Minamishima

Heard many great things. Was expecting a mind blowing experience, but it was just so so for me.

I don't mind throwing money around for nice things, but to see $10 bucks slapped on the bill for tap water per person made me think what the actual f.

Food presentation was exceptional and the over all atmospheres was great, but that's about the best bit.

Good intimate place for a high end sushi restaurant.
Chef and staff are amazingly nice and obviously with a higher price tag

Food and service was exemplary. All dishes were sublime in their own right. Incredibly plated with expertise and delicacy. Nothing stood out as sub par.

This is the second time we’ve been here and this time we got the chance to be at the sushi bar served by the master himself! Had an amazing experience here and definitely still my favourite fine dining in melbourne and would still come again for a third time!

We very much enjoyed our visit to Minamishima. It was a very humbling experience to watch the highly skilled chefs prepare our meal. We were seated at the sushi bar and were impressed with the performance art of our hosts and dedication of wait staff. Unfortunately we were seated beside a very inconsiderate diner who insisted on photographing every course as it was made (multiple times to create time lapse) and continually scrolled on mobile phones throughout, which was disappointing and distracting on what was a special and very rare evening out for us.

Lovely service, spotlessly clean, beautiful presentation, and generally nice tasting dishes. We didn’t feel that the food was worth the price. Other similar restaurants are better food for a lower price.

We very much enjoyed our visit to Minamishima. It was a very humbling experience to watch the highly skilled chefs prepare our meal. We were seated at the sushi bar and were impressed with the performance art of our hosts and dedication of wait staff. I highly recommended this place.

We dined here recently and were underwhelmed by the experience. Maybe it was overhyped by the numerous unwarranted five star reviews but from what you read and what they charge it would only be fair to go in expecting an experience equal to a high end sushi joint in Japan.

While the service and atmosphere was great the food was rather mediocre in comparison to a lot of other sushi restaurants in Melbourne with only one or two stand out dishes. Chutoro had some slight sinew and otoro was no where to be found despite being crowned “Melbourne’s best sushi”.

For the amount we paid we expected more exciting cuts of fish but we’re left wanting more and still hungry. I understand that some restaurants have off nights but for the amount we paid (over $1300 for four people), an off night isn’t really acceptable.

PS. The green tea chocolates were neat.

Told me is 250 per person on new year eve over the phone, and price is double on the day.food is great~

Beautiful food, well presented. Attentive staff, ery friendly an professional. Decor and lighting inside, simple, elegant, and puroseful. A wonderful experience.

The fish selection is not too impressive - mackerel, tuna - all the usual suspects. The whole omakase leaves you a bit hungry.completely unexpected of this type of a restaurant.

5 star sushi is what you get here and washed down with a selection of amazing artisan sake. It is pricy but that's what you pay for incredible quality.

Such beautiful interior and exceptional service. The chef and waiters were informative of each dish that came out. A beautiful selection of handmade Japanese cuisines. The omakase is a culinary experience lead by the most amazing chefs.

I came here for my birthday and we ordered the
Omakase set.

16 carefully curated dishes. The seafood is so fresh and the tuna cuts are perfect.

We ordered an additional wagyu nigiri which was on the house special. Exceptional with the most marbled and tender meat that melted in the mouth.

All dishes were so fresh and delicious and flavoured enough to not require any sauce.

We came here for our wedding anniversary and what a delightful treat it was!

We missed out at sitting at the counter with the chefs but were so lucky to get a table in the dining area. I was honestly amazed that they fly in a lot of their ingredients fresh from Japan daily. I even had a seasonal special of the white strawberry!

The sommelier was the highlight for me. She was incredibly knowledgeable and left the bottle with me for a brief period so I could have a proper look (and get photos). She even introduced me to new styles of sake I did not previously know about, and introduced me to a sake from her home town in Japan that you can't even get in Australia. The restaurant imports it for them.

Every single dish and drink was scrumptious and well paired. I highly recommend getting the extra dishes they offer on top of the set menu. I honestly cannot wait to go back one day, once I've saved up some more.

An incredibly special experience! The beautifully presented food is truly devine. The service was attentive but unobtrusive. Highly recommended for a special occasion.

Sorry about this folks, but the dining experience here was so poor, I wish I had been warned before going there, so I would like to help you out by briefly describing how poorly it panned out for our group.

Please don't be fooled by this establishment, it is long way from being a good Japanese restaurant.
Our whole table was disappointed in the food and service at Minamishima.
It's a bit of an embarrassment of a Japanese restaurant really and we all felt a bit betrayed by them really, food was average at best, the venue was dark and dingy, the music was some kind of unremarkable jazz/noise and was way too loud to be able to hear anything clearly.

FOOD,
We go to restaurants for a lot of reasons and usually food is one of them. This was a real disappointment. Unfortunately, most of the food was not cooked fresh, it was prepared well in advance of the service, and heated up just before service (for the food which wasn't cold). It really misses the point of good Japanese food, which is prepared fresh.
This food was not authentic at all, it couldn't be described as modern, just a poor example of food at a very expensive restaurant.

I would not recommend this to anyone wanting a good dining experience, it simply did not live up to modern expectations. Theres a lot of much better Japanese Restaurants around which have excellent service, it would pay to shop around a little.

After discussing some of the problems relating to the service, the shift manager was unapologetic and uninterested in discussing it all. It was not at all respectful.

The venue itself was dark and dingy with no consideration for Japanese style. It was tidy, but boring, I mean, there is basically no decor, there's no soft furnishings, artwork or theme to the place, It wouldn't be considered as minimalist, rather it just looked cheap, perhaps unfinished.
I've seen the pictures online, but thats facing the bar, turn around to where you eat and its a different story.

The staff mumbled and spoke so quietly that it was almost impossible to understand what the serves were. Considering they did not supply any menu, we could have been eating anything really. It was most strange actually.
At any rate, the staff didn't have a full understanding of what the food was but seemed to rabbit on about the soy sauce being the invention of one of their cooks.
The secret is out though, it's just regular soy sauce with a bit of miso paste stirred through it. You could do it yourself for a lot less!

PRICING
I feel the restaurant was quite deceptive in the way they conducted themselves when it came to the cost of eating there.
When making the booking, they said they have 2 sitting times in the evening, starting 6PM and starting 8PM. They indicated that there was a set menu but would not be drawn on what it was. Nor did they present any offer for the food and pricing whatsoever. The only time we found out was when the bill came. 6 people came in to around $1,400. Yes it was around $225 per person, then we all went out to dinner around the corner because the servings were embarrassingly small, every single one of us left starving. I'm not going to tell you how much the drinks were, if you want to go there after this review, I guess you'll find out about the drinks then.

Should have been a warning when we tried to book. In fact, it was very difficult to get them to answer the phone to make a booking,
Then they messed up the date with an SMS confirmation and it was impossible to make any change after that. They said we cant always answer the phone because we're busy!
I guess none of us will go there again, thats just how we saw it, maybe it will be different for you, but you're welcome for the heads up.

Brilliant restaurant 2nd time round! I was full this time! Menu changes seasonally and the first time I dined, I felt so hungry afterwards even though the food was amazing and fresh.
Waiters are top notch and attentive as a Japanese restaurant. Sometimes you may need to repeat and ask them again as they are all Japanese- Authentic dishes! So glad there is an Authentic high end Japanese restaurant here in Melbourne.

This place is the best! Yes its expensive. Very expensive I would say for most of us. But look at the other top end menus in town and it delivers in spades.
Totally worth it. Amazing. So professional. Seamless. We ate at the sushi bar which I would highly recommend. Dinning room is more private. I think its 14 people in each area only. What an experience. We didn’t feel hungry after the meal. I had high expectations, but they were well exceeded!

Easily the best Japanese meal I've had. The staff aren't pretentious and will give advice on the best way to eat the dishes. Really great place.

Delicious and delightful. We sat at the counter and it was a wonderful experience to watch the chefs at work. The seafood and flavour combinations were fantastic. Staff were friendly and courteous. Enjoyed our meal very much.