Bar Yuki

Such a good little restaurant in the small town of Milton! Seating options of inside or outside (but under cover) can give you a mix of being in the vibes or just on the outskirts to enjoy some people watching. The food was great with a lovely wide selection of street Japanese fusion food. Extensive drinks menu (alcoholic & not) and they all were so delicious! I’m not the biggest Japanese food lover but I honestly would come back again!

Stunning food, lovely venue. Highly recommend this little hidden treasure in quiet Milton - an Asian vinyl bar with the most accommodating and kind staff! They fit in our last minute group of 9, were super attentive, and very lovely. Great spot, big fan, exceptional flavours in their food and cocktail menu.

Went with a large group of 8 and service was highly diligent in taking our orders and bringing out food in ~20 minutes!! Aura was high and the ocean view became part of the menu. Ulladulla? More like Osaka … 🇯🇵🇯🇵🏯 Highly recommend coming on a weekday! おいしい! 😛🍣

Sometimes you and a venue get off on the wrong foot, but it’s how they come back from that that matters. My Bar Yuki experience started with my booking being cancelled on the weekend we were visiting, because the venue changed their operating hours. Surprised the reduction in hours happened on the busy June long weekend, I moved my dinner booking to lunch on the same day. When we arrived, the menus on the tables—both food and drinks—didn’t match the ones on their website. This thwarted my dining companion who likes to plan ahead. After re-selecting our meals, we were told two of the dishes we picked weren’t available from a 15-item menu. The same occurred with the wine—the only Chardonnay on the by-the-glass menu—was unavailable. Co-owner Ash Bailey is a fixer though, arriving at the table with three other whites we could try. We picked two new cocktails: both were great. The mimiku martini ($23) was my first ever cocktail and side salad combination, with seaweed salad presented on ice that also cools the cocktail. Cinnamon and smoke ($23) was equally pleasurable to drink, expertly balancing Hennessy Cognac with acid-adjusted Yuki Syrah and lapsang chai syrup. The 2024 Xavier Goodridge ‘Papa’ Pinot Noir ($18/glass) from Mt Gambier we had in place of the Chardy was nice to cuddle up to on a wintery afternoon. Best thing I ate from the single-page of Japanese-inspired eats were the smoked mackerel korokke ($16/3): three mackerel-stuffed potato croquettes, which reminded me of bacalao. The chicken sando ($28) that replaced the prawn version I’d set my heart on was a bit bland. Karaage ($23) with honey gochujang had more flavour, but wasn’t crisp like Korean fried chook. It also hadn’t been trimmed of fat, leaving some pieces soft and gooey. Yamitsuki cabbage ($12) had me remembering recently buying a whole cabbage bigger than my head for just $1.49. The warm and sunny service is definitely the highlight here, sending out a conciliatory koshihikari rice pudding ($16) topped with poached pear. By the time we left, every table was full, mostly with under 35s. Let’s chalk it up to me not being the target market for this popular Milton bar…

If only you could bottle the atmosphere at this place…. It was a long weekend and this was the place to be! The tunes were perfect and the decor takes you back to Japan. Bonus…. The food does too and the staff were fab and fun. OMG we loved it all thank you Bar Yuki. Yuzu margarita and prawn katsu sandwiches were special.