Kisumé

Food is ok but super expensive. 3 sushi for $58 dollars and they have a bunch of waiter waitress walking around and doing nothing, no service to the table for a fine dinning restaurant.

Absolutely bad experience, First time here and made a reservation for my father birthday dinner on 8: 30pm today. When we arrived they settle us at the bar which located at second floor and let us wait for an hour without any compassion. When it almost 9: 45p.m, we don’t even get a seat which is unacceptable. We decided to leave and never come back again based on all these experiences we had in this “restaurant”

I celebrated my mothers birthday with my 2 sisters on a Friday evening, we highly recommend the spicy tuna, salmon main course and the chocolate mousse. We had a lovely manager named Rohit who took great care of us and made us feel very welcomed. We had small hiccups during the night but Rohit’s professionalism really made my mothers night well worth it. Thank you Rohit, you’re a shining example of what a high end dining manager should be. Dear KISUME management, if it was not for Rohit’s professionalism, I would have wrote a detailed 1 star review and spread the word. Thank you again Rohit, my mother was very please ️

Capitalising on Melbourne Money, we finally went to dine in at Kisumé after hearing so many mixed reviews. We went feeling a tad apprehensive and that disappeared very quickly. The wait staff was very professional and friendly. I have to give a special shout out to Martha who made our night. She clearly loves her job and that radiates through. She is professional, friendly, knows the menu like the back of her hand, and made sure we didn't order too much and didn't just push the most expensive dishes for us to order.

We enjoyed every dish, especially the sashimi and sushi. Everything is so fresh that we didn't need to use the soy sauce provided. Very lucky to have been seated right in front of the head chef cos we got to converse with him. For the ambience, service, quality, and size of serves, I really don't think it is overly expensive. Maybe we just got lucky we went on one of their good nights. Either way, we are happy to go again.

Finally got to visit Kisume! Kisume is a luxurious restaurant located in the heart of Melbourne serving sophisticated Japanese food

We ordered the
Koku— gin, lychee, crème de violette ($25)
Watermelon spritz- seedlip spice, watermelon, lemon ($12)
Kumamoto A5 nigiri ($32.5)
Toro nigiri ($20.5)
? 3 x Oyster — royal miyagi ($19.5)
Kisume feature box — sushi, sashimi, maki ($99.5)
Murray cod — dashi, shiso, coriander, chewy tomato ($61.5)
Hazelnut dacquoise ($23.5)

Yes it was expensive but the experience was definitely worthwhile. The staff was attentive and friendly, and the food was so delicious. The room was dimly lit and created a cosy yet elegant atmosphere.

Not sure if I’ll spend $30 on a piece of nigiri anytime in the near future- but they were the best pieces we have ever had. That Kumamoto A5 nigiri was so tender and soft, and the toro nigiri was so fatty and melt in your mouth. The oysters was so fresh and flavoured so well- plus, even the lemon had a net covering— so extra! (pics already posted on Instagram!)

The Kisume feature box was high quality, and we HIGHLY recommend that spicy tuna roll w/ yuzu honey, spicy soy, wasabi and compressed watermelon — the fish was so fresh and the watermelon complemented the bite with the subtle sweetness. Definitely the highlight of the meal, and the sashimi (the salmon, tuna and the kingfish) was sooo fresh. The Murray cod was delicious — enjoyed the subtle spice from the broth but the fish was a tad over cooked imo so not a highlight compared to the other items we tried.

The hazelnut dacquoise had the perfect consistency, the chocolate mousse wasn’t too sweet and the frangelico center oozes out when you cut into it. Not to mention, the cocktail was lovely - much needed after a long week

I haven’t been to other fine dining restaurants of this price range yet, but from the exceptional experience we had, we would recommend a visit during a special occasion (or if you have the money to spare!)

Follow me on Instagram and tiktok @hungry.piglet for more food finds!

We paid $590 4 people for light dinner at this restaurant for the standard food quality and the freshness and services. What we experience were much less than the look from outside and what this restaurant presented on their website.

DO NOT BUY the wagyu. Tasted like any average steak. The rest of the meal was great, but can’t get past the $135 wagyu, was not worth it.sushi and fish was good.potatoes dry and edamame for $15 - not worth it.cost $480 including drink, won’t go back

Loved Kisume Chef’s table. The service was exceptional. My husband and I had an amazing time, enjoyed all courses at the chefs table.
Koku cocktail was my favourite. We will be back again. Thank you for giving us an amazing time.

We have been coming to Kisume fairly regularly before the lockdowns and the food and service has been amazing.

However since the easing of the recent lockdowns we have been twice in the last month and although the food is just as amazing, the service has really taken a turn for the worse.

The seatings are so rushed now but yet you’re left waiting and trying to signal for service only to be ignored by extremely busy staff.

In the past when they have poured our drinks and had minor misses although we’ve never asked for it, they have always given us a free top up, especially when they spill a $150 bottle of wine, however now they just apologise and that’s it.

I don’t blame the staff but hold the management responsible, this has always been our date restaurant but we’ve decided that this will be our last time after two opportunities since coming out of lockdown. We never walk out of Kisume spending less than $500 and never without giving less than a 10% tip, but we really feel disappointed as they are focused on volume of customer rather than quality.

Thanks for most of the good memories.

Upstairs chefs table was excellent. Loved it all, outstanding service, outstanding meal, outstanding Sake. Nice to be eating out again!

Very price cost much for only little sashimi piece. But okra tempua is so delicious and should be permanent menu feature. Best dish is okra tempura.

KISUME is the best dining experience I have ever had in my 58years. The Chef's tasting menu was amazing. The service was impeccable. Its not a cheap place to eat.but it's worth every cent

Lovely decor and ambience with an open kitchen. However, the rating comes down to mediocre as the price did not seem justified when compared other quality Japanese restaurants in Melbourne. The experience was not particularly unique in terms of front house attention to bring the restaurant to a 5 star rating. The listing off of menu was more like a show off marathon than a sharing of knowledge and reccomendations. Left feeling a little fishy.

Delicious food but not the best value if you're very hungry or a big eater. The staff are well trained and attentive. Stand out dishe was the king mushroom.

I've always wanted to try Kisumè and God I regret taking so long to finally visit the place. The foods were superb, the serving staff friendly and professional and the restaurant had a good vibe without being too noisy. One of the waiters, Eddy, was extra helpful and friendly in particular. Highly recommended! FOR BEST JAPANESE CRUISINE EVAAAAA

Experience the best-rated Japanese restaurant in Melbourne. A cozy space, good-tasting food, a way to impress customers, a reasonable layout of shared and private sitting areas, Good music, fast staff, impressed with the wine bar with a lot of my favorite wine is Chablis. The entrance door stands out with its round and red pattern. A good experience.

Excellent food, edamame, tempura calamari, and sushi box we ordered were all perfect. Service was great, even chased us down the street when we forgot our bag, much appreciated. Excellent value would definitely eat here again. Bar seats r nice to watch them prepare the sushi. Overall a great experience

Kisume is one of the most popular fine dining, Japanese and fusion type restaurants in Melbourne. We had the chefs table Omakase. Firstly, an omakase is meant to be “leave it to us” but the fact they had 5+ optional add ons went against this idea/concept as not all the best dishes were presented to everyone. Overall the food was nice but I didn’t feel it was worth the $250+ paid. The highlights for me were the wagyu and salmon belly that both melted in your mouth (as all the other sashimi pieces should’ve too), and the truffle ice cream & crunch which was very uniquely refreshing and balanced. Decor was modern and vibe was lively/busy. Overall food was not too bad but there are more unique and well crafted fine dining meals out there, which are priced more reasonably.

Consistent, top quality, tasty Japanese. My go to. Chefs table is highly recommended. Service and ambience is excellent

Kisume is multiple levels of sophisticated Japanese dining heaven. There are Chefs Table and Tasting Menus but we decided to order A La Carte. Mostly everything was outstanding, the edamame were perfectly charred and spiced and the calamari was probably the best I’ve ever tried with an incredible crispy batter. Both of the sushi rolls were drool worthy, I loved the addition of the compressed watermelon, so unique and went so well. The cocktails were delicious!
What could’ve made it a 5? The pork gyoza had no flavour and at a price point of around $27 for 5 I expected the best gyoza i’ve ever had. The service was also not on par with the price point, they all seem to dawdle in the corner with each other and it’s pretty hard to get their attention. I had to ask for a menu 3 times at the beginning, why is there not one provided to start? ?
I would definitely return to try more of the menu.
4/5