Review Shoubu - Collingwood

Went here for lunch today. We ordered miso soup, seaweed salad, salmon sashimi, chicken curry don and the beef udon. All of it was delicious and tasted like it had been prepared freshly. The staff were very friendly and it was not that expensive. For all of the above and two cokes we paid $47 (from memory) and were quite full.

A peaceful place with a nice waitress. Food is not impressive. Veggie Udon is just Udon noodle with Japanese sweet soy sauce and some green leaves probably just out of supermarket veggie bags… it would be much better if there were a couple of veggie tempura which may make it look like a real Japanese cuisine.

Great homely Japanese food in quiet setting. I've visited a few times and can't pull myself away from the delicious dashi broth in the Tempura Udon. Agedashi Tofu, Okonomiyaki, and KatsuKareDon :9 Oiishi!

Good price, nice setting. Miso and seaweed salad very good.

Great spot. We go here regularly. The food is great and the price is great value. We go to a few other Japanese in the area now and then that are more $$$ but they are rarely any better than Shoubu.

I love the stone bowl bi bim bap for lunch. It's a Korean dish and usually with raw egg and condiments but I'm not complaining about this one.

Great value for money. $10 for a curry at lunch time. Gyoza are disappointing though as they are deep fried.

Friendly staff. Good vegetarian options - they even use vegetarian stock in the tofu curry and veggie udon.

Glad I came across this small hidden Japanese restaurant. I had the chicken box which was tasty! The rice was a little chewy but overall I was happy with the meal :)

Just decided to try and walked in empty tables because we are hurry every Sat lunch🏃.<br/><br/>Chinese staff took our order: Pork Bento Box and Salmon salad. <br/>Nicely served miso soup & drink. <br/><br/>It was quiet lunch time and Chinese mid age couple walked in and ordered as they seated. They got their Bento Box promptly but our food still not served yet. We waited 30 min and started to worry if the dishes are not made, we could grub take away food at any places. My son asked staff if they made any of ours.<br/>Staff served Bento Box and waited another 5 mins for thin sliced Salmon salad.<br/><br/>Such Chinese associated restaurant and NOT child friendly! They rather serve own cultured customers than any others or child. <br/>

Best Japanese food I have had in Melbourne! Details to the taste, presentation n quality of the dish. Best money guaranteed for the dishes! Loved it! Will surely be back.

I came back here a lot and its the best. I love the Gyudon bowl so much. Definetly a must try. They gave us a miso soup in the start and its so good. The food is very delicious and its still hot so its extra warming during this cold weather.

Have been to this restaurant for several times. The service here is always great. When I ask if they can give me some tomato sauce for the katsu don, they give me both the katsu don sauce and tomato sauce. Some restaurant I've been, they either charge you extra dollars for tiny sauce, or they just too lazy to give you one. They also serve free miso soup sometime for dishes. Their lunch bento box is extremely great, for only $12 dollars, you can have "double level" katsu. It's really plenty!! And yummy for sure.<br/>Highly recommend for people who loves Japanese food :)

So yummy! Great bibimbap, and it was very cheap for lunch. I loved that the stone bowl came extra hot so there were a lot of crispy rice bits!

Beautiful presentation. Super crispy coating, but too much potato and not enough seafood stick fillings inside. 6/10. Teriyaki Chicken, Onion, Egg and Rice. Came out smelling of deliciousness. Good flavor and just enough sauce to mix with the yummy Japanese-style rice. 7.5/10. Sample of the menu for your perusal:

Should have read the reviews.... Truly awful service. Never coming here again. I asked for udon soup, and am brought out fried udon. I'm told that the soup is only served at lunch but it didn't state this on the menu. I can't get my meal changed to my correct order and am forced to pay for a meal I can't eat, and the one I had to recorder, bringing my total cost to 30 dollars for a bowl of udon. Absolutely ridiculous. Waitress should no remorse or courtesy towards the situation. Also, their meals are overpriced for the quality you get. Highly advise you do not go here if you want to get your moneys worth.

We were walking around Smith street looking for a healthier restaurant option, so we picked Shoubu. The waitress wasn't fluent in English and it took a while for her to understand what we were trying to order. We got the large sashimi, teriyaki children with rice and a vegetable bibimbap. The complimentary miso soup was the best, the sashimi was ok but had a strong fish taste. The teriyaki chicken was nice and sweet and the bibimbap was very tasty. A good healthy restaurant on this street, would most likely come back again.

Not the worst Japanese food I ever ate but not exactly good.<br/>The price is moderately cheap but the portions are too small.<br/>Flavour wise it s also too bland.<br/>Has a nice ambience and the service is good.<br/><br/>Not really worth it unless you really need to eat japanese food in Collingwood and nowhere else is available.

Bad Lazy Japanese Food! Started with no strainer available for my green tea (minor I know but in hindsight a taste of things to come). We were accidentally given a large serving of nasu dengaku but (despite the fact it was actually tempura eggplant smeared with miso sauce) instead of just admitting the fault & leaving it with us the waitress took it from us (mind you this was about 5 minutes after it had arrived) & deducted a smaller portion to another plate then served it to us. I suspect another patron received the other portion of "nasu dengaku". Later the waitress served us another of our dishes & the end of her long pony-tail, sitting in front of her shoulder was sitting in our food on the tray she was carrying. We repeatedly had to ask for plates & soya sauce which she didn't bring until we were done. Our gyoza was deep fried & served to another table first. Salmon sashimi wasn't trimmed properly with part of the skin left on. Definitely won't be going back. It was a nasty meal & poor service.

Two minute noodle 'ramen'. Shocking. Putting a sprinkle of chopped sting onion and carrot does not hide the fact the 'hot spicy ramen' served at this establishment is nothing better than a packet of Korean style spicy instant noodles. Worse still, the obviously instant noodle soup base has been overly water down so even the promise of an msg buzz is lost. Seriously, don't bother.

California roll. The crab is deep fried. pretty tasty.

Best choice<br/><br/><br/>-----05 Jan, 2015-----<br/><br/>It is a Janpanese taste I liked it<br/><br/><br/>-----05 Jan, 2015-----<br/><br/>Really awesome!!!! Never be regret to have a nice meal there~~ The waitress is friendly, and the food she recommended was delicious ~sake sashimi & tempura combo. ^^ <br/>Thumb up!

Fresh sashimi and crispy tempura. Bit quiet but that's nice sometimes. Fair prices.

A nice little place to share with friends or family, reasonable price and quality food, will definitely back

Not Japanese at all. I Ordered the seafood ramen and got 2 minute Shin Ramyun with a handful of the woolies frozen seafood marinara mix from across the road. Maximum rip off.

OK Japanese. OK, no-nonsense Japanese at a reasonable price. Oyaka Don has been the standout so far.

Cold tasteless from the microwave - very disappointed

Good for cheap. People expect a lot for $11 sadly. My meal was tasty and surprisingly good value for lunch. decor is charming. Reminds me of Japanese cafes in Tokyo, albeit bigger.

Poor value. I had the beef udon noodles soup, it wasn't expensive around $13 I think, but I was absolutely shock to find that there's hardly ANY beef in there!!!<br/><br/>I eat out all the time and this is by far the worst value I get in a meal!!<br/><br/>I was going to tell the waitress but I just can't be bothered and will just never go back again!

Fake Japanese. I have been here a few times because of friends but it gets worse and worse every time I go. The food is tasteless, soggy and not Japanese at all. The vege tempura has the wrong batter for tempura, the wrong used vegetables and the diping sauce is watery and tasteless, among the mains, most are really bad renditions of Japanese meals, cheaply made and tasteless, certainly not fresh.<br/>When going to the bathroom you can see the state of the restaurant which is extremely dirty and run down, I would never go here again or trust the food here

Open in public holidays...relaxing atmosphere. It is the rare few Japanese restaurant open on Christmas day on Smith St. We has sashimi platter, bento box & California roll. The sashimi was fresh. However they need a sharper knife to cut the fish as the edges are like torn instead of sliced. Pricing is reasonable. I have say their passion in the presentation of the California roll won me over. Its called a "dragon roll" and it really came decorated like a dragon! I will recommend it to those who are not in a hurry coz it took them.awhile to get it ready .

Bibimbap...that is all. All too often I find myself craving the beef bibimbap from Shoubu. It is cheap, healthy, hearty and delicious. I have never ordered anything else here...can't bring myself to. I suspect the place is Korean-owned, although the menu is largely japanese. If you work around Collingwood, go to Shoubu and order the beef bibimbap.

I will never go back. I have been to this place 4 times total now I think for lunch. The first 3 times the lunch special tofu curry and rice bowls were passable - you can't expect much more for that money. The 4th and final time I went the yakodon lunch special was genuinely worse than something you would get at a Chinese takeaway at a bowling club in the deep Australian outback. It really was terrible. And it took about half an hour to arrive, which is another annoying feature of this place. They often seem totally understaffed.

Been here just once, but won't be back. Meal was very average. You would be much better off going to peko peko over the road for the same price.

Value, fast service & good food. A relatively new edition to the list of Smith St Japanese restaurants, -- which I think currently stands at about five -- this place is similar in style and taste to Wabi Sabi, but marginally cheaper.<br/><br/>From the outside the signage and presentation looks a little tacky, but inside the feel is soothing and calm.<br/><br/>The vast majority of the udons, donburis and bento boxes come in at under $10 and are fresh and tasty. Nothing on the (admittedly short) menu is more than $12.50.<br/><br/>A good value, relaxing place to lunch on Smith.

I jogged down Smith Street, thinking I'd find a joint that would have rice paper rolls, all the while eating into my precious parking meter time. Living on a pauper's wage, I can't afford to be slapped with a ticket. The anxiety increased the further away I inched from my magical parking spot. In desperation, I nipped into Shoubu, a small, but cosy Japanese eatery. It was like being at uni again: I pulled out my wallet and looked at what I could afford on the menu and hoover down.