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    Purple Peanuts Japanese Cafe

    4.2 (52 reviews)
    Closed 10:00 am - 8:30 pm

    Purple Peanuts Japanese Cafe Japanese Restaurant Photos

    PURPLE PEANUTS JAPANESE CAFE ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Casual
    Moderate noise
    Outdoor seating
    Good for kids

    Recommended Reviews - Purple Peanuts Japanese Cafe

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    Salmon chowder - special of the day
    Bubz L.

    Simple and healthy fare at a reasonable price. Definitely a must try if you are in the area. The staff are pleasant and helpful if you are stuck about what to choose. Its a tight space so take away is recommended if you are dropping by for lunch during the weekdays

    Chicken curry!
    Madeleine C.

    One word: solid. Even though this place is super busy around lunch time and can look a little chaotic, the service is still always quick and the food is fresh. There's a little bit of seating inside, but I think that most customers prefer to grab their lunch and run. The prices are all very reasonable and the curries are cooked fresh and hot. While the sushi is pretty great, I'm a huge fan of the chicken curry. The chicken is always cooked just right, and although the curry itself is a tiny bit bland it's complimented for some seriously tasty pickles that make the dish perfect. The only setback is that they only take cash, so come prepared!

    Julia L.

    As noted by a fellow Yelper this Sushi is worth rioting for. Located near the corner of Collins & Spencer Street if it wasn't for the crowds pouring out the front door over lunch its shop front could easily be slotted into the 'if you blink you'll miss it' category, suggesting you've probably walked past it a million times. With a 'soup nazi' production line you'd better have your order ready for fear of being death starred into oblivion by a line of eagerly waiting regulars. Failing the above method, if you were to blind fold yourself & spin around like the karate kid and point at the menu at random you'd more than likely pick a winner. Each menu selection is riddled with flavour and extremely tasty. Its simple, freshly prepared like most Japanese food and well worth the wait. I make the pilgrimage with a team of recruits from the neighbouring Docklands precinct and line up for the Osaka Burger or the Soba Salad.

    Tsuke Don
    Ashley S.

    I stopped in here twice during my trip to Melbourne. It's just across the street from Southern Cross and it is the best affordable Japanese/Sushi that I tried! The Tsuke Don is a large portion and absolutely amazing! Also all of their sushi was fresh and incredibly cheap! Only down sides...The queue gets pretty long around lunch time. It is cash only...so go prepared!

    Quick, simple and delicious
    Michelle W.

    Quick, simple and delicious. This little gem at the southern end of Collins Street can get very busy during lunch hour but they are quick with their food. Their food feels healthy and definitely delicious. Their deep fried rice balls is an easy snacks. The staff is friendly enough.

    Justine C.

    Finally, a great Japanese food outlet situated in Collins Street where I have been fortunate to consume sushi with brown rice. Thank god for healthy food on this side of the city where Krispy Kreme across the road is not a good idea. The only problem was the first time I decided to go here was on my lunch break while in the corporate world in a previous life. A word of warning this place gets extremely busy and it is obvious that the staff indicate through their body language that they are under heaps of pressure, and it is best to back off and come back another time. It is best to come to this establishment in the morning just before the lunch rush. I have also tried their miso soup, and I was extremely pleased with the quality of this menu item. Their miso soup does not have that artificial taste where you feel like that you are drinking soup that is runny and powdery - like it has come out of a processed packet poured with hot water. The miso soup (I am pleased to observe) at Purple Peanuts tastes real and authentic; like home made and of high quality. A great place with friendly staff. It is advisable to only buy food from this establishment outside of the lunch rush period.

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    8 years ago

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    8 years ago

    Food terrible! Not sure why the good reviews. Stay clear of the chicken curry. Food also very cold. Very westernised

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    9 years ago

    Lovely little place. The Sushi is very good for the price. Buttery Fish texture! They also have brown rice sushi! Brown rice costs $1 extra.

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    Page 1 of 2

    Review Highlights - Purple Peanuts Japanese Cafe

    I've also had Akio's salmon sashimi bowl, which is good too, but less flavorful, as compared to the tsuke don.

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    Gochi - Chicken teriyaki

    Gochi

    4.4(9 reviews)
    0.7 kmSouthbank
    $$

    Came here for dinner…read more The sushi was absolutely delish! After one bite it was a party in my mouth. Tastebuds were happy! I ordered salmon avocado and ebi panko. The ebi panko had prawn, cucumber and spicy mayo. Both were delicious and fresh. I also had traditional ramen which was equally delicious! It had original pork broth, thin noodles, bean shoot, spring onion, egg. and seaweed. Absolutely delish dinner!

    If you had to eat the same meal for the rest of your life what would it be? Mine is SUSHI!…read more It's filling, delicious, affordable, easy and healthy! Ticks all them great boxes. As my family and I walked in to Gochi service was delivered straight away with it also being a busy environment. We were seated and served water and the menus which got me excited. I ordered the cprisy chicken, tempura prawn and cprisy salmon (with you had to ask for as it's not being on the menu). There was an order of 15 fresh sushi rolls and the wait, well I wouldn't even call it a wait. Service was defiantly spot on here with great time management. The sushi was presented lovely all cut up with ginger and wasabi on the side, yum! Everything about Gochi is amazing! -Great quality of food -Great customer service -Presentation wise of the overall place was beautiful with cute Japanese quotes all over the place. Was a great experience not only for myself but for my family with haven't tried sushi before. So it was an interesting lunch for them to finally listen to what all my bragging is about haha. See you again soon Gochi!

    Photos
    Gochi - Salmon avocado and Ebi Panko roll

    Salmon avocado and Ebi Panko roll

    Gochi
    Gochi - Traditional pork ramen

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    Traditional pork ramen

    Izakaya Den - Comp salad

    Izakaya Den

    4.2(61 reviews)
    1.4 kmMelbourne
    $$$

    Disappointed with this choice. hard to find with just a simple easel sign in an office type…read morebuilding entrance. Absolutely empty on this Tuesday night. Red flag. No one at the sushi bar or anywhere else. Moldy smell throughout which is a problem since this place is below ground. But to save a star, a great selection of sake. Menus are dirty and disorganized. Not easy food selections. Food was just ok. Too many other better options in the areas.

    We were hoping for a meal of Japanese while in Melbourne, took the suggestion of Yelp and…read moreUrbanspoon, and ended up at Izakaya Den. I wouldn't say I regretted my choice, but I probably should have taken the advice of one of my friends for a place with sashimi and substantial food. Hidden down a narrow flight of stairs, Izakaya Den is a bit like a den with its cold, yet cozy interior. We didn't end up drinking anything throughout our meal, which I slightly regretted, since that is precisely what you do at an izakaya place. Either way, it was the middle of the day, so we weren't too keen. What we did get were baked scallops with a ginger garnish of some sort. The scallops were a delicious texture, just how scallops how should be, but the highlight was really the garnish on the side! We also went for the tuna tartare, which was alright in texture. Again, the highlight was the sauce. I should have gone for the tuna tataki, which seems to be the more popular dish. We also had the fish of the day (which I can't remember what), and that was really tender and baked perfectly. It wasn't salmon, though that's what it looks kinda like in the picture. The pickled daikon on the side was my favorite part of the dish - but the fish was also really delicious. It wasn't one bit fishy, and the meat just fell apart perfectly! The lamb skewers were also good, though I don't think I would order this again if I returned. They were slightly dry, and didn't taste much like lamb. At the end of our meal, they gave us complimentary house-made marshmallows! They were fluffy, not overly sweet, and quite yummy! Our next visit was Le Petit Gateau, so we didn't go for dessert... Though the food was just average to above-average, the service was really friendly and attentive, and they even hung our coats on a coat rack for us! Truly Japanese. =)

    Photos
    Izakaya Den - Private dining room

    Private dining room

    Izakaya Den - Sliced scallops with a citrus sauce (pretty good)

    Sliced scallops with a citrus sauce (pretty good)

    Izakaya Den - Sushi assortment

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    Sushi assortment

    Akachochin - Flash torched salmon

    Akachochin

    4.0(37 reviews)
    0.7 kmSouth Wharf
    $$

    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. .

    Photos
    Akachochin
    Akachochin
    Akachochin

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    Tsuru Japanese  - Almost everything we got

    Tsuru Japanese

    4.8(5 reviews)
    1.7 kmMelbourne

    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

    Mid-high end Japanese restaurant, located in the same building as a hotel (Hyatt I think?)…read more I went there for a weekday lunch, as they do lunch specials. I went for the sashimi and sushi set ($48) which was good value for the amount of food you get, but the quality of the sashimi and sushi was average. For the set, you get quite a bit: chawanmushi, miso soup, a yakitori skewer, pickles, and the food you order. Extremely good value for the cheaper sets (I think like a bento for 20-30?) The sashimi and sushi set was a bit disappointing. The fishes given for the sushi and sashimi were on the cheaper end. I don't think there was even a tuna. They did give two pieces of scallop, which was tasty. Overall, I would have either expected one or two pieces of pricey fish, or a few extra pieces of sushi or sashimi. The rice was also cold, rather than slightly warm. Overall, it felt like an average sushi lunch, not fitting the mid-high end positioning they are going for. Tip: don't forget they have 20% off on EatClub; which if you use with the lunch offer, is great value for money.

    Photos
    Tsuru Japanese  - I don't know lol

    I don't know lol

    Tsuru Japanese  - Placemat and backside of menu

    Placemat and backside of menu

    Tsuru Japanese  - Sweet potato fries

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    Sweet potato fries

    Purple Peanuts Japanese Cafe - japanese - Updated May 2026

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