Best Japanese Restaurants In Melbourne 2021

Izakayas are Japanese bars where the eating is just as important as the drinking. There's a selection of drinking-friendly dishes that accompany the excellent sakes and Japanese-influenced cocktails. Come for Melbourne's most famous lobster roll, steaming bowls of ramen at lunch, Korean-style barbequed meats and Shanghai dumplings. At this elegant 16-seat Japanese fine diner, which is inside a giant paper lantern in a Bourke Street basement, you'll find one of the best kaiseki – a traditional degustation-style multi-course meal – experiences in town. And yet, Japanese remains one of Melbourne’s most widespread and popular cuisines, which says a lot about its unique appeal. There are numerous high-end restaurants where master sushi chefs expertly ply their craft with multi-course experiences in sleek surrounds, but the casual, mid-range category is where Melbourne really excels.
Andrew McConnell translates his Asian adventures into this one great culinary adventure at Supernormal. We were keen to try out a broad spectrum of the menu and should have gone for the great value set Sake Restaurant menu, but we opted to choose our own dishes, ordering several of each proving more expensive. My mother in law is fastidious about kimchi having travelled much to Asia and won't rave unless she has to.

With a focus on quality organic ingredients, this café offers an honest and endearing approach to food. Offering a mix of Japanese and Western breakfast and lunch options, the Japanese breakfast plate is where this humble gem really shines. Komeyui may be lesser known among the general public, but Japanese food fanatics will feel a twinge of protectiveness if you try to recommend this restaurant to anyone uninitiated. Seats are few, the sushi is excellent value and expertly prepared, and there is a strong following for its sea urchin and sake degustations. Kenzan is the elder statesman of Melbourne’s Japanese restaurants, and after four decades remains one of the most coveted culinary experiences in the city.
We only work with the best ingredients available in Melbourne to offer our unrivalled Kaiseki Menu from Wednesday through to Monday. While Kaiseki might have once been experienced beside a traditional Japanese courtyard, contemporary Kaiseki restaurants are often private spaces hidden below ground or on the upper floors of Tokyo high rises. Kaiseki represents the absolute pinnacle of Japanese haute cuisine and counts among the world’s finest food experiences. Cap off the night with sake and snacks at Japanese bar Robot, or get a taste of Japanese culture at karaoke bars around Little Bourke Street. Sample heart-warming Japanese breakfasts and lunch at Collingwood's Cibi cafe, and slurp a bowl of handmade ramen at Smith Street's Shop Ramen. Pick your favourite soup and noodle combination at Shizuku Ramen in Abbotsford.

We enjoy the vibe in the Flinders Lane restaurant; modern Japanese cuisine in a modern atmospheric environment. During this exquisite omakase experience for just 12 diners, Shinya Nakano, a talented and creative Kyoto-born sushi chef, presents 18 or so morsels in a choreographed showcase of Australian seafood. Raw tuna belly is laid over rice, seared tuna is placed on top of it, and this radical double is then topped with old-school Kyoto-style pickles. A hand roll of Moreton Bay bug tempura is passed to each diner by the chef, in a gesture that breaks the fourth wall in a delicious fashion. Everything – the timing, the presentation, even the plates and vessels – is highly considered and breathtakingly beautiful. Consisting of three levels including a sushi bar, fine dining area and traditional tatami seating, Shoya on Market Lane is driven by their passion for delivering contemporary, authentic and traditional Japanese fine dining.
He developed a passion for food and started cooking at a young age of 16. At the age of 19, Motomu enrolled in Tsuji culinary institute in Osaka, one of the best culinary schools in Japan. Uprooted from the foothills of Daylesford, Kazuki’s has moved its celebrated tasting menu and opened up in Carlton. Not that the regional location stopped city-dwellers from packing the place each day of the week, given the restaurant’s high-quality produce and meditative pace. Like many of Tokyo’s greatest kaiseki restaurants, this one is also smartly hidden in a Bourke Street basement, near-impossible to find, save from a discreet keypad from which you dial in before being granted access to the lift. And like those Tokyo restaurants, Ishizuka’s philosophy is guided by a “holistic dining experience” that demands nothing short of perfection and meticulous preparation.
Here at our Japanese fine dining restaurant, we have a rich and varied menu for lunch and dinner. First on the list is our must-try sukiyaki and unagi teishoku which is a traditional Japanese set meal that comes with 7 different kinds of side dishes expertly crafted by our main chef. Tempura Hajime’s dinner menu offers incredible dishes including chef Shigeo’s selection of delicious tempura with mixed seaweed salad and Japanese wagyu beef layered on top of vinegared sushi rice. Their lunch menu offers tempura dishes such as eel, John Dory, scallop, nori, potato and sea urchin, although it does depend on what’s in season.

With a sophisticated minimalist layout, Hihou has an understated and intimate feel with the right level of sophistication. A feature is the long black marble group table that's surrounded by stools with mood lighting. While sitting there eating I was enjoying the ambience of Izakaya Den.
The inclusion of cream cheese was unusual but worked wonderfully. The balance of flavours is perfect with a hit of mushroom and salmon and the cream cheese bringing it together. Wa Kenbo has captured the imagination since it burst onto the scene in 2018. The food does the talking, as there is little signage or fanfare surrounding this gem away from the main strip in Fitzroy. What critics are heralding is the use of produce from Chef Kenji Ito's private garden to feature in dishes, as well as the fine technique and element of fusion done well. IPPUDO is the epitome of ramen spots and it’s one you have to check off the bucket list.

Tuan TuanChinese Brasserie, which anchors the same apartment development – was opened by chef Jinwook Park and is bringing some keen snacks to a burgeoning restaurant precinct. We can also point you in the direction of Melbourne's best ramen shops, dumplings and whisky barsto cap off your night. After achieving many awards as a student, Motomu was invited to join some of the busiest restaurants in Osaka and spent approximately five years working as a valued chef at Den Japanese Restaurant. From the same hospitality group behind casual dining giants like Chin Chin and Hawker Hall, Kisume was Melbourne’s biggest opening in 2017, both in literal and figurative terms. The three-level Flinders Lane restaurant dwarfs nearby favourites like Supernormal and Sake, immense in stature and just as ambitious in concept. Australia’s second largest city is constantly locked in competition with Sydney for a claim to the country’s finest Japanese food.
The cultivation of a holistic dining experience is central to Kaiseki tradition, with practitioners striving for excellence with every detail. From the meticulously prepared menu to its artful presentation, every facet of the meal is carefully considered to balance taste, texture, colour and appearance. With a rich history dating back 600 years, this celebrated culinary art form derives from the ceremonial cooking practices of Zen monasteries, later adapted within the rarefied environment of the Japanese imperial court. Whether you come in for lunch or dinner, you and your guests will experience a wide range of Japanese delicacies, in a comfortable and modern setting. Taking creative inspiration from the Blade Runner sequel, Izakaya Den 2029 on Russell Street easily stands out as one of the most unique Japanese restaurants on our list. As the imaginative relaunch of the original Izakaya Den, you will still find some of their old favourites on their menu along with new bold dishes.
Experience the refined and elegant Japanese culinary delights, specially prepared with knowledge and century-old techniques, to deliver the most pure and delicate flavours. What if belly-warming food could be also wholesome and healthy, satisfying without tasting soporific? Leave it to Neko Neko, a cosy little eatery cooking homestyle vegan and pescatarian Japanese for which it has amassed a loyal following. Descend below street level for this taste of Tokyo that pays equal attention to its dishes and drinks. The corridor-like space is adorned with an extensive range of sake and beer, and food from the open kitchen arrives quickly. Supernormal is no longer just Tokyo-inspired; it now lends its flavours to some other big cities like Seoul, Hong Kong and Shanghai as well.

After establishing itself Mr Miyagi still has its mojo, and is in fact ever evolving. Saké Restaurant & Bar has been a favourite in Southbank and recently brought its award-winning contemporary Japanese dining experience to Melbourne’s much-loved gastronomic destination, Flinders Lane. The World Loves Melbourne has enjoyed fine meals at Sake in both Melbourne and Sydney.
Their menu features a constantly evolving selection of dishes and ingredients that push the boundaries and play with century-old techniques, delivering the purest and most delicate flavours. Having an emphasis on using seasonal and fresh produce with a strong focus on eye-catching presentation, Japanese food is well known throughout the world as one of the best cuisines one can experience. Featuring some of the most unique flavours such as wasabi, tonkatsu sauce, shichimi and dashi, here is where to discover Melbourne’s best Japanese restaurants.