Komeyui Brisbane review: Former cop shop transformed into luxe Japanese restaurant

Brisbane’s one-time home of the Australian Federal Police has been transformed into a high-end Japanese restaurant.

Anooska Tucker-Evans

3 min read

February 16, 2023 - 4:00PM

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Chef Motomu Kumano grew up in the seaside town of Shiraoi, Hokkaido, in Japan’s far north, as the son of a fisherman and grandson of a culinary teacher. He would help out his father with his daily catch, while his grandmother taught him the cooking techniques of the local Indigenous Ainu people, including working with fresh fish, but also how to age and preserve it.

The coming together of these two worlds led Kumano to Australia, where he worked in restaurants before starting his own, Komeyui, in Melbourne in 2011.

A 12m sushi bar forms the centrepiece of the new Komeyui restaurant in Spring Hill. Picture: David Kelly

Twelve years on, the chef is expanding on the admired Komeyui brand, known for its artful omakase, launching a sister venue of the same name in Brisbane’s Spring Hill.

“I love the design,” says my dinner date as we’re ushered through a rather formal vestibule and into the commodious dining room, dramatic with ornate black ceilings contrasting a brightly lit 12m sushi bar, which draws the eye as the centrepiece.

It’s also quite the transformation for the old Wharf St building which used to house the Australian Federal Police.

Komeyui in Spring Hill is in the building that once housed the AFP. Picture: David Kelly

Design firm Baenziger Coles have replicated much of the restaurant’s Melbourne template with large, round tables generously spaced out, comfortable upholstered pale timber chairs, nature-inspired Japanese artwork and soft, sheer curtains dividing the expansive rectangle.

A 10-course omakase service and a 10-course kaiseki menu will be added in March, but now there’s a five-course chef’s tasting menu at the sushi bar or a tight a la carte offering opening with sushi and sashimi, moving through “little dishes” like agedashi tofu and chicken karaage to mains such as wagyu or marinated grilled black cod. At lunch there are also bento boxes, plus a signature five-course menu and omakase.

The mixed sashimi and sushi platter. Picture: David Kelly

A solid selection of global wines and largely premium sake has been chosen to complement the food, while there are also signature cocktails and twists on Japan’s favourite highball.

First to hit the table is the “shrimp garlic salt” ($20) – crispy, panko-coated, deep-fried school prawns piled high with a wedge of lemon for squeezing over. They’re terrific in their simplicity and even better splashed with some of the restaurant’s delicate soy sauce.

While most Brisbane hospitality venues are struggling to find staff at the moment, Komeyui has an overabundance. I count at least eight on the floor, many wandering aimlessly with tables seemingly unallocated to each waiter. Although they are all unquestionably ingratiating, the lack of order is perhaps responsible for our combination sashimi and sushi platter being forgotten.

The bento box from Komeyui. Picture: David Kelly

With a quick prompt, it arrives after our main courses with sincere apologies. The platter comes in three sizes – small ($45), medium ($81) and large ($116). The small contains 60g of sashimi, four pieces of nigiri and three bite-sized rolls – all harnessing the freshest of fish. The nigiri is the highlight – tuna, kingfish, red snapper and alfonsino, all meltingly soft over a precisely formed plinth of Japanese-imported rice cooked in a cast iron cooker known as a hagama. With a generous gobbet of wasabi separating the protein and grains, each morsel packs quite the punch.

More subtle is the teriyaki salmon ($28), with a mid-cut of the deep pink fish lightly kissed with the sweet soy glaze and grilled until its flesh is freckled black. It’s a lovely bite, but with no accompaniments, it’s more an entree than a main. Marginally larger, and stealing the plate of the night award, is the braised black pork belly ($35). Slow cooked, the skin gelatinous and sweet, the meat just holding together, it’s glazed in plate-licking sweet soy, with a storm of crispy tempura over the top for crunch. Fantastic!

Having only opened at the beginning of January, there is already a lot to like about Komeyui, and no doubt as it settles in and introduces its coveted omakase and kaiseki menus there will be plenty more to appreciate.

For more reviews visit delicious.com.au/eatout