Minamishima

Excellent choice for a quality Japanese dining experience. Great ambience and perfectly spacious to be intimate for a nice evening out. Try both the dining and sushi bar. Reservations mandatory well in advance.

Minamishima a Japanese omakase restaurant owned by Chef Koichi Minamishima. He has a 25 years experience on his belt than finally opening his own restaurant in 2014 in the city he called home for 15 years. His goal is to fill each customer with joy thrugh the art of sushi. Minamishima pride them self in using the best raw ingredients available and some imported from Japan.
I was hoping for sea urchin or pufferfish but turns out that night they don’t have any of them in stocks. The service was polite, calm just like in Japan. Chef Minamishima showcases the best of Australia as well as some of Tokyo’s Tsukiji Market, Hokkaido and Aichi (Chef Minamishima homet town) produces to create inherent characteristics of the key ingredient shine. Overall, it was a great night and one of the best omakase in Melbourne but in my opinion omakase experience in Japan is still the best.

This is not an easy place to find, as you walked in, you get greeted by very polite wait staff. We were ushered to our seats at the sushi bar. Watching the sushi chefs do what they do best was entertaining. The sushi was delicious, tasted so fresh and clean. The rice on the sushi was delicious.
I could go on eating these forever. It doesn’t feel like a lot of food, but I was full. This isn’t a place that you could frequent all the time with $ 150 per person, but definitely worth every cent.

This is one of the top sushi restaurants I have been for omakase and it’s totally worth the price for the 13 courses we had. It was so good we even ordered a few more items. We started with a cooked foods and moved to raw foods and then back to heavier cooked foods. The stone clam from New Zealand really stood out because we have never tasted it before and it was roasted to give it a sweet, nutty flavor. It was well balanced with a lightly sweet sauce. The wagyu beef with truffle was a nice surprise and if they have it in season, get it.
From the raw side, I really enjoyed the flounder fin. It had a nice grilled flavor and I ordered this twice because it is that good. Flounder fin has a delicate flavor and a little oily so it just slips on the tongue like toro. Yeah… Toro was good too and served at the right temperature where the fat just glistens. We also had uni from Tasmania and it has a lighter color and flavor compared to California, but very good.
Other mentions are the roasted walnut dessert and the whiskey ice-​cream. They were both very delicious and well balanced. The sommelier is excellent and he’s right on with his sake tasting. I would suggest getting that with your dinner.
Let’s get down to business. For 13 courses in the dining room expect to pay about $ 200 per person and you may not select from the dishes but if you have dietary restrictions they will have alternatives. After dinner you may order your favorite items as a la carte. If you sit at the bar everything is a la carte so mix and match as you wish! You will need reservations for both the sushi bar and the dining room.

My wife surprised me here on for my birthday earlier this year. I came in with no expectations and was very happy with our experience.
I had never been truly impressed by sushi in Melbourne until then. There are lots of places that have decent offerings, but this was truly top-​notch. Tucked away and unassuming in typical Melbourne fashion, it opened into a stark yet intimate sushi bar and dining room with modern lights, lines, and colour.
The food was excellent — the flounder fin was a delightful surprise. The dessert was very nice as well, understated yet rounding out the meal perfectly (apologies for not remembering exactly what it was). Since it was a special occasion, we splurged on the sake pairing as well. The somm was gracious and down-​to-​earth with his explanations of each sake and it was fun tasting the subtle differences between them. Service was friendly and non-​intrusive.
Definitely recommended for special occasions or if you’re craving the best sushi available in Melbourne currently!