Review Bistro Goemon - Elsternwick

I dont know what happened to this place since I used to come here weekly before covid, but the service was absolutely not up to par. Firstly, I was IGNORED and the customer behind me was served first since they were a big family (I was solo). When the food was ready for takeaway, I discovered they are asking every customer to carry hot food in uninsulated containers without a bag (and burning their fingers in the process). This is the first restaurant I've ever been to in my life that refuses to offer bags for hot food takeaway. It's a tough time in hospitality, but seriously, if you have no idea how to do takeaway, and cant afford the 3c bagging customer's food for food safety and health regulations reasons for an $18 dish, then just dont do it.

It's a great little place to go to before the movies. The food is fantastic. Fresh, delicious as you would expect. However the customer service and the staff are not what you would expect. We often go there early however tables are always reserved. By the time we finish our dinner none of those reserves tables have been filled. What is most annoying is for the prices they ask, the service is slow. They know many of the clients at the time that we go are there to go to the movies, and yet they continue to serve slowly. Can't figure that out.

This Japanese restaurant is super tasty! And also all of stuffs were Japanese and I felt Japanese hospitality so much, I want to go to eat again!!! ありがとうございました！！

I do not recommend this place. Small portions for mains and food was served cold and when we asked to warm it up and have the tofu fried, they wanted to charge us for another meal. No cooperation or attempt to satisfy our request. Food was served fast. Staff had a pleasant manner apart from the chef.

Good honest Japanese food. My wife is Japanese and we are semi-regulars. Bistro Goemon is owned and run by a Japanese chef I believe. We usually order sushi and sushimi.

Delicious food (especially the sushi platter and seafood dumplings), including some interesting dishes you don’t see elsewhere. The service was very warm, friendly and efficient. They were brilliant at ensuring we were out in time to see our movie. Will definitely be back.

Excellent and interesting Japanese food. Very delicious and enjoyable.

Terrible service. Took ages to get my food. There were mistakes with our food order and the food was cold. Will not be going back there.

Unfortunately the experience was not as satisfying as I had hoped from reading all the reviews. The food was nothing to write home about and the service was presumptuous. <br/><br/>The service staff make their own judgement call in separating your order to come out in courses without informing you. This meant my noodles only came out after watching my partner finish his meal. I was really unimpressed with the unnecessary wait for my food. Please don't assume all customers want their meals coming out in courses just because they are sharing some of the food - it was only 2 mains and 2 sides. If unsure, it's much better to explicitly clarify whether we want the food to come out separately or all together.

My reviews will show I am quite a picky eater, and even pickier with Japanese. This izakaya is reminiscent of the little inns and places I've been to in country japan - the tofu is topped with real snow crab meat, the sushi is adequately not too cool and not too warm with the fish fresh, and the sake flight is buffet style at $15 for three. To top it up, the service is phenomenally personal, without being intrusive. It just feels like your resident country japan food offering.<br/>Needless to say, this is my new eastside favourite.

The service wasn’t great considering there weren’t that many customers. I like the ramen, the chicken is perfectly cooked as well. The egg is horrible though.

Service was excellent. The prawn sushi and brown rice bru le was out of this world. We also has the tuna salad, and the tuna was cooked to perfection.

After a horrible dining experience at a ridiculously highly rated izakaya nearby, we finally found our favorite Japanese restaurant in Melbourne! You know it's good when you notice all the staff and most diners are communicating in Japanese. Huge selection of sake, well prepared food, this is what authentic Japanese izakaya all about.

Always looking for a something a little different from standard Japanese. This place delivers. Not too expensive but impressive playing and absolutely delicious and light meals for both mains and desserts means I'll be back.

At the entrance to Bistro Goemon, written on the wall, and now partially covered, is …. ‘Goemon Hidden jewel of Elsternwick – Harry’ ….. I totally agree! Beautifully presented and lovely flavours, Japanese, fusion cuisine matched with friendly, efficient hospitality.

Very tradition and fresh Japanese dishes!! Specially the Yam wrapped with seaweed and many other dishes! Sorry don't have photos for all the dishes as I went there a couple years ago n recently found the name of it to introduce to my friend... but definitely will go there again!!!!

Lovely place. Very friendly and helpful staff. Everything was fresh and flavoursome, particularly enjoyed the tofu salad (pictured), dumping special and the brown rice tea brulee.

We found this place by accident and every dish is worth to try. Esp the crab tofu and udon pasta. This steam wagyu beef surprised us as well. Maybe the price is bit high but i do suggest you to try it once.

This venue is an absolute gem. The food is prepared meticulously and the chef is always chatting to customers. I have dined here countless times and the food is always made with love. Service is prompt, and staff know their stuff. Absolutely love this place.

Authentic good Japanese food. The Goemon lunch bento 🍱 was lovely- teriyaki chicken, fried fish, salmon sashimi, miso soup & rice. The crumbed tuna cutlet with Gorgonzola sauce was amazing. Everything thing was cooked to perfection. Only complaint is the portion size vs price. You do have to order more to fill.

While the dishes that we ordered were delicious, we felt that the menu's heavy focus on tapas meant that we had to spend at least $60 per person for dinner because the dishes were all on the small side. The dishes that we thought would have been more substantial, eg beef with ponzu sauce, turned out to be small despite the hefty price tag of $23.50. Either the size has to increase a notch or the price has to come down a notch.

Our local Izakaya/japanese restaurant around Brighton.<br/>Friendly staff, fresh food, good sake menu, chef special always good! <br/>The best udon pasta ever!!!!!<br/>

We love finding local gems in Melbourne & Bistro Goemon in Elsternwick is definitely one of them. Head Chef & Owner Wataru Sato has created a flavoursome line up of modern Japanese fusion dishes, as well as tapas inspired dishes to add a little variety to the menu.

A welcome face . And soft furnishings matched with Great service. Makes ever every dish was fantastic. <br/>Our taste buds are dancing. <br/>Looking forward to another lovely night here.<br/>

We had cravings for sushi and spotted goemon from the tram on the way home. Delicious and fresh sushi and sashimi and fairly priced! Will be back again!

Absolutely love this place. Nice and fresh sashimi here. Staff are super friendly and quick service. Lovely place in the suburbs without the price tag of the cbd. Decor is a bit chinese restaurant like but the food here is the hero.

sensational. having just come back from japan this place does it better then japan. can't believe i have had a business down the road for 2 years and not been here.  this place will definitely be our go to place. and great service. <br/>arigatou gozaimasu.

Cute little dining experience--small portions Japanese fusion , seems Cheff loves Cheese & cream sauces. Not what I was expecting but tasty! delicate tuna pizza was yum. tasty seafood ravioli dish, flavoursome fish balls, yummy tuna dish & great Saki tasting plate! A little on the expensive side but overall OK

Bistro Goemon is a gem of a Japanese restaurant in Elsternwick! Thoroughly enjoyed my dining experiences here. At the start when I saw this restaurant, all I could think about was how it probably used to be a Chinese restaurant. This was because it has a massive hexagon window at the front which a lot of Chinese restaurants used to have. When I walked in though, it was unmistakably Japanese. From the real Earthy wooden feel to the sushi/sashimi preparation area, it was a nice place to be in.<br/><br/>The waitresses and staff were Japanese. They were extremely polite and courteous, and reminded me of being in Japan. They have a lot of specials and their menu changes constantly. This can be a good and a bad thing. The good thing is there's always something different, but the bad thing is that some of the dishes I really crave, are not there the next time. I get a little disappointed but then I get over it quickly because all their food is so tasty!<br/><br/>Some of the dishes which I've tried include grilled corn with seaweed salt, salmon tartare with garlic bread, shucked fresh oyster with spicy tomato basil and lemon mayo, etc. All the dishes were presented really nicely. It's just amazing how they can make something as simple as grilled corn taste so good. I love how they don't try to overcomplicate their dishes and as a result, they achieve such clean flavours.<br/><br/>Now I know Zomato has this place rated at $80 for 2 people but I find that I spend quite a bit more here. It's probably due to the fact that we're pigs and want to try everything! We would spend anywhere from $140-$160. I would expect the average person(s) to be spending maybe $50 per person. This does make it a bit on the pricey side for a weekday dinner, but totally worth it for a weekend treat.<br/><br/>Just to give you an idea, I took my parents here and they don't like spending that much on food. They thought the food was worth it and couldn't stop smiling from the service they were receiving. If you're around the area, do check out Bistro Goemon, and I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Food was really really fresh and service was friendly and attentive. I went with a Japanese friend so I know it's authentic Japanese cuisine according to her. I will go back

One of the most authentic Japanese places I've eaten at in Melbourne. Comes very close to recreating the experience of eating in Japan. Have been 4 or 5 times and eaten most of the items on the menu. Pretty much everything can be ordered with confidence.

OMG, delicious!  I am normally not a fan of Japanese food but this place has certainly changed my mind.  I loved everything we ordered from sake to desert!  Prices are very reasonable and food is of fine dining quality.  Very friendly staff.  I will definitely be back :)

Authentic Japanese for great value for money. I've been there for lunch twice.  There are several set menus to choose from. Unlike other ' Japanese' restaurants in Melbourne, you can have something else than oyakodon and katsudon. Food is very good. Staff are very friendly. I'll definitely go back for dinner.

Amazing. Such a creative and innovative menu. Not the standard generic items we are all so bored with. The quality of ingredients top notch and the sashimi is to die for. This is one of my favourite Japanese restaurant s in Melb and i know my Japanese. The staff are super friendly and humble. Great local gem! Love!

Authentic. In true Japanese style by young Japanese !!! , quality and great value and a freshness to their food

Good service, a comfortable atmosphere, quality Japanese fusion (which comes as no surprise as the the owner and head chef of this place used to work at Nobu and Akachochin)  

Not great customer service. They need to provide better customer service. I asked for a take away container, as I did not eat a mouthful of my food due to feeling unwell. I was told that they don't have food containers! Waste of money and good food!

Ate here on a week night...what a find. Food was spetactar (I don't eat sashimi but my 3 companions raved about it), pork in ponzu sauced, a seared tuna salad, these yummy soft shell crab rolls were amongst the hits but seriously everything was excellent. Can't wait to eat here again.

Love it!. Love this place. The staff are incredibly friendly. The tuna cutlet with gorgonzola sauce is absolutely amazing!

Mmmmm. Seared tuna with gorgonzola sauce, yummy salmon sashimi, miso and a glass of white wine.... Very delicious and I will come back soon to try any of the other Japanese tapas.

Fly Lice piss. Good selections of nihon shu. great price for what you get, flavour, presentations, the whole place is just great. please visit this place with as less knowledge as you have with Japanese food. because, i dont think many people out there know what is the real deal anyway, so what do you care? just go in and enjoy, their Japanese flavours are all there, but its all covered under the FUSIONS. if you cant pick it up, please do not use ones Professional Options about Japanese Cuisines. Great Job. they are there to do business, to survive, should one do not willing to pay for their hard work, there is Fly Lice next door for $8

Absolutely delicious!. Our family of 4 really enjoyed this restaurant. The food was delicious, service was great - fast and friendly. Faves were the soft shell crab, sweet corn, pork belly, seared scallops, wontons, crumbled tuna - all very very yummy. Nice choice of sake. We'll be back!

GOEMON. Last night we went for dinner to Goemon in Glenhuntly Road. As much as we loved the quality and the appearance of the food we have to say that we were disappointed with the amount of food that was actually served. We had 2 Miso soups and 4 different Tapas and were still hungry afterwards. And the biggest disappointment came when we got the check for 97 dollars which included 3 small beer. This is a total ripoff, even so the food was great we will never go there until the serves have grown to an adult size and BYO has been introduced. We will rather go next door to the Thai place which has also great food, is BYO and has very reasonable prices. We hope someone from Goemon is reading this as I believe it would be sad to see this little restaurant disappear as I can't see many people going back there.

Modern Japanese.. A Japanese eatery outside of the CBD where ALL the staff are and/or speak Japanese. What a sweet touch and novelty to be greeted on arrival and farewelled in Japanese. The service is spot on. Gentle, no fuss and efficient. Then the food arrives, and it is just lovely. Delicately plated up as you would expect but with a different bent. This place is a real little gem. The drinks menu was also a surprise. Tried the Japanese cider (with ginger), so refreshing. We love the convenient location, adjacent to Elsternwick station and on a tram route. My only quibble would be the soundtrack. Too eclectic.

After reading all the raving reviews, my family and I were excited to find a great Japanese inspired restaurant, we made a reservation and expected delicious food h

Fantastic fusion food!. Ate at Bistro Goemon for the first time this week... and it was a pleasant surprise in the heart of Elsternwick :) I say this because many Japanese restaurants in Melbourne are unfortunately, not run by Japanese, and this shows in the taste of the food. Can I also mention that the food here is better than Nobu's which is way overpriced. Overall, Bistro Goemon had great ambience, great selection of music and staff were very very friendly and polite! This compared with Nobu's ambience, which was dampened by dim lighting and deafening music - almost as if they were trying too hard. Bistro Goemon's food was very fresh and done well in keeping with the japanese-western theme. Did not take pictures but we will be back again.

Good soup n salmon sushi. I was greeted with a loud mushi mushi from the whole team including the kitchen which is a good 15m from the front door, what a start. I wanted a quick meal n was served the chef special chicken meat ball soup n a couple of salmon sushi. Yum n filling, Sato n Erico are a good team n the mention of their restaurant in epicure magazine is a testimonial to this, will definitely be back maybe tomorrow<br/>Gold medal <br/><br/><br/>-----29 Apr, 2014-----<br/><br/>Am not a Japanese or Korean fan but if this is Japanese I like it<br/>The sushi n salmon dip are good entrees along with the corn Cobb<br/>I was surprised to see tuna tacos though<br/>Happy staff n a happy owner at the sushi bar give this place an intimate feel<br/>Been there 5 times in a fortnight guess they must be doing something well

Really friendly staff but the dishes were bland. We tried several dishes and they all sounded amazing but didn't deliver in taste. Very disappointing . Can't put my finger on what was wrong but the flavours were just absent. The food looked great.

Yummmm. I can tell the chief works hard to think their menu. Very good food, lots of surprises. I love this restaurant!

Love it!!. Yummy and great service:)<br/>This restaurant reminds me some restaurants in Japan.

Way Too Expensive for what you get. I have now been to Bistro Goemon three times as I live in Elsternwick. Although the food is very good - and they classify their dishes as Hot and Cold Tapas - the dishes are way too small. We ordered a steamed Wagyu beef dish that had 6 small slices of beef and it cost $22. We could have gone somewhere had a steak for that amount of money. I can't see them lasting if they do not accept BYO. It is only licensed. Our bill came to $186.00 for three people and we walked out of there hungry!!!!!!!!!

We went there on a busy Saturday night before going to the cinema. We chose a variety of dishes (fish, meat, veggie) and EVERYTHING was delicious, surprising, tasty, fresh! Service was fast, efficient and courteous. We will definitely come back!

We had a good experience here in 2013. We really enjoyed this restaurant. Lots of healthy yummy dishes. Our kids loved it. Some different dishes for japanese. We went back recently in 2016. The food was overly priced. The raw beef salad was cooked. We asked for a specific drink, they said that they could do it but we would have to order two for them to do it. We were not allowed to take food away. We would never go back now. We really just didn't enjoy the meal or the standard of anything. Such a pity as this was once really good

Brilliant!. Great example of what Japanese restaurants should be! Great food, great service, great sake!<br/><br/>I eat out in Tokyo quite often and I'd rate this up there with some of my favorite restaurants in Japan.<br/><br/>Simply brilliant!

I love this place it's fantastic !!! The food is absolutely delicious and all very fresh . The staff are lovely and all in all it's beautiful . Well done !

Honestly one of the best meals I have eaten in a while. Great staff, loved the fact that jones road wines were on the wine list and the salmon and cheese bites and pork belly were to die for! It makes me happy to have such gorgeous food so close to home.

Tiny portions of average food. Price dishes lower or serve a decent portion please!

An amazing place. Been 3 times so far and never disappointed - always great. Food delicious and they have a nice little wine menu. Looking forward to next visit.

Don't mistake this for traditional Japanese- this is for those times you want a bit of fusion & creativity.. loved the pork shabu shabu and poki salad. the furst bite of the wasabi pizza took me by surprise but grew to quite enjoy it. the staff are so so lovely, smiley and helpful it made the meal a pleasure.

Overpriced and slow. I just thought the serves were way too small, meaning this place appears to be good value but is in fact expensive. I ordered a tofu salad, and it took 10 minutes for them to tell me they were out of tofu. Then I ordered a sushi roll, and 40 minutes later it still had not arrived whilst my partner's dinner was finished.<br/><br/>Wouldn't go back.

Good food and presentation, but wine?. The food was great, and the presentation was excellent, but not BYO wine and the cheapest glass available was $9.<br/><br/>That will turn a lot of potential customers away.....

We went to brighton beach and found this place on urbanspoon. we had poki salad, soft shell crab sushi, chicken teriyaki and tuna pizza. overall the food were yumm!!! i'm not a fan of wasabi so pizza was just okay to me. the sushi is a must! service was really friendly andthe food came within 10mins. Portion is quite small, but you can't expect a size of parma when you come to japanese rest. worth a visit definately!

I went there twice and found Sushi rolls are good but service is bit slow. other dishes were normal, just okay. This place has opened a couple months ago, let's see and wait another 3 months. I think their quality of food is just okay at the moment, if they got busy and couldn't keep quality, this place would have big trouble then.

Oishi. This place made me so happy, I left feeling all light headed etc, not from MSG but from fun and pleasure. A real Japanese restaurant with Japanese staff. Elsternwick and neighbouring suburbs are blessed to have this place

I want to keep this place for myself!. Ate lunch here today and we loved it!!! I was not going to write a review because I know this place will just get so popular it'll be very hard to get into but I can't not rave about the food. I had the sashimi selection (prawn, scallop, tuna, salmon, kingfish) on sushi rice which was delicious and filling. It came with a delicious miso. My boyfriend had the kingfish ravioli and steamed wagyu beef. We loved everything and walked out full. Being a Saturday we could try things off the dinner menu at lunchtime but usually the ravioli and beef are part of the dinner menu. I am definitely returning to try more things on the menu. The decor was tasteful and warm, the owner was lovely and the selection of food enticing. Unlike most other Japanese eateries on Glenhuntly Road, this one is actually staffed by Japanese people and the difference in service, food quality and attention to detail in food and decor is huge. This is my new favourite place to eat in Elsternwick. Definitely worth a try for those who love traditional Japanese and those who love fusion food.

Seriously delicious. Lovely.... Seriously delicious.<br/>Lovely service from proud people.

Amazing. I was fairly excited to see that a little bit of Nobu had moved onto Glenhuntly road. <br/><br/>The food was as expected - to die for. My partner and I tried several dishes, ranging from sashimi to the wagyu beef. Our only complaint would be that we spent over $80 and walked out hungry - having a second meal at home later that night.

Creative Menu Tapas Style. My partner and I tried Bistro GOEMON last night on the basis of the urbanspoon reviews. The food did not disappoint me in its creativity, presentation and the flavours ranged from yum to subtle. The portions are small tapas style, so it can be quite expensive for dinner. <br/><br/>We had 4 dishes. Teppanyaki chicken with anchovy sauce, this came with cute enoki mushrooms and you could taste the anchovy, it was nice. We also had Kingfish Tortellini, the sauce was delicious as was the pasta but the kingfish tasted bland, but that was ok combined with the rich sauce. The pickled vegetables were nice and the crabmeat spring rolls were also nice with orange caviar, excellent presentation but a very subtle taste. The food is well above what you would expect for Japanese food ¬– a very imaginative menu.<br/><br/>The service was great, you could tell they went to a lot of effort. However overall out of my price range for dinner, okay for drinks and a snack/light lunch.

Nice!!. Really nice but considering price portion sizes were quite small. <br/>Thought it is worth trying

Way to Go. Bistro Goemon opened about a week ago after fully refurbishing the space left vacant by Tacos La Mexicana. Dark timber furniture and a prominent sushi bar provide seating for roughly forty diners. <br/><br/>Despite the curious sounding name, Bistro Goemon’s menu is essentially Japanese, although some of the dishes are best categorized as modern Japanese or fusion. <br/><br/>Chef-owner Sato has done time at Nobu and Akachochin, which helps explain why such an unassuming restaurant in a suburban shopping strip is plating up such imaginative, eye catching dishes.<br/><br/>Whilst your standard sashimi plates and sushi rolls are available, it’s the small plates grouped on the menu into “cold” and “hot” dishes that really set Bistro Goemon apart from the pack. <br/><br/>After a couple of visits, I’ve sampled a decent proportion of the menu and I’m yet to strike a dish I haven’t enjoyed. Some of my favourites include Aburi Scallop with Mountain Vegetables, Salmon Tartar with Garlic Bread, Chicken Teriyaki with Anchovy sauce and Steamed Wagyu Beef with Ponzu Sauce.<br/><br/>The venue is fully licensed however the sake offerings presently trump the brief wine list. I have a sneaky suspicion the wine list will expand with time.<br/> <br/>In addition to the marvelous food & sake, I’ve been impressed by the attentive, professional service especially given the place hasn’t even traded for a fortnight. <br/><br/>Providing I can continue to score a seat after the word gets out, Bistro Goemon looks like becoming one of my regular haunts. Check it out for yourself, just don’t tell Nina Rousseau about it!

My favourite Japanese place and I went there so many times. Everything is yummy, so no mistake!! This time I tired frozen umeshu fot the first time. So nice!