Izakaya Chuji is a little gem! Izakaya-style dining, which is basically Japanese tapas, is…read morecurrently in vogue in Melbourne thanks to the Den, but Chuji has been kicking along steadily for more than 20 years regardless of fashion. Watching the chefs at the open kitchen in Izakaya Chuji is truly inspiring - they are super-fast and know how to handle a sharp knife. The food is traditional, fresh and beautifully presented. Don't miss the ika butter, which is squid cooked in butter. It literally melts in your mouth. These are the guys that own Nihonshu Sake bar on Londsdale, so Izakaya Chuji has a pretty impressive range of beverages. They do both warm and cold sake, beers and there's a big range of whisky. Izakaya Chuji can get pretty loud when it's pumping, but that's part of the fun - highly recommended!

I can't believe it's taken me this long to get to Izakaya Chuji! What a great little spot…read more The eggplant with miso sauce is the sexiest thing I've put in my mouth all month - it's silky and slippery, savoury and sweet all at once. I was sad I had to share it with three friends and considered trading their portion for my skewered beef with terriyaki, but then that was delicious too! It has a fabulous atmosphere perfect for a date or a catch up with friends over a bottle of sake and a bowl of edamame (which are really good!). I'm adding this to my list of regular mid-week haunts. Love it.

Just finished a quick lunch at my favourite Japanese joint. I'm a big fan of their bento box…read morespecials for lunch, at $18 I haven't needed to go any further. The Tempura bento is great, with veggies and seafood tempura, miso soup, sushi & sashimi, rice salad and a small starter it's bento heaven. The ingredients are fresh service is friendly and fast, making it a great place to eat. The volcano roll at $17 is a little pricey but just about my favourite sushi. Yeeees

I went to Hibachi for lunch after seeing its 5 stars on Yelp. And what a disappointment it was!…read more I'm vegetarian, and restaurants can usually cater to me pretty easily. But not at Hibachi: the waitress repeatedly asked me if I was allergic to sea food. No I'm not, but being vegetarian should be reason enough not to put fish in my dish! The chef couldn't whip up something without fish stock in it, making me question how fresh things really are there... I ended up having a vegetarian roll, which was quite good but cost me 18$! My friend had a bento menu and was not that amazed by the flavours, although I have to admit there was a lot of food on the tray. One place I'm sure I won't go back to!

We came here after we were blown away with with Niku Ou, their sister restaurant located in…read moreMelbourne CBD. In fact, Wagyu Ya is the first branch! They have similar menus but over here, they cook the meat inside and not on the table.  The chef was very kind and suggested that we order the foie gras fried rice to try and it absolutely knocked our socks off because it was literally one of the best things we've ever eaten. You HAVE to try it at least once in your lifetime, we HIGHLY recommend it!

This venue just opened, steps from Cafe Republic. Downstairs serves standard sushi and similar…read morefare, upstairs is the grill tables. We chose the grill and were seated at a pleasant two-person table. We had arrived early for dinner and the room was mostly empty when we sat down, but it rapidly filled to capacity as we ate. And ate, and ate, and drank! We started with edamame and marinated wasabi octopus. The octopus was lovely, as the Aussies like to say. Next we has a small dish of Unagi, which is my wife's favorite sushi. It was quite good, on par with other fine sushi shops I have visited. For mains, to be self cooked on the charcoal grill built in to the table, we had Ox shoulder, fillet, and sirloin, with a variety of small vegetables and corn coblets. All of the meats were excellent, along with the selection of dipping sauces that were provided. Cooking the food in the table grill was a bit of fun and the very attentive wait staff helped us thru the process. We finished with black sesame ice cream with almonds, which was exceptionally good. All of this was washed down with an excellent bottle of sake. This restaurant is a welcome addition to Toorak Road!

In my never ending quest for amazing Japanese restaurants outside of Melbourne's CBD, I decided to…read moretry Akita Japanese restaurant in North Melbourne. ~ What's with the small menu? Honestly, there were six mains. Their "specials" menu was larger than their regular menu by a long shot, and I was kind of disappointed they didn't have a more diverse or comprehensive selection. ~ VEGETARIANS BEWARE. None of the mains were vegetarian compatible; they all had meat/seafood in them. Even the vast majority of the entrees were meat based. This is particularly peculiar for Japanese cuisine. When we asked what was on offer for vegetarians, they recommended three dishes, mostly from the specials menu. The only positive I can attribute to Akita in this respect was that the waiter did come back a few minutes after ordering to confirm that egg was okay in the vegetarian dish. But I probably wouldn't come back here with a vegetarian person; the difficulty of working out what is edible and the severe limited choice makes the whole thing too much hassle. ~ From the outside, the door is somewhat hidden the place looks relatively small. When you look around the main entrance, you also get the feeling of smallness. However, there is actually a labyrinth of seating areas, all hidden away in their own rooms. In this respect, Akita reminds me a lot of Stalactites in the city, except more enclosed. This causes the environment to feel more intimate, and probably reduces noise too. The atmosphere was of a high calibre here. A++. ~ Overpriced. We all know that Japanese cuisine is expensive, but even for Japanese standards this place was overpriced (especially for its location). If you can, check out the photo of the entree sashimi to this venue. You can get better quality fish at a cheaper price than $18 from elsewhere. ~ Forgot the drinks. Unfortunately I forgot to check the bill to see if they had charged us, but we ordered tea twice and we didn't end up getting it either times. ~ No ginger with the sashimi. What! For a so-called *authentic* Japanese place you kind of expect them to provide some ginger with the sashimi; they didn't, which was a little disappointing. Upside was that they gave me so much wasabi. Overall the food (albeit small and expensive) and atmosphere were good. The location is convenient for drivers (heaps of parking), and the staff were kind (although they forgot drinks). Would I be back? Probably not -- the limited menu is a dealbreaker.

I was craving food so I did a quick search and found this establishment closeby! I love Japanese…read morefood so I was good to go. Ambiance: Very very good. The restaurant is large and spacious with a series of different dining rooms. It has an old feel to it, but very clean and modern at the same time. They have light Japanese music playing which makes for a really incredible dining atmosphere! Customer Service: The servers were very polite, courteous, and attentive. However, I do have to remark that the kitchen staff is a bit slow. The wait time for the food is EXTREMELY long. Food: One thing I have to note is that this place is probably good for large groups, but I would avoid it if you're only going by yourself or with 2 people. The menu comprises of large platter-like dishes of sashimi and sushi rather than anything that is convenient for an individual set. The only thing I pretty much can order is Nabeyaki Udon Soup (udon noodles with tempura shrimp, egg, veggies, thin slices of beef, and mushrooms) for 12 dollars and a plate of Gyoza for 8.50. Like I said, the wait time is long. I ended up getting my Gyoza after my main... when Gyoza is an entree. What's up with that? When I picked up a piece of Gyoza, I thought to myself "This better be worth it". It was good... but not worth the 30 minute wait. The Gyoza wrap was very thin, which is a bit unique I suppose but I prefer thick wraps. The Nabeyaki Udon Soup at first glance was rather tiny - so it was very alarming. However, it was absolutely delicious! Probably the best Udon Soup I have ever had. The meat was good, tempura soft and tasty, and the egg accented the dish really nicely. I absolutely loved it. Things they can improve on: ~ Adding more variety to their menu. Where are the bentos? The ramen? And donburi? Everything is pretty much just a platter, which excludes the people who just want individual meals. ~ Upping their efficiency! I'm not sure how exactly they can do that, but at least bring out the Gyoza before the main so my stomach isn't growling like mad. Overall, I did enjoy my meal - the atmosphere was great, the service was nice, and the food was tasty. However, 1 star off for the lack of variety and another star for the horrid wait time. I would come here again, but only if I'm with a large group of people ready to order some platters.

This place gets 3/5 from me because I had a special -50% discount on TheFork. At full price, it is…read moreprobably a 2/5 for me. Japanese restaurant by the harbour. Most of the dishes were good, except for the sushi. The fish was fresh, but the rice was falling apart, indicating that the kitchen didn't have a good sushi chef. Service was also incredibly slow - took ages for food to arrive. What should have been a fairly quick lunch meal stretched for more than 2 hours. Worth going if there's a good discount available on TheFork, otherwise I think it is slightly pricey for the quality and the service levels.

Sometimes there's those restaurants that win you over in a quiet, subtle, way. The ones you find…read moreyourself daydreaming about when you're at your desk at the end of the day and thinking ahead to dinner... the ones that have menu items that keep you awake at night wondering how they get the flavour and the texture just so perfectly right. For me, one of those places is Akachochin. I've been here a number of times in the last few of months. Dinners, lunches, a quick snack and glass of sake before heading to other places. Every time I've left feeling happier than when I walked in. Satisfied, but not stuffed. Content. It's open and bright, clean and slick without being too minimalist. The food is presented on beautiful crockery, your chopsticks rest on what looks like a pebble but is actually a beautifully moulded piece of clay. Sake is drunk from pretty glasses that look like something from deep inside the ocean. Before I even eat anything, I already feel better about the world. For the most part the service is unobtrusive, gentle even. I always feel taken care of at Akachochin, which of course is what service is all about but most places don't have the inexplicable magical touch of giving me everything I want and need without making me feel like I've been "worked". Some of the waiters here get it right better than others and I almost feel like I should make my booking especially when I know my favourite, Mason, will be working. (Would that be creepy?) The food? Oh yes, let's get to that shall we? The Hiramasa Namerou (a chopped kingfish tartar) is the stuff that keeps me awake at night. Even after attending a lunch where Chef Kengo Hiromatsu taught me how to make this dish, I still can't quite put my finger on why it tastes so amazing. There's spring onion, wasabi, miso, seasame seeds and other goodness in there... it's such a perfectly balanced dish and texturally rocks my world with the crunch of the accompanying home made rice crackers. This is one of those dishes I could eat multiple times in a week and never tire of, though I suspect the magic ingredient is all about having Kengo prepare it for you. Also on the menu is a very fine selection of sushi and sashimi, and if your'e lucky you can score a seat at the chef's bar and watch the masters at work as they slice your fish, form your nigiri and plate everything in an artful way. It seems a shame to eat the resulting masterpieces. There's grilled items, Udon, slow braised meat dishes and all manner of vegetable items. It's easy to order a few items and then order more as your stomach demands. Come at lunch time and enjoy a $20 bento that is generous and delicious. With multiple choices available, you could be eating Chicken Udon or Grilled Pork or perhaps fried tofu with mountain vegetables. Each bento also comes with some sashimi, rice and pickles. Yes, I have a bit of a soft spot for Akachochin and hope you will too. .

Having lived in Japan for a full year (365 days), and Japanese cuisine being my favorite, I was…read moreexcited to try this restaurant And I have to say that my expectations were met It has a good amount of seats inside, and a few outside The look and atmosphere is typical Japanese, including with the open kitchen, loved it Staff is very welcoming The menu offers a good variety, with very different items that are popular in Japan, both in regular restaurants and street food/ good trucks type: gyoza, takoyaki, tempura, okomomyski (savory pancakes), ramen, udon, soba, katsu (cutlet), donburi, bento, teriyaki, curry, niku (BBQ), sushi, sashimi... As for drinks they have done typical ones, such as Ramune, which I ordered I was willing to have takoyaki and gyoza, and so I did But I also followed their recommendation and tried niku tadaki Good choice. You get your personal grill, allowing you to cook it exactly as you'd like. It came with green salad, miso soup, and steamed rice. A must try Just like this restaurant Recommended!

Enjoyed dinner here on a weeknight. Started with the appetizer of 6 takoyaki balls (octopus), they…read morewere a bit small from what I am accustom to, but were hot and delicious. My companion tried the Gyukatsu Tadaki (raw beef), which was grilled at the table on a small personal grill. Beef was fresh and tasty and he enjoyed the dinner very much. I ordered the Miso Ramen which had a delicious pork broth, however, I could not discern any miso in the broth. It may have been there, but it was a very mild miso flavor. Otherwise the ramen was very good and it was completely enjoyed! Service was very polite & attentive and they frequently refilled the hot tea and water. I recommend this Japanese restaurant with good food at a reasonable price, but I'm guessing there will a line at dinner time due to the small space.

Went there to have my first meal in the city and wasn't disappointed. Delicious ramen, such a rich…read moreflavor! Service was quick and friendly. Atmosphere is so unique - all these little things. Very well thought

Good food & service. Limited menu with a few small plates and ramen noodles. A good place for a…read morequick, hot meal and a beer

The food was delicious and arrived quickly. The best thing though was the staff as they were all…read morevery friendly, efficient, attentive, and basically just really lovely. They checked in constantly with us and ensured we had everything we needed. Thank you! 10/10

Buffet cost only 29 per person and u can order all the food on double-sided menu. (There is booklet…read moremenu and perhaps not for buffet). The seaweed salad and beef carpaccio were excellent. Others are normal as other restaurant. Beside the food I really like the environment. The service was excellent as well, fast and high quality.