Always guaranteed a great traditional Japanese meal here at excellent prices…read more The staff are wonderful and the menu is extensive (many many choices of Bento boxes) with specials between 1pm-5pm. The decor is very Japanese, its a relaxed vibe and at a great location in Bourke street, Melbourne CBD.

I hate the layout of the tables here. They're set up in such a way that you are forced to share a…read moretable with other people. I hate that, especially when they stick you with people who won't shut up, or filthy people who keep snorting and blowing their nose with the napkins. So please be aware of this if you plan on trying this place. The food here is okay, but not the best I've had. My main complaint is I feel like they take too many short cuts with the cooking and this comes out in the food. The takoyaki are deep-fried instead of pan-baked; the curry is too hot for Japanese curry and the meat is just boiled or grilled and just dumped in. Again, it's not bad but it could be much better. They have a good range of bento boxes though and the prices are not too bad. Service is not good. They almost go out of their way not to refill your teapot. I had to pick up my teapot and wave it in front of the waiter's face but that still didn't work. I had to wait until someone came to drop off a plate and physically place the teapot in their hand. I shouldn't have to do that. It's little things like this that just make the whole experience not very pleasant. Overall, it's okay here, just not the best.

This place is SUPER busy and it only Monday night at 20:00. One waitress working and she was…read moreworking her A$$ off for everyone. Non stop hustling. I got my food super fast and it was amazing. I love finding these hole in the wall little restaurants around the world. Super hard to find but worth the confusion. This place is my new go to place in Melbourne when I crave sushi (ok I crave sushi all the time).

Excellent service, great low key ambience. Tonkatsu was great. Buckwheat soba noodles were great…read more Kids were happy and parents were happy. Not a sushi place but the rest was great.

We are currently on a wagyu craze and were in the midst of finding the best wagyu place in…read moreMelbourne! Although Tsuru's exterior does not do justice for their delicious food, we think their meat is AMAZING. Their wagyu fried rice was really good as well. The staff here are young but well-trained and nice. The price here is on the high side, but hey - you get what you pay for (in this case, quality wagyu!). We'd definitely recommend you to try this place out, it's worth what you're paying for.

Ate here with 2 of my homegirls when I was in town, I guess she picked it cus it's rated really…read morehigh lol... it's actually really good and of course I ate most of it. It was really good Japanese food. The sushi rolls, to some of the raw fish, and even the karage was just really textured well. It was exceptionally good for being a in a low key quiet area on a

Hard to find but HIGHLY RECOMMEND! And they do omakase…read more Real Dope spot in Fitzroy neighborhood of Melbourne. I arrived just before 7 and there were only a few people sitting. By 8pm there was a short wait bc the place is relatively small and cozy. There's no more than 40 seats. Great vibe as they play an assortment of records all vinyl and have loads of sake and Japanese whisky on deck. Menu was surprisingly larger than expected. They have tons of stuff from sushi to fried dishes, fresh seafood and other Japanese classics with a twist. Order: JPF (Japanese fried chicken (thighs)), Octopus carpaccio w/ soy and red onion (could've had more flavor) and a sake flight

We were wandering around the CBD in Melbourne and we had initially thought we'd try another place…read moreon Liverpool St, but there was a lengthy wait, and Shimbashi we could basically walk in. We were greeted by a host that seemed to be eating at the time when we walked in. Found that a bit odd, but no matter. There was a cute little table for 2 which was perfect. Shimbashi, like soba places in Japan is very small interior. There were tables for 2-4 along the wall and then a communal table of ~10 in the middle of the restaurant. We were provided menus and then it seemed to take a while before the servers came around. The servers would drop food at adjacent tables but then quickly scoot away. Once we ordered, it was mere minutes before our food was on the (very small) table. We had ordered some edamame, gyoza, tempura, and okonomiyaki. I was surprised by how quickly our food was out. Hot and fresh ! All was very good ! Our Server when dropping off food, had to wait while we tried to clear room on the table for the next dish. Overall, the interior of Shimbashi seems a bit tired, but overall clean. Food is very good and is served up hot and fresh. Service here is a bit confusing, but our servers were very pleasant. I would definitely recommend Shimbashi. When we were ready to head out there were a large number of people waiting to get it. If they take reservations, it might be helpful to make them.

I just can't get enough Japanese food in my life right now. So after I ate at Shimbashi I was…read morepretty dammed pleased let me tell you Yelpers. I always like to order something different when I go out. So, on my 1st visit I chose the Tempura Egg Soba, amaze. I liked the different textures of the tempura vegetables, the egg and of course the soba. All washed down with an icy cold beer and a cheeky sake. Next time was for lunch so I went with the Sansai Soba & Sushi Set, perfect. Delicious Sushi and a Warm soup soba with vegetables. The staff are so friendly but more importantly the food is really really good guys. If you're in the mood for some tasty Japanese, you really need to check out Shimbashi.

I got here early for lunch. I ordered miso soup $2 and a curry chicken bowl $11. Both were great!…read moreThe curry sauce was delicious and the chicken was slightly crispy and delicious too. Reasonable prices but more important was how good the food tasted.

Really great escape from the horror that is Harbour Town shopping centre. Simple clean decor,…read morefriendly staff and speedy service, but the real charm is the menu. A decent variety of fare, some traditional pieces and some more modern varieties. Definitely try the bento boxes and the donburi.

So happy to finally cross Gypsy & Pig off my list, a Japanese pork speciality spot in CBD that I…read morehave been eyeing on for a while. Hidden in plain sight, precisely located in a tiny corner, down one end of Hardware Lane with no obvious signage - do look out for a piggy sign and you are at the right place ;). The restaurant might have small physicality, but the decor is simply adorable, black loving interiors surrounded with pig ornaments to match the theme - A porky heaven! Oink~ Their menu is specialized in Katsu of different variants. Not the healthiest indulgence, but for me there is something utterly satisfying about biting into crunchy katsu. And for my first visit, I was excited to order their special mix fry: kurobuta cheese Hamburg, eyefilet, crabmeat croquettes and Anago (sea eel). Best of both world!! As much as I wanted it to be good, everything was underwhelming. The unagi has many small bones in them, making it so troublesome to eat. Adding to that, the Kurobuta hamburg with cheese had this musty smell that's so unpleasant. I was hoping the crab croquette would save the day, but sadly the texture was so soggy it completely threw me off. The stuffed chicken wings appetizer, however, was quite delicious and worth ordering a second. The service, was also quite impressive. All smiles and making sure that you are taken care of the moment you stepped in the door. In addition to that, they also pride themselves on using the highest quality Kurobuta pork... which then resulted in their premium prices. Overall, I love Gypsy & Pig for their venue because the space is so cute, authentic and really sets the mood! In terms of the food, sadly it just doesn't strike a special chord with me, well at least on my visit... :)

Make sure you make a booking because this place is cozy. It's small. You will get table seating if…read moreyou are a group of four or more otherwise you sit at the bar and watch the chef cook. This place is known for their kurubota - or black pig meat. It is recommended by urbanlist that you try their katsu curry, their scotch egg, and their green tea cake/pudding. We had the katsu kurubota curry, the scotch egg, some sushi, and the kimchi kurubota eggplant hotpot. My food came in a steaming hotpot duh. The fermented smell was heavenly. The kurubota was so tender. It was such good meat - meat that I had never tasted before. The eggplant - well, you couldn't even tell it was eggplant. The rice was seasoned and I enjoyed having it on its own at the end. All three of us loved our meals and can't wait to come back for more. Great portion sizes. Split bills accepted and attentive staff.

Oh man, dat chutoro sushi. Melt in yo mouth…read more We were told from someone that has lived in Japan for most of her life that this was the best Japanese restaurant in Melbourne. I haven't tried that many classic Japanese restaurants here to vouch for that but it's probably true! A very authentic Japanese experience. We couldn't get seats at the sushi bar as walk-ins to try the Omakase (chef recommendation) so opted for a sushi sashimi combo with chutoro sushi and wagyu sushi in addition to the asparagus tempura. Could not fault anything. In particular, we were most impressed with the toro nigiri. Holy shiz. It melted. There's something about how they do the rice, we were more impressed with the tuna in nigiri form than as sashimi so that speaks volumes for how they do their sushi. Yummo. Lots of people had sukiyaki around us (or possibly shabu shabu) and it smelled like awesome. Next time Melbourne, next time. Excellent service too.

This is my favourite Japanese restaurant in Melbourne. Very traditional place, just like Yokyo…read more Staff are great. Try the Toro "tuna belly" sashimi or sushi, it's incredible. Here the sushi has only small amount of rice, proper Japan style. The sushi and sashimi platter is amazing, the Prawn Dumplings, Sukiyaki, Shabu Shabu, everything here is just like real Japan! Love it!