Best Sushi in Melbourne
Sushi is less a food than it is a highly codified art form. There are dozens of subtle variables in every piece, including the types of rice and vinegar used; the wrapping material; the rolling or stacking method; the variety of fish; and the way it’s cut. It’s no wonder it can take decades to become a sushi master.
These days there’s a handful of these people slicing around Melbourne. Whether you’re into classic tuna nigiri or unagi (eel) rolled-up maki-style, these are the spots to taste their years of devoted practice.
Restaurant
Minamishima
Prepare for 15 sublime courses, using seafood flown direct from Tokyo.
Restaurant
Yugen Dining
Rough-hewn stone walls, high ceilings and golden accents set the mood at this subterranean Japanese diner. Take the glass lift underground for charcoal-cooked Wagyu, delicate sashimi and exciting detours into Chinese cuisine.
Restaurant
Shira Nui
Owner Hiro Nishikura has 40 years' experience, including 12 months of just washing rice.
Restaurant
Kisume
This experienced kitchen team works exclusively with seafood from Australia and New Zealand.
Restaurant
Kenzan
Hard-to-find cuts since 1981.
Restaurant
Nobu
The Japanese chain that's just about conquered the world.
Restaurant
Saké Restaurant & Bar Southbank
Traditional or fusion? It serves both.
Restaurant
Komeyui
Take a seat at the stone counter for a 10-course sushi degustation, or order fish-skin crackling, miso-marinated black cod, and savoury steamed custard topped with foie gras à la carte.
Restaurant
Izakaya by Tamura
Find classic Japanese snacks and party-friendly cocktails at this sprawling izakaya. Across two levels, go for karaage and gyoza alongside natural wines, cocktails made with Japanese whisky and Stomping Ground rice lager on tap.
Restaurant
Sushi On
Walk down an unassuming strip of shops to find the suave eight-seat sushi omakase, which takes diners through 23 ever-changing courses. You might start with an oyster, move onto nigiri, and finish the savoury journey with soup.
Shop
Hinoki Japanese Pantry
A high-grade sushi bar and an impressive pantry of hard-to-find Japanese groceries. Stop in for fresh sushi, sweet daifuku, noodles, pickling starter packs and more. Or pick up Japanese ceramics, konro barbeques, glassware and knives for your own kitchen.
Restaurant
Aoi Tsuki
An intimate, 12-seat omakase bar, where no two meals are the same. Experience 20 or more individualised courses while being entertained by the chefs' playful banter. Expect top-quality seafood that might be squid, sea urchin, salmon roe, King George whiting or bluefin tuna.
Restaurant
Akaiito
Sit at the omakase bar for robata-grilled marron with kombu butter; clam and miso soup; and fried rice amplified with Wagyu, shiitake and cod roe. All in a heritage-listed building full of original bluestone features and brooding black marble.
Restaurant
Matsu
Only 32 diners a week get into this tiny, four-seat kaiseki restaurant. Secure a booking and you’re in the capable hands of co-owner and chef Hansol Lee, who worked at revered Melbourne restaurant Kenzan. Each night he delivers a delicate, multi-course, seafood-led set menu – and decent banter.
Restaurant
Yakikami
Perch at a dedicated yakitori table for succulent chicken skewers, or retreat to the private dining room for an omakase experience where high-end Kobe beef is the star. It’s from the Wagyu Ya and Niku Ou team.
Restaurant
Uminono
Run by a passionate French Australian, this 12-seat omakase restaurant is open for just two sittings a day. Book in for a simple chirashi bowl, or an 11-course lunch featuring dishes like dry-aged kingfish sashimi with roasted spring onion oil and Hokkaido scallops with burnt orange gel.
Cafe
Elka Sushi
Elka knows its seafood – its owner is in the family behind longstanding fishmonger D&K Seafood. Come for spicy salmon maki and tuna belly nigiri. Plus, house-made soy sauce that changes to complement the season's fish.
