and advertisements looked promising but we were quite disappointed.

Orient Express serves only small dishes and sushi. So if you are going with a group of friends and not everyone fancies sushi, this is not the right place to go to because they do not serve bento boxes or set meals.

My Ratings;

-Environment: 3/4

-Food: 2/4

-Price: 1/4

-Service: 3/4

Orient Express:

8 Whiteman Street,

Southbank, Melbourne, VIC 3006

03 9645 9959

http://www.orientexpress.net.au

KoKo,Crown Tower

Over the weekend, we celebrated a friend's birthday at Koko. Koko is one of the premium dining outlets in Crown Casino, Southbank. It is a hidden jewel tucked away on the 3rd level of Crown Tower.

The interior of the restaurant designed by international interior designer Tony Chi feels very Japanese.

The Interior & Teppanyaki Tables

The restaurant has a high, double volume ceiling which gives it a sense of spaciousness as well as a shallow pond in the middle that gives a calming effect. As our table was situated next to the pond, the staff kept reminding us to be careful not to fall into the water.

The Chef at Teppanyaki section

Assorted Sashimi

Since its still winter, we got the winter menu and I assume they have other seasonal menus as well. Sashimi is a must have in any Japanese restaurant if you love sashimi. Koko serves two variations of a sashimi platter, a Koko Chef's special sashimi and the one we ordered, the assorted sashimi.

The fish for the sashimi were really fresh but the presentation of the dish was terrible.

The O-Bento Box

There is a tasting obento box which is a tasting platter per person which has 4 varieties of Japanese appetisers each. The appetiser that comes in the bento tasting box includes wagyu beef tataki, smooth Japanese tofu with fermented beans, tuna roll and a piece of tempura fish with lemon dressing.

Check with the staff if you guys would like to order as it may vary.

Spider Roll

The spider roll we had was nice but it wasn't the best that I have eaten.

Ebi Hotate Gyoza

They don't pan fried their gyoza here as they only steam it. The steamed handmade prawn and scallop dumplings are served with "ginger ponzu" dipping sauce.

Soft Shell Crab - Crispy Soft Shell Crab and served with "yuzu miso" dipping sauce.

Kamo Kuwayaki

Kumo Kuwayaki is a pan - seared duck breast that simmered in soy mirin sauce with eggplant that comes with 3 different miso sauce.

The duck breast was cooked to perfection. The taste was smooth, the meat was tender and the layer fat just melts in your mouth.

On the whole, we enjoyed the dinner at Koko very much with food that not only tasted good but looked beautiful in a nice ambience and they also have quite a comprehensive wine list which has a wide varitey of japanese sake and wine that ranges from a couple of hundred to a few thousand a bottle.

My Ratings;

-Environment: 4/4

-Foods: 3.5/4

-Price: 1/4

-Service: 4/4

Koko:

Level 3 Crown Towers,

SouthBank.

03 9292 6886