Calia was one of my favorite restaurants when I lived in Melbourne. Interior was really nice too. I do find foods in Melbourne to be aesthetically pleasing more than California. I always get the same thing though. I like the ochazuke with unagi, but it's good that I always go with people that order different things, because then I get to try it too. I recommend coming here, I sure hope it doesn't disappoint you, because I'm always disappointed, and this did not disappoint me. read more

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I went to this calia on a Sunday afternoon. The restaurant is not busy and we were fine to pay for the 10% service charge. I'm just very annoyed with the fact that we all had to order dishes by scanning the qr code. we had to order separately and pay upfront individually on our phone. I understand that Melbourne is lacking labour and by forcing customers order on the phone can propably make the staff less busy. But Calia is not a low end restaurant, at least I don't think it's low priced. We chose to dine in in Calia and got a very inconvenient waitressing, which is no waitressing. I felt like eating in McDonald's. Thanks for that. read more

Calia is a modern Asian-fusion restaurant in Melbourne CBD, and we absolutely love this place - it's a regular go-to for us. It's part of a unique homeware and food retail shop that gives off a more relaxed and casual atmosphere. We often come here whenever we feel like it and is also the perfect place to enjoy and refresh yourself after a long day of shopping in the CBD! They offer some unique dishes and excellent produce at the same time. We would usually order several options to share, our favourites being their signature dish, the Wagyu Sukiyaki bowl with a 63 degree boiled egg. On top of that, their sushi is fresh, the crispy roast pork bowl is delicious and their unagi bowl is a must try as well. Overall, the food is excellent and creative, however having a wider range would be amazing. The menu hasn't changed and it would be great to see more options and creativity - we just want more! Calia is definitely worth trying at least once, for their aesthetically-pleasing and scrumptious food. read more

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Calia, you inspired to me to write an ode to you, and I'm traveling - that takes an extra special impression. I chose the chef's bowl and my god, what a bang for your buck. The most magical chirashi with gorgeous plating. Among the highlights in it were fresh, bright ikura, and two of the most literally melt in your mouth pieces of fatty tuna ever. The king as a little starter was really tasty, but not as earth shattering. I don't know if anything can quite measure up to that chirashi. I certainly won't be getting sushi anywhere else in Melbourne while I'm here. As for drinks, a cold brew set me up nicely this time around. I have to say, the service was truly top notch. Of all the restaurants in Melbourne this is the one I'd be most likely to come back and visit. Can't believe it's in a mall but it is. read more

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Calia is without any doubt, one of the most beautiful experience I've had with Japanese food. The set is modern minimalist, though not exactly spacious, they cleverly utilizes the venue as a restaurant-to-retail space selling gourmet food and exotic products. Love how the menu at Calia goes beyond your typical Japanese cuisines. Expect a daring and playful combination curated with creativity and craftsmanship put in each dish, yes, down to the last detail. Based on my 7th visits (in a month's time!) The food I've tried: * Umami fries: Delicious light nibbles, it was crunchy, perfectly salty and so umami!! * Aburi Salmon: Flamed seared salmon topped with ikura and Calia "secret" sauce. I had a high expectation for this dish, but unfortunately this was just okay for me. The seared salmon was good and served beautifully, but the glazed was a tad strong and spicy overpowering the star of the dish. * Calia Wagyu Bowl: Adorably seasoned premium Wagyu beef, cooked medium-rare combined with the most alluring element 63 degree egg yolk. Perfection! * Crispy Roast Pork: From all the main courses I've had, this was probably the winning dish for me. Served with ginger sauce and marinated poached egg. The roast pork was incredibly succulent and just properly seasoned. Also gotta salute to the beautifully crunchy skin, it was clearly everything to the dish! * Chirashi: Exquisite fresh selection of sashimi at its simplest with ultra glam presentation to boot! *LOVE* * Mia Tiramisu: Ending with a sweet note, the perfect match of mascarpone-matcha cream, ladyfingers, raspberries and chocolate drenched in coffee. Superb! * Matcha latte: Frothy, wonderfully bitter, rich and creamy with top notch latte art! I must say, this was almost Little Rouge caliber. The portion size was just nice- might be small to some- but it just leaves me more room to sample more of their immaculate prepped dish. In all Calia, is for me one of my favorite restaurants in Melbourne at the moment. Gorgeous food, friendly and attentive service. A contemporary jewel located in the heart of the city! read more

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Love love love the Uni Bowl. I had it for takeaway and boy it was still damn delicious. Tho the salmon bowl needs more flavor! But nonetheless a solid 8/10 read more

Calia - Uni Bowl - Japanese Near Me - Melbourne, VIC

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It is extremely rare for me to give five stars only based on the food. The food here was truly a pleasure on the eyes. They were plated so beautifully and elegantly. Not only did it look beautiful and it also tasted great too. The Unami fries were scrumptious, and I just wanted to keep on eating them. Sometime the problem with tries is that it can get very greasy or overall salty, however I felt that these were great especially with the touch of seaweed. I also loved the matcha dessert, as I felt it was well balanced on the level of sweetness and bitterness from the matcha. The salmon bowl tasted amazing and the roe was nice a plump. I also loved the quality of the food received while the ambiance was fairly causal. Also while you are waiting for a table they have a small little store that you can browse which make up of Japanese plate ware and cooking spices and etc. read more

To be honest I was a little disappointed with my experience here. With raving reviews I was expecting a pack of flavour with every bite. I ordered the crispy pork rice with egg. The dish definitely looked promising but it didn't deliver. The pork was crispy, but it definitely doesn't compare to any of the authentic Chinese restaurants that serves roasts. The rice was of good consistency and the egg was cooked well, but it wasn't worth the hype or price. Their fries were good, but got salty near the end. portion wise it was decent as well. May come back to try other dishes, especially their desserts, but I have to wrap my head around the price first. That being said, they do have cakes from Bibelot which I truly love, so that's a bonus! read more

My sister and brother in law are regular customers here. They get their umeshu and vegan pesto from the shop. I liked their display especially the spice rack. The restaurant next door serves good food especially the vegan bowl. read more

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We waited an hour for our table and I have to say the experience was worth the waiting. We ordered raw scallop, seared salmon, wagyu and finished with match lava lava which were all delicious. The service was pretty quick although I wished the cold dish was served first...I also really enjoyed the ambient which was modern and bright. I will definitely return next time when I'm in Melbourne. read more

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Good food, casual atmosphere. Some dishes a bit pricey, depends on what you order. Love the onsen egg!

Calia has amazing Japanese food that taste delicious. It is a bit pricy but it taste way better than your average Japanese restaurant. I enjoyed the roast pork with rice which was extra crispy. Although Calia's authenticity is not truly pure, the amazing food makes up for it. The other dishes are also fantastic. Calia is situated in Chadstone with heavy traffic which you should consider. The staff are on the most part always kind and the service is pretty good. read more

A Japanese-inspired restaurant-to-retail establishment in Emporium Melbourne, a contemporary and upscale mall which opened after I left Australia the food was creative, tasty and presented beautifully, and the service were friendly and very efficient. In addition to their regular menu they also have a specials page for savories, desserts and drinks. Pictured are the salted yolk chicken (SE Asian influence - another thing I love and miss about Australia - the abundance of SE Asian food), unagi (eel) bowl with truffled eggs and Japanese pickles; crab meat somen noodles (thin wheat East Asian noodles) with a light dashi (Japanese seaweed stock) tea broth; and truffle fries with a generous shaving of real truffles. Wonderful creations of Michelin-starred chef Francisco Araya read more

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Great atmosphere and quality menu. Was recommended to try the truffle fries and the chai lava cake... scanning around others' tables it looks like they all got the same memo haha read more

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Calia is a brand new Japanese casual dining as well as small Japanese retails located in Emporium, Melbourne CBD. The menu is designed by Michelin star chef Francisco Javier Araya (Ex El Bulli in Spain, own 81 Restaurant in Tokyo). Francisco is a Chilean chef who decided to come to Melbourne to cook Japanese food, what an interesting background indeed I thought to my self. He designed the menu to focus on the quality of products but with an affordable price so the food will be accessible to everyone.. loveee this place read more

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If you want to know whether to wait upwards of 1 hour for a seat, don't. The reason it takes so long for a table is because their service is shocking. On top of this, the matcha is average, and they can't cook rice. I went with one friend and we ordered a matcha latte each. It took around ten minutes to receive the first one, and we had to chase up for the second one after waiting a further ten minutes. Who doesn't make and bring both of the together? Needless to say, the first cup was no longer hot. After waiting over 40 minutes for our food, we checked to see whether the order had been placed. But of course not. It wasn't in the register. We had to re-order again. Lucky they rushed the order so we didn't have to wait another 40 minutes. As for the taste, the seafood is fresh. But the rice was dry like it was left out overnight. The bara bara dish did not come with any sauce. The scallop was great and I love the yuzu. The matcha lattes although they look delicious are not. It does not have a nice strong matcha flavour. If you want a great matcha latte, head downstairs to Kyo Tea House. I used to come here just to do some grocery shopping, but given the poor quality of the service and something as basic as rice, I won't be back again. read more

My new favourite place in CBD. Love the mains and dessert menu. I tried their O'Bara Bara, beautifully marinated Chirashi. Tried their Hokkaidō Chīzukēki and I love it! Superbly light and mildly sweet. read more

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Good food! I went with three friends and all of their dishes were of great quality. The waiting time was quite long as we had not booked, but it proved to be worth it! Boba cake was nice as well, and the staff were absolutely lovely. One minor inconvenience was that they did not accept split payments :)) read more

Odd little place in Emporium, very limited vegetarian options but the one they had was incredibly tasty. These guys know their stuff. Definitely go back for what seemed like a healthy but damnably delicious and fresh dish. Could use some more interesting teas in the store section read more

The world's most beautiful woman and I were kindly invited here with a range of the food reviewing elite of Melbourne. A very nice night it was too. This is a lovely and well run restaurant. Modern Japanese done most impressively. It's easy to see why Calia is so popular and has people regularly lining up to get in. I enjoyed every dish. A couple of them had serious wow factor. The scallops and the crispy pork were the favourites for me. Both were attractively presented and critically were seriously lovely to eat. The only dish that slightly disappointed was the tuna which seemed more rice than tuna. The size of the mains was interesting overall. They were each unexpectedly and happily large. Desserts were wonderful too. We had the matcha lava, the Hokkaido cheesecake and the tiramisu. We loved each of these and they were quickly polished off. Service was lovely here. The staff are great. Extremely efficient on food and drinks and engagingly polite. The only thing that didn't quite work at this restaurant is the space itself and the location. We found it a bit of a challenge to find and to exit from. We also found it a little noisy and sometimes difficult to hear our companions. But, we loved the night overall. There's a lot right with the world when people compose, cook and present food as good as this. The shop included as part of the restaurant is fantastic and we could easily have bought more than we did. It's a 4.2 for me. I'm already considering a date to return. read more

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Never posted any reviews for places before but except this restaurant, all the other staffs working here have a great attitude, except an asian guy with glasses working at the counter, he obviously had time to deal with my purchase, but seemed like he just didn't want to, I made an eye contact and he looked back , without any reaction or even a smile and turned his head around , ignored me directly. read more

Nice restaurant with decent food. First time, wow, but the second time around, when the novelty wears off, it seems less special. Price wise it's reasonable. Chips bowl is of big portion, and all dishes are very nice. We had a special sea urchins dish one day for about $68, which is a bit ripped off, but tasted all right, so won't complain. read more