Great fresh Japanese food. We have eaten here many times and it's been fantastic EVERY time. My…read morestaples are the salmon nigiri and vegetarian futomaki. I especially like the sesame seeds rolled on the outside of the futomaki. The Ma Po tofu is a good warm dish, as is the teriyaki beef. The hot dishes have a lot of rice with only a smallish sauce/meat/vege ratio - but for the price I think that is OK! Really friendly service here too. Recommend a visit if you're in the area.

Provincial style japanese food, lacking in flavours. I had been looking forward to visit Sakana…read moreafter hearing so many positive reviews. I found the experience quite disappointing. The staff are ready to provide assistance which is warming, and makes up for the run-down, unkept interior. The sushi rice is average quality in flavour and served relatively cold, which means it may have been prepared hours earlier. I found the Chicken Teriyaki dish to be lacking in flavour and seasoning. The chicken was laid on top and came out cold and dry, while the teriyaki sauce was sitting at the bottom of the bowl buried under the rice. Unfortunately the dish tasted like overcooked chicken that had not been reheated properly, and did not taste exactly fresh.

No obvious signs or bright lights…read more Sitting near the corner of Waverley and Warrigul Road, boy am I glad to have stumbled upon this place. With both indoor and outdoor seating, this small restaurant welcomes people of all sorts and has Japanese beer on tap! Wooden chairs and tables with menus on wooden boards, Cafe Carpenter combines Japanese and Korean flavours and does it well! I have found a quiet hideaway near home!

Oh..where to begin. Korean, Japanese and everything in between, the sheer variety is a bit…read moreoverwhelming at first. If I could order everything I just might. Normally I am a bit skeptical about places with too many choices, but at this place they do not disappoint. If you are looking for a friendly neighborhood restaurant and drinking place (Like an Asian Fushion Cheers?), but maybe are unsure of what you want, but just know that you want good food, then Cafe Carpenter is the place for you. It is not easy to find a place with a classically trained chef from Japan and someone who also actually lived and breathed the Korean street food scene. Food wise, from the LA Ribs, to the Donkatsu, and Takoyaki everything is excellent and authentic. Wide selection of alcoholic drinks, coffee, as well as desserts. The pricing is also very reasonable for comparable quality. While the quality, variety and service were all excellent, the one thing that stood out most for me was the friendliness and warmth of the owners and staff. I highly recommend.

Love love love cibi! Seems like this is a new set up, where the shop and cafe merge into one and…read moreit's phenomenal. You can shop around while waiting for food or vice versa. The shop is filled to the brim with goodies flown straight from Japan! This includes chop sticks, incense, pots, pans, portable grills and pottery. You name it, they have it! The women working it is very knowledgeable and can help you find just what your looking for. Now for the food- so good! I had the traditional Japanese breakfast set which included salmon, egg omelette, rice, curry potato salad, and pickled veggies. Perfect balance, great flavors, and filling. Feels like a healthy home cooked meal. Will definitely be a goto the next time I'm in town.

Oh Cibi.. how you delight me every time. Having been away for a year, it's good to see some things…read morenever change. Tucked away on a side street, drive by too fast and you might miss it. Everything about the space bows to good design, from the workbench communal tables to the mismatched industrial chairs to the sleek, clean modern kitchen. Let's not forget the picture of one of the greatest architects Le Corbusier hanging on the wall. Not enough cafes have a kitchen where you can see in to but with Cibi it's all out in the open. They also have a gallery/shop at the back with different Japanese wares including enamelware pots, cutlery, knives and glasses). Oh and the food is scrumptious and wholesome as well! Give me that green tea muffin any day of the week! In super exciting news it looks like they're opening a new project called Minanoie on Peel Street this month. Can't wait. Cibi, You had me at Hello!

I enjoyed a delicious fried chicken bento box here. The staff were friendly and the food came out…read morequickly. There is a wide range of authentic Japanese dishes on their menu and plenty of seating. The goldfish at the front of the restaurant are a nice touch and add a bit more Zen! I will definitely eat here again! :)

Used to go here often as the food is decent but some time back I had the worst customer service…read moreexperience of my whole life here. After ordering something I'd never had before but the picture showed veggies with what looked like a poached egg on top, it arrived with the egg in the form of a custard on top of the veggies. I absolutely cannot stand custard so I sent the food back as it was not as pictured (or described) on the menu. The owner of the place came out carrying the dish and stood over me carrying on about how they can't show it as it is on the menu because then you couldn't see the veggies (never mind they don't mention custard in the description). Long story short, I refused to take back the dish I'd returned and refused to pay for it. After a little bit more arguing they took it off the bill. The dish was worth $6. If the owner had just said "I'm sorry it's not what you were expecting, would you like something else?", I'd still be going there today. I was so upset and mad to be argued with over such a ridiculous thing, especially given they knew me as a regular customer. No one should be treated like that at a restaurant. There are places as good or better for the price where you don't get total rudeness when you send back a dish that wasn't as advertised in the first place.

Unfortunately, after my last visit to Kimurakan I have to say that I'm slightly disappointed. Don't…read moreget me wrong - I still love the place! However, the quality has dropped a bit over time. Customer Service: The service at Kimurakan is still consistently and laughably bad. Still really inattentive - the waitresses were hiding away in the kitchens, which caused a bit of a wait. Also, I asked for red pepper and the waitress looked at me with a blank expression on her face. Food: This is the category in which Kimurakan has changed. Some, it changed for the better. In another case it has changed for the worst. ~Positive: They really have expanded their menu. Now, there are loads more options rather than the basic bentos and donburis that they have on a double-sided menu. There are now entrees and even ramen! ~Negative: They raised the prices by around 1-2 dollars. This fairly disappointed me because before, you were pressed to find a meal for over 10 dollars. Now, you'll find it difficult to find something for under. They also now skimp a bit on the bentos - one entire section of the bento is dedicated to 2 weird-tasting jellies. Wtf? I ordered a Chicken Curry Bento, which came with Tofu Salad, Rice, Jello, and 1 Gyoza. Plus, you get an option of having green tea of Miso Soup (I picked the soup). Because of the new expansion on their menu, I wanted to try something else and settled on the Chicken Wings. Chicken Wings: A bit of a disappointed. They properly DEEP FRY these wings and the batter used is thick and rough to bite through. The meat is succulent and juicy, but I felt so greasy and unhealthy just from eating them. Chicken Curry Bento: The curry was made a bit amateur-ish. It seemed really basic and lacked many flavours. I really enjoyed the Miso Soup! They don't skimp on the miso paste, so instead of a watered down soup you get most places, you get a strong taste of delicious miso. I found the tofu salad pretty good, but easily made. The mayonnaise they used as the dressing was great. What I was most surprised with was the Gyoza piece - it made me want to order a plate of Gyoza because it was SO JUICY. The only thing weird and unappetising about the bento was the 2 pieces of jelly. They were a bit too condensed and concentrated - I don't even know what they're doing in a Japanese bento box. --- I should note that Kimurakan is probably not that authentic. The restaurant is managed by a Chinese crowd instead of Japanese, but the food is still fairly tasty and cheaper than most Japanese spots in the CBD. Check it out for some great and cheap food!

Admittedly Kimurakan has about zero ambience. In fact it's entirely sterile…read more Sure, it isn't perfect. The staff can be a little hopeless, but what they lack in skill they make up for in enthusiasm. While the downstairs area is indeed small, there are plenty more tables upstairs (although sit up there and you do risk being completely forgotten). Regardless, I absolutely adore this place. After all, you don't come here expecting fine dining. The food is just so amazing that I'm prepared to overlook any other short comings. It's also amazingly cheap. The majority of bento boxes come in at under $10, along with a free lemon ice tea or cola. Kimurakan will always be one of my absolute favourites. So ignore the decor (or lack thereof), forgive the patchy service and simply enjoy the great Japanese food.

We were looking for another cheap, tasty spot to try in the CBD and Purple Peanuts Japanese Cafe…read moresounded like a good fit. It's located right beside Perkup Cafe & Burger Bar (and across the street from Krispy Kreme). We dropped in on a Thursday evening (around 7:30pm). The inside is pretty small with16 seats but there were another 3 seats outside to people watch. The menu is up behind the counter. It's a bit hard to decipher but it's broken into cold, burgers, hot, hot stuff and noodles. There's also a bunch of pre-made items right when you first walk in if you're in a rush. - Matcha shake ($5.90 AUD) - green tea, vanilla bean, white choc & kirsch base mixed with ice cream, red bean, whipped cream and homemade matcha cookie crumbs. - Tsuke don ($13.50 AUD) - salmon sashimi marinated in mirin, sake, sesame and soy. Served with vinegar. - Beef curry soba ($11.90 AUD) - thinly sliced beef & veggies with buckwheat noodles in a mild Japanese curry. - Teriyaki chicken ($13.50 AUD) - flame grilled chicken marinated in soy, sake, sesame and ginger. Served with carrot and bean sesame salad and rice. Hit the spot for us.

Nestled across the Southern Cross station, among the multitude of eateries in the busy business…read moredistrict of Collins Street, one could easily passed Purple Peanuts without noticing its presence. Purple peanuts is a lovely Japanese cafe with a very intimate (a.k.a limited seating capacity) setting. Despite of their humble interior, their menu is certainly more grand, listing impressive variety of hearty home-cooked tasty meals at reasonable prices. Menu such as curry rice/noodles, hot burgers as well as sashimi salad are some of the things to look forward to here. They also carry wide arrays of ready made sushi rolls/sashimi and salad... hearty and healthy meals suddenly becomes so convenient. For my lunch, I ordered the Tsuke don ($12.50), which consist of premium salmon sashimi marinated in mirin, sesame soy and sake tossed with homemade pickles, salad and served on top of warm sushi rice. First of all, the presentation was creatively executed. Taste-wise, I love how the fish was fresh and well-seasoned, there won't be a bite where it's not flavorful! Adding to the already wonderful salmon was the mango, radish, onion pickle salad, which adds interesting sensation in each bite. Much love to this delicious dish! Even though this is a self-served place, the counter service was gracious and friendly. Overall, I had an enjoyable lunch at Purple Peanuts, its an affordable and unpretentious cafe serving up delicious, genuine Japanese comfort dish that satisfies the tummy & I guess that's the beauty of it :).

Unassuming little cafe on the corner with onstreet parking only, Satsuki was a pleasant surprise on…read morea cold wintery night when we needed take-away. Nasu Ten: lightly fried eggplant with slightly sweet twang 10 piece sashimi: fresh and tasty Vegetarian okonomyaki: huge round okonomyaki with mayo and soy sauce on top, not too doughy Nabeyaki udon: udon with chicken The food hit the spot and I am glad they do takeaway as we have previously tried to get a table and they have always been full! Total was $55 for two very full people with okonomyaki to spare for next days lunch.

Excellent okonomyaki and delicious yaki niku. It's small and you should try to book but it's so…read moreworth it. A little Japanese secret in the middle of suburbia.

This place is near Chapel Street. Parking is hard to find. The theme is Chinese antiques. There are…read morea few seating options available where you sit in an antique poster bed and eat your food. They have the best gluten free yum cha I've ever seen available in the world. There were a number of different options and the service was great. I really loved the dumplings. I'd like to go back again. My favourite would be the chicken and leek dumpling.

We went here because we heard it was the only place in Melbourne that had gluten free dumplings. I…read morehave to say I was disappointed in them. It wasn't your typical dough but made with GF flour instead they just used rice paper. It wasn't easy to eat because the rice paper was super sticky and was coming apart. I can't speak for any of their other food because we didn't have anything else. But I will say the ambience in the restaurant is super cool! You can sit in a little cubby on pillows and hang out. You can also bring your own wine!