Yar - Yawn

To commemorate two months of blogging, this site went through a bit of a redesign. I can honestly say that it looks easier to read even after a few bottles of Hunter Valley red wine were consumed and still looks good the next day. That is a better result than most when they evaluate their score the morning after.

Yar, next to the Meat & Wine Co - Freshwater Place

Not to be confused with the Drobustky Yar, which is a ravine 10km southeast of Kharkiv, Ukraine where the Nazi's disposed of bodies, Yar Restaurant in Freshwater Place is a Japanese-Korean infusion of sorts that to this day leaves me in a vexed state.

Nestled next to the Meat & Wine Co, the place intrigued me for a while as in the evening there would be nobody in the place whereas in the Meat & Wine Co every chair had a punter sitting and chewing cud. When I had a mate down from Sydney we ended up at Yar for both of his visits as he is enamoured by the sight of Korean women. Sometimes we are all guilty of using service, food, ambiance and price as selection criteria but this bloke just enjoys looking at Korean women, so thus the visit to Yar on both occasions.

Despite choosing the "buffet" on each visit which includes all-you-can-eat sashimi, which in essence is just a poor and bland salmon, I was never inspired to jump up and down or tell the world about this place. It was nice being able to walk into a restaurant on a Saturday night at 7:30 PM without a reservation and get a table, which isn't hard as there was nobody in the place to begin with, but I suspect the reason for this is because the food is just so ordinary. The entire time I was there I was regretting not going to Costco, purchasing some frozen goyza, a case of Asahi and sitting on my lounge watching whatever AFL game was on instead. It would have been a more inspired dining experience.

For those that like to gorge themselves, the all you can eat "buffet" option at $50/head is good value but then again, you are eating for the sake of eating. Besides being able to get a table on demand, I really see nothing too inspiring about this place and what annoys me is that my mate from Sydney defines the Melbourne food and beverage scene by this place alone mainly because he likes the beauty of Koreans.

Unless my mate returns from Sydney and insists on frequenting this place, I will not be back. This is the first post in two months that I have posted something so indifferent, I realise, but with the wealth of places that you can go to in Melbourne, don't waste your time. It is evident that nobody else does considering all of the tables are empty on a Saturday night.

Yar Restaurant
Link to review
2 Queensbridge Street  Southbank VIC 3006
(03)9699 3556
www.yarrestaurant.com.au
My Rating: 11/20
Service: 2/5
Ambiance: 3/5
Quality: 2/5
Value For Money: 4/5
Comment: The $50 buffet is great value for money


Twitter: @epicurean3006
e-mail: epicureanofsouthbank (at) gmail (dot) com
web: www.epicureanofsouthbank.com

It would seem that the majority of reviewers on Urbanspoon disagree with my sentiments though. 82% of the reviewers at the time of this post, like Yar.