Wabi Sabi Garden

Miso soup confirmed that the food was going to be great. The Sashimi platter was utterly incredible. What made it Seo good is that there was no typical condiments (ginger, soy, wasabi). Each one of the 3 fish had its own amazing sauce. 10 out of 10.
IT’S THE BEST SASHIMI I HAVE EVER HAD.
The teriyaki chicken was great too. What made it so good was that the sauce was not overbearing. And the chicken was so fresh, moist and cooked to perfection. The dish also included roast potatoes, asparagus and green beans. A nice surprise.
Didn’t like the prawn tempura however. Nothing wrong but it had a bit of curry flavour and I wasn’t in a mood for it. The prawn was huge.
Spent $ 124 for 3 included 2 glasses of wine.

Takeaway was just as good as eat in. Service was perfect, nothing was left out of our order. $ 80 easily fed 3 people.

Really delicious Modern Japanese, we got the 6 course omakase (chef selection) and some sake to match which the waitress helped us out choosing.
It was more than enough food and the miso blackened cod was definately a highlight.

Best Ramen I’ve had in Melbourne. Massive pieces of Pork Belly, totally worth the price. Delicious!

First time here & the food was pretty damn tasty! Looking forward to our next visit. Chef clearly puts considerable effort into all the small touches on the menu and the Japanese beer/​sake list is very good too.

Wabi Sabi Garden is just around the corner (and a bit) from where I live, so considering how good it is it’s surprising that I’ve only been here once before. As the name suggests, it has a little Japanese-​style garden (which includes lots of rocks, gravel, bamboo and a little pagoda-​shaped stone lantern) out the back and as it was a lovely summer Thursday evening I decided to take a table outside.
Started with the usual warm sake; $ 38 for a 450 ml flask. Not cheap, but if anyone knows a restaurant in Melbourne that sells cheap sake can they please let me know? (So far I think Izakaya Tomodachi takes that prize.)
The menu is interesting (the restaurant web page describes as «authentic and fusion Japanese cuisine, just as you would find in Tokyo») so to avoid having to make any decision I opted for the house signature tasting plate, which at five dishes for $ 60 sounded like good value. They have a recommended selection, but are happy for you to replace courses within the same price bracket.
First up was the scorched scallop sashimi with apple cream and beetroot plum sauce. Beautifully presented; three scallops topped with a sliver of sweet potato chip each in their own puddle of sauce. The apple cream and beetroot purée worked really well together and complemented the subtle flavour of the scallops beautifully.
Wagyu beef with daikon and sesame sauce was next. The thinly sliced strips of beef were tender, tasty and slightly sweet and came with a piece of rice paper to wrap everything up in. Really good.
Soft shell crab tempura with a light soy dipping sauce followed. Crunchy and quite tasty. I asked for some vegetables as well and they obliged with some battered capsicum, sweet potato and zucchini. All good.
Sliced duck breast with soy and mustard was next. I had this the last time I was here and loved it. Loved it again. It’s sort of like poultry sashimi; really thin slices of tender, delicious meat served with a couple of steamed green beans and a little pile of julienned vegetables.
Grilled black cod marinated with Kyoto Saikyo Miso was the last course. I’ve never been a big fan of fish, but this was gorgeous. Really tasty, but without that overpowering taste that I always associate with cod. Nice finish.
Wabi Sabi is the name of a Japanese aesthetic that refers to beauty that is «imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete», a concept derived from the Buddhist teaching of the three marks of existence (thank you Wikipedia :). Love the idea, but I think the name short changes this restaurant. Great service, great atmosphere, great food. I suppose nothing’s permanent, but Wabi Sabi Garden is pretty close to perfect :)

This place has a great ambience. Nice and peaceful even at 7pm on a Friday. Very Japanese but modern.
Staff was really friendly and make you feel important as soon as you walk in. I was seated quickly and was presented with the specials. They have an extensive Japanese drinks menu too.
It was a cold Melbourne night and this place was nice and warm.
Prawns and scallops were amazingly fresh, a good sign.
Def coming back here.

The best Japanese food I’ve found since I was in Japan. Quite expensive but very, very worth the price. You have to order the squid, it’s simply amazing. Even the house sake is extremely nice. Definitely a must for Japanese food lovers.

Had big expectations for this place with it winning the best spot for Feb 2014. The décor was terrific to begin with, perfect for a date or drinks with the boys. Also an amazing selection of sake which including tasting flights.
We ordered the $ 60 five course set. 2 of the five courses were phenomenal, 1 very good and 2 average. The large tempura skewer with lemongrass and the salmon in lime and chilli were the highlights.
The soft shell crab on the table next to us looked amazing and will def be ordering that next time.
Also full points for creativity, they even had their own house soft drink and gourmet beers I didn’t even see in Japan!
Service was excellent too, all the chefs and I think all the waitresses were genuine Japanese.

The best Japanese I’ve had in Melbourne.
It isn’t cheap (but really no half way decent Japanese food is cheap), but the food is delicious Japanese fusion. I don’t live anywhere near there and only went with my brother and his Japanese wife and she would order for us and everything I had made my taste buds dance (except for an eel dish, not a big fan of eel).
The place looks great and even has a nice outdoor area where you can eat, the service is good and friendly. Oh if you your friends are going to drink a lot of the imported Japanese beers make sure you just pay for your own food.

I used to work up the road from Wabi Sabi Garden and would wander in a couple of times a week to grab a few sushi rolls for lunch. I was fairly new to the world of sushi rolls and sushi in general when I first started visiting it, but their quirky fillings were a great introduction!
Their lunch sushi roll set is the perfect size for a light, quick lunch — 3 sushi rolls and a soup for around $ 10. The bentos are also great, with rotating specials such as pork belly, karaage and more.
Their share plates for dinner are of a high quality and great for a casual dinner that feels a bit special. The décor is well worth a mention, with a lot of thoughtful details throughout. Service can be a little patchy but is very friendly.

Sometimes you need a good dose of zig to go with your zag. In spite of having walked past Wabi Sabi at least 100 times, it was only recently that I finally ventured in.
I was so surprised by what I saw inside: Gorgeous, funky décor balanced with clean hardwood fixtures, a full bar, and lots of fun accents that absolutely made the place. A faux tree full of animals, clawed hand stools, a light projected coi fish pond. The effect was a bit like being transported into an elegant animé film.
The food was the best surprise of all. Our entire table was licking fingers and mmmming — even the pickiest eater loved it. The menu is not traditional, but more a flirty fusion, serving small plates to share. Japanese «tapas» are decent size but not huge. Unsure how much food we’d need, the staff recommended 3 plates per person; however, with rice we could not t finish that much. I’d go back to Wabi just for the squid and the garlic edamame.
Service was leisurely paced at best, but when the staff did come around they were all smiles. Check out their covered garden area in back (with optional heater). It’s the perfect space for groups of 8 – 14 people.

We’ve been meaning to try this place for a while, based on high recommendations of friends. It really delivered!
Once you get past the unassuming single-​fronted entrance, you’re in for a treat. This is Japanese Izakaya food done very well. The food is interesting, tasty and well executed. They also have a very good selection of wines at reasonable mark-​ups, as well as a fantastic range of Japanese beer on draught or in the bottle (including some fine craft beers). Or you can complete your experience with one of the many sakes.
Highly recommended.

Wabi Sabi pops out of absolutely nowhere, and I like it like that. This popping out of nowhere phenomenon continues as you enter, the restaurant spreads out into a very intimate dining hall and backs out onto an outdoor area fixed around a Japanese garden.
I prefer the indoor dining, I feel there’s more of an atmosphere, but outdoor is still a great option for smokers. In terms of food, Wabi is an absolute delight for the palate. If you feel like being really kind to — perhaps after a big night out on vodka shots — then take it to Wabi and feed it some of their absolutely delectable share plates.
Wabi Sabi is all about modern fusion. You won’t get boring old traditional here, it’s all about infusing old dishes with a whack of new flavours. The best plates are: chicken wings, Wagyu beef sashimi, duck breast, and soft shell crab tempura. Oh god my mouth is starting to water! They’re all just bursting with flavour.
Unfortunately Wabi isn’t too light on that pocket book of yours — these plates will add up. However, they’ll also fill you up, which is an absolute rarity for Japanese cuisine.