Top Japanese Restaurant & Bar Melbourne

Functions we have catered for including end of the financial year and Christmas celebrations, bucks and hen's night, school excursion, anniversary, birthday and many special occasions as requested by our customers. Unlike any other Japanese restaurant, Isshin offers a unique dining experience where you order your meals at your table and a qualified chef prepares your meals which are delivered fresh to your table by our friendly waiting staff. Over 2 hours, we will spoil you for choice with our gourmet quality Japanese meals using only the freshest and healthiest ingredients, now in four locations, Lilydale, Forest Hill, Port Melbourne and Drouin. At Saké Hamer Hall, premium produce and precise Japanese craftmanship underscore menus that are designed to be shared and impossible not to enjoy. Centuries-old, Japanese robata grilling is another central element of each menu, delivering sensational, charcoal-smoky flavours to everything from responsibly sourced meats and seafood, to the humble, locally sourced vegetable. We serve only the highest quality wagyu beef with a wide range of primecuts for your selection.
Kisume has multiple dining experiences in the one venue, all tied together with the kind of classy, muted minimalism that perfectly communicates the no-fuss approach to fine food and even finer wine. The exquisite 18-course Chef’s Table experience is the heart of this offering, japanese restaurant near ever-evolving but always laser focused on expressing Japanese perfection by way of the freshest Australian seafood available. There’s also a new vegan menu for those less into the fish dishes. We suggest booking ahead—this place gets pretty rammed on Friday and Saturday nights.

All of our signature sauces and condiments are made on site, and our secret recipes are continually tested to guarantee their high standard of quality. Kuni first opened Kuni's restaurant in Crossley Place and later relocated to Little Bourke Street as the business grew. Kunihiro has reflected that operating a Japanese restaurant in those early years was difficult due to a lack of Japanese products in Australia. However, he saw this as a great challenge and creating Kuni's in Crossley Lane gave him a chance to explore his creativity, such as designing his own sushi counter as the local carpenters had never seen or heard of such a thing then. Kunihiro's business partner, Terunobu Hirata still produces the crockery used in the restaurant. In the early days, Kuni found that many Australians were reluctant to eat raw fish and he recalls having to give away sushi in order to persuade people to try raw fish.
Those craving late-night Melbourne noodle fixes head to Musashi Ramen on Russell Street in the heart of the CBD. Open from lunch to early morning, this ramen and izakaya bar draws in foodies with a... For steaming bowls of ramen Tokyo-style, Melburnians seek out the glowing red and yellow sign of Shujinko on Elizabeth Street.

Get underneath Don Don's black shutters and hectic kitchen for a bento box, and proceed to park yourself on the State Library Lawn for an al-fresco, no-fuss meal. Carefully monitored from paddock to plate, our top-graded beef is grilled to perfection on the grill with our signature African-inspired basting. Choose from grass-fed or grain-fed premium beef in your preferred cut, or enjoy a beautifully marbled wagyu steak cooked to your liking.
For lunch, you can get sashimi and nigiri specials with miso and salads. Otherwise, share a platter with friends or choose from the sushi menu. The name of this upscale Japanese restaurant stems from the words for rice and knot , with the combination signifying the connection and unity felt through a shared meal. And if you're after traditional, authentic and high-quality Japanese cuisine without having to board a plane, allow your tastebuds to be whisked away to the archipelago with dishes by chef Motomu Kumano. The hushed, reverent atmosphere here is  well suited to owner-chef Koichi Minamishima's awe-inspiring knife skills. He works with both local seafood and fish flown direct from Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo to produce his peerless sushi.
Then eight years later I had the opportunity to be back again to do the opening set up of Hyatt Regency Adelaide Shiki Restaurant as the Area Japanese Chef for Hyatt Asia Pacific. So for us at En Izakaya, our outstanding product, delivered with consistently high quality, is the key to your satisfaction and your loyalty. We strive to continually better the delivery of our modern izakaya experience – always subtly refining, always subtly improving.

Our restaurants offer everything from a sublime kaiseki experience to a boozy izakaya filled with sakes and beers. So whatever your taste, we’ve got the perfect Japanese restaurant for you. Melbourne might not be the first Australian city that comes to mind when you think “Japanese food”, but we’ve got you covered. Whether you’re in the mood for an omakase or kaiseki experience; a rowdy yakitori bar; or a boozy subterranean izakaya filled with sakes and shochu, we’ve got you sorted.
This inner urban restaurant exudes a traditional vibe with diners cosy... Street meets modern chic at the chef hat awarded Izakaya Den, a quintessentially Melbourne dining experience situated amongst the bustling strip of Russell Street. Drawing on the purity  and integrity of Japanese cuisine while infusing it with Australian sensibility, Melbourne diners head to Kisume on Flinders Lane for a dining experience like no other. From their exclusive kobe beef supply to Japanese whiskey ice cream, Niku Ou nails modern contemporary Japanese dining. Strict guidelines are imposed on its deluxe Wagyu, which you can even order as an (extremely high-end) katsu sando.

Delicate zensai , simple but beautiful sashimi and elegant desserts – perhaps yoghurt jelly dressed with Cointreau – are part of the parade. Very popular with the busy business people in the area, our lunch sets Gozen and Korin showcase gems of traditional Japanese cuisine, complemented by rice and miso soup. A la carte menu and Sushi & Sashimi combination are also available for those who would like to choose their own dining delights. Kenzan honours the traditional cooking methods and provides the diners with a true Japanese culinary experience.
Takumi is one of Melbourne’s favourite destination for fine Japanese dining. Enhance your experience with a wide range of authentic sake, shochu and fine national wines for selection. An attentive floor staff maintains the level of excellence with timely service, attention to detail and helpful knowledge to maximise your dining experience. Ito has a history deeply rooted in Tokyo’s Ginza district, perfecting the traditional cuisine specific to Kyoto before moving onto Adelaide in the late 90s.
Nestled along Flinders Lane is where you’ll find Kisumé, another restaurant that stands out as one of the best Japanese restaurants in Melbourne. Utilising fresh Australian produce, this three-levelled restaurant specialises in familiar and traditional Japanese cuisine, as well as their own unique interpretations. Suzuran is the leading Japanese grocer and purveyor of the finest sushi and sashimi take-away in Melbourne. Whether you are cooking up a Japanese feast or for everyday cooking, you will find a comprehensive range of Japanese ingredients as well as snacks, drinks, beers and sake.

Ides is the first permanent restaurant by former Attica sous chef Peter Gunn, who ran the pop-up version of the restaurant for three years before opening the brick-and-mortar location in March 2016. The restaurant has a cozy, intimate atmosphere, with dim lighting and widely spaced tables. The menu features seasonal ingredients and changes frequently, making it an exciting place to visit again and again. At KURA drinks and food are paired to create a symphonic, curated, yet unpretentious experience of Japanese cuisine.