Nonbei located near a big road, slightly hidden for the pedestrian. Came here one Saturday evening, the place was rather packed and the staff seems to be rushing the customer to eat.
With the BBQ and Salmon Lover Buffet, I ordered various dishes, including the Salmon Carpaccio, Salmon Sashimi, Corn Butter, Mushroom, and Pork Belly. The salmon was fresh and tasty; my personal favourite was the Salmon Carpaccio. The corn butter and mushroom were a great as they refresh the palate after eating various meat. It should be noted that only 3-4 person can occupy one grill, making the eating experience more personal.
Might be coming back here in the future.
Great value and good quality food! $39 pp for the regular buffet, which include pretty much everything from Wagyu bbq meat to hot dishes such as takoyaki balls and chicken karage to cold dishes such as seaweed salad and sashimi.
This place get pretty busy so ensure you do book a table on their website
Best place for authentic Japanese/Korean buffet. Good quality meat and seafood! Love the wagyu beef ❤️ Reasonable price for money. Love the ambience and location too
Great variety on the menu and fantastic customer service and ordering system. Nice vibe in the restaurant overall. Only concern would be in the quality of the meat, not the best, but it does the job if you’re hungry.
Amazing buffet selection with incredible service. Friendly and helpful staff. Food is very fresh and delicious. Highly recommend the scallops
One of the most authentic Japanese BBQ I have had outside Japan. Came by myself and did the all you can eat in 100 mintues, which was definitely enough time. Awesome selection at a reasonable price, topped up by the service. Don't think I'd get the same experience else where all you can eat BBQ for one.
Situated in the heart of the Fortitude Valley Nonbei Japanese Restaurant is quite easily missed by drivers and walkers. This extremely well decorated and impeccably clean Japanese BBQ restaurant churns out some incredible tasty dishes.
For sides we ordered the octopus balls, sprout salad and spring rolls all which tasted as good as the looked. The spring rolls and octopus balls were incredibly tasty and left your mouth watering for some more.
For the BBQ we ordered Wagyu Oyster Blade and Chicken Breast. The Wagyu was incredibly tasty and the quality of the meat could be seen from the lines of fat within it. The chicken was quite dry and a little bland however this could be as a result of our cooking methodology.
However prices are inflated for portion sizes when it comes to the BBQ meats and fish and it appears that a $49/pp open menu option is a wise decision if you are hungry!
Overall I can say this is definitely favourite in the valley.
Food at Nonbei is very fresh. We called Nonbei few hours before we go, very lucky that they managed to provide us a seat even though its at the corner.
We enjoyed ourselves, ordering a lot of food. Even the waitress was shock and asked us not to waste the food. Surprisingly we finished all the food that we ordered, nothing left! Does that mean they serve good food? 🧐
Great ambience! Great food! Great drinks! Great staff! And in a really good spot in the Valley. The buffet has to be a be a must and give the sake tasting a try if your a new to it. Book in advance as it’s incredibly popular.
Best bbq restaurant in Brisbane if not Queensland hands down. Best wagyu cuts, friendly staff and lively atmosphere. Great range of sake. The buffet menu is good too.
Amazing all you can eat food which didn’t stop coming. The made to order foods and bbq went down like a treat while finishing the night with some drinks. The waiters were very responsive and quick. Thanks for having us Nonbei.
Nonbei Sake Bar & BBQ is the famous Japanese BBQ restaurant located in China Town. Generous all you can eat buffet menu, consistent quality wagyu beef and energetic vibe has attracted a strong following for many years. The Tomcat Family & Espresso&Matcha was there for weekday dinner with one mission in mind: to tame the BBQ and Wagyu hunger!
Had wagyu oyster blade and it was amazing. Perfect for a quick flip on the BBQ with plain rice and no other distractions. Meat from buffet didn't seem to be of same quality, so would recommend a la carts. Friendly staff, fast service and loud, but nice atmosphere.
Really late review but went to this place because the reviews were quite good and booked ahead but then that day wasn't as crowded but there were still quite some people and we decide to not go with the all you can eat buffet since we are going somewhere else after so I've ordered the salmon ochazuke(?) and my friends ordered the unagi ochazuke and the butter ramen(?). Have to say the butter ramen is pretty unique and it isn't too heavy and the ochazuke were light but would definitely recommend the ramen more since it's not offered anywhere else
Had wagyu&salmon lovers buffet $49.9 pp.100 mins. omg ox tongue was amazing!! Nice and thick so tasty, I loved it.. Today's wagyu and salmon yukke were also good. it's worth pay for $49.9 pp. rather than BBQ&yakitori lover deal $42.9pp if you like salmon and wagyu.. you can get BBQ&yakitori lover deal if you pick $49.9 deal.. atmosphere was like so japan. Felt like we were back to Japan.. only downside was that waiter brought wrong food to our table and kept checking if we screwed up the order from the iPad besides us (we needed to order food from iPad) and bitching in Japanese that we made mistake (well, I understand what they talking..) that made us feel uncomfortable and made us feel like we are dumb even we did not make mistakes.. in the end this waiter apologised to us and brought food to right table.. I guess this often happens at that place but they should not do in front of customers.. it's really embarrassing.. otherwise we loved the food and love to go back again..
I love japanese style BBQ, it has a lot of dishes to choose from just like korean BBQ, however it also have a very delicate and sophisticated feeling to it. With a very nice izakaya atmosphere, it may not be the best place to go for a romantic date. But if you are looking for something fun, with staffs loudly welcoming every customer and when you are having a birthday party, the staffs will be running from the kitchen with singing and clapping, then Nonbei is the right address for you.
Loved their wagyu and salmon lover's buffet. The wagyu was pretty good and also the sashimi. Karaage was alright, the other fried dishes were also good( forgot to take photos of them)
The staff members were so lovely! I would definitely recommend.
Went with the waygu lovers buffet and let's just say I think we got our money's worth in the 100 minutes we had to order and eat! Food came promptly, meat and sashimi were fresh (waygu was ahhhmazing) and there were a range of choices for side dishes however these were just adequate and mediocre. Despite this, service was average, at times a bit rude. Good value for money if you know how to order right (eg. Ordering 5+ portions of waygu) and a great place to dine in on a cold night.
What this place is off the chart. Super busy on a Monday night, pumping music, hyper staff and crazy sake and beers. Nothing like it in Australia. The food amazing - sushimi to die for, spicy gyoza was amazing and beef tataki was incredible. Try the BBQ Ox. Book!
Came here during a visit to Brisbane and we were very pleased about the choice. The buffet was really good both in choices and quality. We particularly love the big sharing table giving you enough privacy yet a sense of community. Sake choices were decent and we were delighted to try their sake trio. Will definitely revisit when in Brisbane again.
This is the bomb, we need frequent flyers!! Yukkake, waygu and a glut of sake to choose from! Stop it!! Fast for 3 days prior and hook in! - Please invite me along! - if you didn't already guess, this is Adam!!
Great buffet restaurant with amazing quality food and selection. Staff provided good service, and always served with a smile. Will definitely come back.
Come here for the buffet. The ox tongue was cut thickly and very fat which was amazingly tender on the grill. The sides such as the sweet potato and the gyoza was very tasty as well. Service was fantastic! Staff performs a very charismatic and cheerful little celebration for the lucky birthday person dining in!
Really enjoyed our dinner at Nonbei, all the food was very tasty except for the chicken karaage. My favourite dish was the eel which had great flavour and cooked perfectly, I strongly recommend it! We ordered mostly tapas dishes with the addition of one meat to BBQ. Service was super quick and staff friendly.
I knew this place was going to be good as soon as I located floss and mouthwash in the bathrooms. We were ballin' before we were even dining! Nonbei is the genuine article. It's more Japanese than Cheap Trick at Budokan. We were doing a little pre-game before a heavy techno sesh, and this was perfect for our needs. Crazy good chilli ramen. Karaage. The classics. And I don't know where they source their edamame from, but that shit was juicy – yeow! They lost half a star because they didn't have rum or vodka, but gained half a star after putting mint in my scotch instead of lime, so it all evened out in the end.
Great place to go for a Japanese BBQ with great waiting staff. However I felt a bit cramped in the space they placed us, maybe because it was super busy but it goes to how show popular they are. BBQ selections are based on how much you're going to pay however I found the selections in each price category are not in par with what you get - the basic selection would already cost almost $40 per person, I feel you can pay this price somewhere else for an elevated selection of food. What we got though was just fine, not very wow but it hit the tastebuds and the tummy. What strikes me at this place that is on point is the setting, the drinks and the friendly staff. Would come back but only for late night drinking and tidbits that you can order, the buffet I would rate it as just as good as any other Japanese BBQ.
Never expected this much. It was a birthday of my friend, and his sister has picked this restaurant. And I didn't expect this much! But it's totally satisfied the person like me - meat lover! 👍🏻 🙀😽🙀👍🏻❤️
Wonderful experience, food was phenomenal and the service even better! We went here twice in one week to satisfy the new cravings. Will be hard to keep away.
This is super super yum and really worths tasting! Though having waited for more than one hour, it still worths! Strongly recommend to choose the $60 pp or $50 pp buffet. Have tried the $50 pp this time and it is sooo scrumptious, especially octopus wasabi, lotus root chip, salmon sashimi, potato mochi, chicken soft bone, pork neck, wagyu. Must try if you want some Japanese BBQ!
Very popular Japanese restaurant in fortitude Vally. Super fresh food material with reasonable price and great services. Highly recommend and must go many times.
Best Japanese BBQ in Brisbane! Normally when you go to an all you can eat restaurant you don't really expect the quality of the food to be excellent, but try Nonbei Sake Bar & BBQ! Their price is affordable with the all you can eat buffet. Their meat is always fresh and tender (not chewy). A lot...
Entered the Nonbei cave and experience this wonderful Japanese restaurant. The friendly staff greeted me upon entering and was helpful in recommending a menu.
I ordered the BBQ Lovers Buffet which includes 40 assorted food and I loved them all!!! The Ox Tongue was thinly sliced and crispy on the BBQ, the Chicken Soft Bone was crunchy, the Beef Eye Filet was tender and two serves of Octopus Waisabi later I'm high on the Waisabi. The Agadashi tofu, seaweed salad and tofu salad was light and goes well with all that meat, but my absolute highlight was the Pork and Spicy Pork Gyoza. It was moist and juicy inside and crispy outside and I couldn't stop ordering them!!!
So 5/5 for me in this authentic and delightful restaurant. I will definitely be back when I return to Brisbane. Oishi-ne!!!!!
I enjoy having dinner at Nonbei. The atmosphere is fun. I've only ordered off the regular menu and the food is good. I go mostly because I love sake. Recently Nonbei decided to stop serving sake in the large bottles, leaving only a very limited selection to choose from. Please consider offering a larger selection of sake in smaller serving sizes as your now limited selection has led to me going to other Japanese restaurants in search of my favourite sakes!
The spicy gyoza is pure deliciousness! It's not too oily even though it's fried in a pan! The of tongue is a must try too! But my favourite was the sparkling plum wine with jelly😍😍😍
Went here with a group of friends for dinner and was immediately taken away with the authentic japanese atmosphere as we entered the restaurant. Fast and friendly service. Huge menu and great food. The hardest thing is choosing what to have. Will definitely be back
$39.95 all you can eat bbq. Well that explains the queues outside … Nonbei feels just like a little restaurant in Tokyo. Lots of dark wood, people huddled around bbq grills, staff wafting by with trays piled high with gyoza and buckets of Japanese potato salad. I am always up for a challenge so did my best to blitz the menu. I have to say that it defeated me in the end though - so many different things to try and only 90 minutes to do it! My favorites were the karaage chicken, gyoza, agedashi tofu, lotus root chips, beef ribs, squid, buttered corn … the service was polite as only the Japanese can do. It was however a long way from attentive - at least one of our orders didn't arrive, so it's worth keeping track and not assuming that staff are on top of it. Overall though, a really fun night out.
Great atmosphere, friendly staff, and delicious food!! Efficient and timely service. Special shoutout to the sashimi and gyoza. Divine!!! Will definitely be returning 😄
I love it. It's the best Japanese BBQ I've been in Brisbane. I love pork neck and salmon there
The best in Brisbane!. This place has the best Japanese food in Brisbane. It's the shizzle. My new favourite place! I can't fault it. They were super busy and yet the food came out quickly, as did the drinks. The staff are so friendly and attentive and the toilets were spotless! (I think you can tell a lot about a restaurant by the cleanliness of their loo!). Love, love, love.
Aburi Salmon. So delicious!
-----05 May, 2015-----
Ebimayo. Best food in Brisbane
Loved it. Great authentic Japanese restaurant. Fantastic atmosphere, food and very friendly service. The prawns are a must.
Nonbei you delightful encourager of excess!. I've been to Nonbei twice for the buffet that makes my soul hurt with excitement. Normally i begin by ordering a Noah's ark-esque tray on sea creatures and meats but the second time i added fried oysters to this ever expanding list. Upon receiving these crispy pillows of delicious sea goo my girlfriend beings talking to me as i take my first bite. I then press my index finger gently against her lips as if to say "shhhh daddies having a moment!" (this may not have happened but is the perfect example of how it felt). The firstly time I was there they had a sake tasting on, which was a bonus to say the least! Nonbei I’ll call ahead before my next visit cause I’m starting with 20 fried oysters this time.
Just came home from my awesome birthday party dinner! Couldnt wait to review this place as I've read mixed reviews but please disregard the bad reviews as a group of us were full to the top & both food & service was TOPS! I was expecting poor service from previous reviews but we were seated at 8pm & straight away they asked us for drinks then explained how the buffet works & ignited our bbq stoves. The wagyu beef was suprisingly A for AWESOME, you can actually see the marbling in the beef (literally so soft it melts). Some meats arent marinated & some arent but they do give you sauces to dip with (soy sauce, this sweet bbq sauce & chilli sauce). Ordering was easy & a no brainer. We will defs be back again! Thanks for a great night!!!
Food is excellent, and the buffet is good value if you're clever in the way you order items.
Loren Jade Fullelove
+4.5
We loved nonbei! Staff were very attentitive, food was awesome and drinks were reasonably priced! We went to the 6-8 session before a night out and it was plenty of time to eat. Possibly book the second 8 pm session if u need lots of time to eat/relax. Overall was a fantastic night at this cute little Japanese BBQ sake bar!! Yum! We will be back to try the buffet!!
Absolutely brilliant meal for $20 pp.
2x Miso $5
1x Lrg rice $3.5
Aburi salmon $8.8
Pork gyoza $7.2
Tori karage $7.8
Tofu katsu $6.2
$38.00 :-)
Thanks to the wonderful waiters for their great service & great standard of cuisine.
The buffet was good; there were quite many types of Japanese food. But i need more time for having meals so I can eat more and more.
New favourite!. This place is phenomenal. Went here for the first time last night for my birthday at got the 'awesome buffet' for $50. Definitely worth the money considering how much wagyu beef I ate! Also got some beautiful scallops, prawns, pork belly and gyoza.
Drank the lychee cocktail which was delicious.
At the end of the meal all the staff put on wigs and danced around singing me happy birthday- I even received a bowl of the most creamy, delicious vanilla icecream with caramel sauce! It was all a bit of fun for the group!
Very happy with the service too. Staff were enthusiastic, happy and polite- very surprising these days!
I will definitely be back... I'm even 'craving' it again the night after!!
I loved this place when it was Koh-Ya and I still love it as Nonbei. The $50 seafood and meat all you can eat is fabulous value when you see just how much is included. Sake mojitos are amazing and it is just a fun night out. One of my all time favourites!
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So so good!!. My Japanese housemate and I have two favourite Japanese Restaurants but they are both on the Gold Coast which is not exactly convenient. We've been trying out Japanese restaurants around Brisbane for about 6 months now trying to find something comparable. Nothing in Brisbane has come remotely close...until we tried Nonbei.
So authentic, the food was fresh, the meat tender, the menu varied...and you can order a wide range of delicacies in the one meal as there is no minimum order and can specify exactly what you would like ie - 1 Miso soup, 1 piece chicken Karage, 2 pieces Agedashi Tofu, 100g chicken Breast etc. As long as you don't take longer than 75mins everything on the menu is available to you.
This place seemed to be entirely Japanese owned and operated with Japanese waiting staff, which in my experience usually translates to a quality Japanese dining experience. No disrespect to Korean or Chinese run places, but no one does Japanese like the Japanese!
Highly recommended, go there!
Best Japanese BBQ I've tasted. Went with some friends thinking that it was still Koh ya.
When we got there, we were told that they no longer honour entertainment vouchers as they changed their name and menu.
We were quite disappointed after seeing the buffet menu as there isn't much food to choose from, but we couldn't be bothered to go elsewhere.
We were so glad that we've stayed there to eat! The food tasted so authentic! All the fried food tasted just like the ones I've had in Japan.
Other positives
Very fresh salmon sashimi
Huge sweet scallops
Tasty tender eye fillet.
Would definitely go back!
Fantastic Yakinuki Style Japanese. I LOVE this place. Amazing combination of brilliant food, great atmosphere and the most enthusiastic staff.
Authentic Japanese BBQ cooked at your table. This place was formerly called "Koh-ya" Japanese BBQ. They have had a name change, makeover, retained their awesome staff and made the menu even better.
I have taken various groups of friends and it never fails to impress. By far the best Japanese I have eaten in Australia.
My Favourites -
Salmon Salad
Goyza
Premium Wagyu
Pork Belly
Scallops in butter
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When asked about my all time favourite buffet in Brisbane, the answer is always going to be Nonbei Sake Bar, situated on Ann Street, in Fortitude Valley. They offer three different types of buffet, with the most basic at $39. With every increase in price, a wider variety of foods become available for selection. Usually, we settle for the $49 Awesome Buffet because it has wagyu and salmon sashimi. They specialise in Japanese BBQ, which is slightly different to Korean BBQ, as it is cooked on a wire mesh instead of an iron plate. Other than buffet, they also offer a la carte options, but considering the amount of food we go through, buffet seems to be the better option. The first thing that we always definitely get is the potato salad. Its a creamy mashed potato with different vegetables mixed into it as well as salad sauce. (Also looks remarkably like ice cream) Seaweed salad and kimchi is also a definite must for us. Occasionally we order edamame. For some reason, in the multiple times I have been there, ox tongue is the first meat to be served. I like how it is thinly sliced and mildly flavoured. Although this is a bit blurry, but one of the crowd favourites are the deep fried oysters, apparently one of the best in Brsbane, although I personally prefer the Gyoza because of its juicy filling and thin skin. Aside from just grilling meats, they also offer little metal tubs of mushrooms and corn, which you can also cook on the grill. It comes with a bit of butter underneath, which melts and works to cook the veges. The lotus chips are also very crunchy, and karaage chicken was nice and hot. Of course, coming to a BBQ buffet, the main attraction is the meat. As you can see from the photos, the wagyu was well marbled, and also nicely marinated. Personally, I also purchase wagyu for consumption at home, but what keeps me returning t
Located on Ann Street in Fortitude Valley, it looks like a quaint restaurant and at times, I could smell wafts of barbecued meat whenever we passed by it at night.
Their menu attraction for us was their buffet, starting from $39.90, there are two higher grades which included more expensive quality ingredients for the buffet. The $49.90 buffet that we all had to decide on had a wagyu of the day, pork neck, salmon sashimi, s
Other small bites included two creamy, slightly warmed cubes of agedashi tofu; a small spring roll; wedges of cool, sweet Japanese omelette and some tempura vegetables. With a few pickles thrown in, it wasn't bad for ten bucks.
Delicious with a great vibe. Will definitely be coming back! Ordering via iPad is quick and dishes are on your table in a timely and efficient manner. Good quality meat and side dishes. So far brisbane hasn’t disappointed yet with good quality food, you just have to know where to look! It’s a 5/5 for me! A bit on the expensive side, but we knew that going in.
Came for dinner on Saturday night. Good atmosphere and nice decoration. Had the premium buffet which is good but not fantastic when compared to others around Brisbane cbd. Staffs missed 1 order but quickly corrected when told. Good quality premium wagyu and lots other other choices to choose from. Nice iPad system for ordering which include a final order when timing coming close to 90 mins (max for Buffett). The fire pit was not optimum as fire not evenly distributed. Very friendly and efficient staffs on a busy night so high praise for the waiter and waitresses. Price is reasonable considering the location and quality of the meat. Clean and well maintained. On entertainment book for charity so extra star for that. Generally recommended.
Nice little Japanese barbecue/izakaya place. Great atmosphere and has an authentic feel to it.
Have always had regular buffet dinners with friends and some of their menu have changed over time. Used to like their kimchi but now it’s not as good as it was.
Price is a bit expensive for all you can eat buffet compared to other restaurants. They used to have oranges on the menu too but they have scrapped that now. Would be nice to have something fresh and fruity post meal. Meat is of good quality and side dishes are tasty. They also have a wide selection of Japanese drinks and the sake sampler is a must.
Would recommend.
Authentic Japanese BBQ, a wide variety of drinks and excellent service. For example when I dropped a chopstick on the ground, the attentive staff had a new pair on the table for me in an instant.
It was an above average experience, however rather expensive. The overall meal and ambience was 4 out of 5. The staff were not very attentive, we had to call them over to see were our food and drinks were after placing our order. The food was nice but not much explaining to what we were eating. The drinks were good, cocktails on the menu were limited but the ones we had were delicious. Left feeling satisfied but definitely not rushing back for the overall experience
Loved the food, service, and cosy interior! Felt like being in Japan. The quality of the meats (especially the premium menu where you can enjoy everything on the menu, as much as you want, for a low price considering the amount of food), and the selection of sake and shochu were great. The staff were friendly and helpful and overall, an enjoyable dining experience that we HIGHLY recommend. We will be going back!
Quality meat 🍖. Friendly service. It's quite busy place so book ahead recommend. The service could be a little slow as not many staff on the floor. Great place for occasional celebration. We had a la cut so we could enjoy without worry the time limitations. 2 ppl au200 with beers and sake testing.
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