The best Japanese restaurants in Melbourne
"Fashion changes, but style endures". Coco Chanel could have been talking about Japanese food, which will ever be en vogue thanks to its goddamn deliciousness. Say "konnichiwa" to the city's finest places to enjoy sushi, sashimi, sake and so much more. Whether you want to dip into a cosy inn-style café or hobnob with the glitterati, you'll find what you're looking for here. We can also point you in the direction of Melbourne's best ramen shops, dumplings and cocktail bars.
Best Japanese restaurants in Melbourne
Ishizuka
Ishizuka is a new Japanese restaurant specialising in a kaiseki menu. In a commitment-phobic world it almost requires a session with a therapist to sign up for a 10-plus-course, two-plus-hour procession of miniaturised dishes for $220 a head, sans drinks. But Ishizuka is worth the time, expense, and trouble of finding it.
Minamishima
Kisume
The opening of a restaurant from Chris Lucas, the svengali behind Melbourne greats Chin Chin, Hawker Hall, Kong and Baby, is generally accompanied by the kind of media hoopla reserved for retiring members of the Royal family, so here’s the deal: all you have heard about Kisume, the Lucas Group’s three floors of Nipponesque dining power, is true, and then doubly so.
Izakaya Den
Kenzan
Shoya
Hihou
Hinoki Japanese Pantry
Nobu
Saké Restaurant and Bar
Wabi Sabi Salon
Cibi
Kobe Jones
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