Isshin Izakaya

The food was lovely. My mocktail was tasty and very popular. The only issue is how long we had to wait… ( about 1.5hr)plus one of our friends ordered red wine and it took four gos before they were able to give her one glass… by the fourth glass she probably would have been better off ordering the bottle. I must admit I never thought Pinot Noir would be so hard to order 🙁 They forgot three of our dishes so we waited ages until we asked and realised the dishes were never coming. It worked out because some dishes were cancelled but I still wanted dessert which was amazing. Very expensive place, I would give it five if the food had come quickly and they hadn’t forgotten our order. The seats were super uncomfortable ( stools with no back support - the worst for someone with back pain like me ) I would suggest going when it’s not so busy but given how popular this place is not sure when that would be.. and I would highly recommend ensuring you get a good chair to sit on. **** Also the set menu said $75pp there were six of us and four us said we wanted the set menu… they said we couldn’t do that… the set menu was meant to be for the entire table… ( I think it should state that on the menu as it can be a bit deceiving). The waitress/waiters were nice but they were very busy … hence why they probably missed our dishes. Food was yummy so you can’t fault that. Our dinner came to $600+ dollars I had one mocktail, a cocktail was ordered, 4 glasses of the cheapest red wine, and about three beers plus the food we ordered… for what we ate.. not sure if it was value for money… what I ordered just for me inclusive of drink was $87 and I only shared my dessert and one dish with my partner otherwise it would have been over $100 just on me alone .. Anyhow.. view is beautiful if you sit outside and you are facing it otherwise you are stuck with a very uncomfortable chair.

New Japanese in Port Melbourne for $42.50!!! ❤ Went there last night to check it out, the menu is very similar to the famous franchise Okami. With slightly less fried items. But‼️the main difference I have to say is the quality of their ingredients. If you are craving sushi/sashimi this is THE PLACE. The salmon sashimi slice is generously thick. Their rice is perfect in consistency and flavour. I loved all the sushi roll options. Beef tataki is also miles better than Okami. Much better quality, thicker slice. No fat. I did love the Yakitori. The charred could have been better but it was tender. Squid tentacles were also great, would be best with beer! All the fried dishes were overall really good as it's not oily and they have a good batter. And the final surprise the fried rice!!! This might have been one of the best fried rice to us. It has the "aromatic" of what a good fried rice should be. It also has this chewiness consistency that is really nice to have. A TAD on a salty side. But great flavour. Some negatives would be the Steak dish. Not sure if it's the way they cut it or the type of meat but it was too chewy and not tender. I loved miso steak at Okami and this one ain't better. But I would recommend to maybe ask if they can cut it in a smaller size and that might fix it. And the gyoza is so-so. Overall. Good place. Clean and nicer atmosphere.

It's called express, but do not be fooled by the name, as the most disappointing about this place is slow service and production. First when you enter, the atmosphere is pretty good since the shop is quiet new and all decorations is quiet trendy and authentic looking. I have been to the Forrest hill one and the feel is really different. So we all sat down and ordered, but the wait is super super long. For a all you can eat restaurant, this will drive lots of customers crazy, as you can see from the photos, not all the tables are even full, but our dishes took over 25 - 35 minutes to deliver on to the table, when most of the Japanese dishes are cold. The service is super slow, the kitchen. Is super slow. Would not recommend anyone if they would like a good meal, because by the time the dishes come on, you will be full from sitting there waiting. Not just slow food, also slow in collecting any empty plate, did not make a complain at all, just watching. Definitely not a restaurant that I would come for a second time. Maybe will still consider the Forrest hill one since they are more stable, but this one at the location of Port Melbourne, they should of done better.

We had a really great experience here. We had a la carte and food was served quickly and was super fresh and yummy. The tataki beef was great. The scallops and seafood salad were nice. Bento boxes were good. Everything we really enjoyed. We will def go back. Also the teriyaki beef wrapped with mushrooms was def a favourite too.

Tried the 2 hours all you can eat buffet. Quality of the food was average and the staff there were friendly. We ordered out first few dishes with the drink, the food came out approximately 40 minutes later. We ended up ordering more drinks as we had finished a jug of beer by the time the first dishes we ordered were served...

We had the all you can eat buffet which was pretty good. However, service can be slow compared to other Japanese buffet places like Okami. We really liked the scallop, beef tataki and chocolate mousse! We also really like that you can order just salmon sashimi. Recommend going on a weekday evening to avoid the crowd. Parking can be a challenge so best to allow extra time for that.