East of Perth’s city centre, Victoria Park has long been known as a serious food destination for those seeking well-executed cheap eats. It’s also home to some more polished offerings. Enter Kuza, a modern izakaya run by owner and chef Alex Ma with a fitout that says refined with cues of street culture.
Service is warm and efficient, tables turning but not too quickly. The menu here is fun: take an oyster shot with ponzu sauce, raw quail egg, salmon caviar and sake. Freshness is abundant and the seemingly encyclopaedic list of sushi and sashimi options is impressive. Mains might take you through karaage to tempura to okonomiyaki to grilled takoyaki balls that delicately explode with warm octopus. Tonkatsu pork is lean and well balanced with a cleansing watermelon and cucumber salad. Skill across myriad Japanese cooking techniques is obviously solid here, with the grilled misoyaki cod and the Margaret River Wagyu on a tobanyaki hotplate, the clear standouts. There’s as much depth in the drinks programme with sake, shochu, umechu and a serious cocktail program. Wine is Australian focused. While you can walk-in, the best strategy for first timers would perhaps be to book, interrogate the menu in advance and set your game plan.
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