Review Ninja Izakaya - Glen Waverley

Came in as they were the only place that accepted American Express. We were seated and served quite efficiently. Their menu was extensive and most items were cheap/value priced. Food quality is decent without being amazing. Staff were friendly and attentive. Steak was good, ramen so so, sushi was nice and chicken kaarage was worth it

5/5 for decor, looks great, nice to sit on the floor 5/5 for the sashimi (carpaccio) and the salmon and eel sushi - beautiful presentation, delicious tasting, complex flavours that really bring out the fresh fish. 2/5 for the katsu ramen (soup stock was watery and bland) and same for the miso. Not thick and rich as I have had elsewhere 2/5 for the cabbage-egg-chicken okonomiyaki. Nice presentation but also a bit bland and too much dough on the pancake. 3/5 for the tofu salad. Was expecting large cubes of silken tofu however instead got 4 slices of soft tofu with large amount of salad - still tasty though. 3/5 for tempura - was nice however too oily and batter too thick like most places in Australia unfortunately. 4/5 for chicken karage - standard fried chicken, good sized serve Beautifully presented food Staff service - very quick and friendly. Costs around $25-30 per person (~2 dishes each)

Have walked pass this restaurant a couple of times and glad I decided to try it one day. Although we only had small dishes to share and not main meals. It was enough for me to come back for more. Definitely try their soft shell crab salad. Crab was huge and chunky with lots of meat in it!! They have a buffet menu which will be awesome if you're only gonna have sashimi. Otherwise don't bother. Going ala carte will save you money as their serving size is large. Will definitely come back again

Not a bad place for late night Japanese, we went after a movie at century city and was one of the few places still open after 10pm on a weeknight. Sushi roll was not bad, I also had the ramen but I prefer the one from Ajisen, the broth from Ninja was a bit bland. There's plenty of seating but make sure your pants arent too tight if youre sitting at the sunken tables, it may be a struggle to get in and out.

This place is really cool! It has an awesome atmosphere and they have a nice set up for their seating, there are extra pillows if you wanna be more comfortable. The staff were friendly, the food was really good and they have good value for money! I totally recommend their croquettes, they are amazing 😍 I am definitely coming back :)

Delicious food, big servings, simple menu with just enough variety, and very decent pricing. Enjoyed this place and I'll be back for sure. I've seen a few reviews stating that the wait staff were rude. I guess we got lucky as our waiter was fine.

Very welcoming and nice place but the food taste is very average. I was kind of expecting mind blowing taste but disappointed. So sorry guys won’t be visiting again.

Nothing Japanese about this place, have a look how they serve sashimi. Salmon was so thin that you barely feel it in your mouth, and tuna in triangular??? Serving sashimi is a delicate art, it's not just cutting fish into small pieces.

I ordered four dishes tonight including two kinds of sashimi, deep fried crab claws and BBQ set. The sashimi looks dull with milky slime, not even fresh which caused diarrhoea after eating here. The crab claws taste greasy. BBQ is plain.

Overall, the food in this place is a meh. The ramen wasn't that great, doesn't have much taste and was quite oily. Gyoza taste good at first but the skin was quite thick to my liking. Despite that, the customer service was really good. The staff is very friendly and nice.

Had the ramen which was incredibly bland - tasted like fatty water. The black fungus was undercooked and the chicken karage which was soggy and felt a tad undercooked

Brought a friend here a couple of days ago because I loved the experience the first time.<br/>As soon as you enter, the staff have a huge smile on their faces and are very welcoming.<br/>The experience is one of a kind and one I havent had in the eastern suburbs yet... the tables are on ground level and you feel like your in another country.<br/>The food isnt the best japanese ive had but is definitely tasty. However the experience of this unique restaurant and its welcoming staff make this place a must-try.

Great place and food at reasonable price, sukiyaki generous and not too saltish. Soft shell crab sushi is delicious, soft on outside and crunchy on the I side.

The dishes taste average nothing special. Service was great! Although there was no one else at the restaurant. Ordered the $10 lunch special, so good food for a good price!

This meal was months ago. Now the sushi chef had left so i hadn't have chance to go back yet. Staff are so helpful and their beverages are very tasty. Hamachi Tataki is nice. Was a lovely experience.

Went for the wagyu buffet option with sushi/sashimi etc and I absolutely loved! can’t fault this place. The service was really good. <br/><br/>Portion sizes allowed for us to taste every dish without being too overwhelming.<br/><br/>Would highly recommend to give this place a shot.

Went there because they advertised to have "buffet" available in-store, turned out it's just paying a particular amount of money and you can order as many food as you want from the menu. Food is very average as well - sashimi not fresh and other side dishes are just marginally acceptable.

Came here because I saw aburi salmon sushi on the menu. Tasted real good but probably not as ‘melt-in-your-mouth’ as others I’ve had. Soft shell crab salad is good, but overall I think this place is slightly overpriced.

I don’t know why there’s so many negative reviews for this place. 🙁 The interior was really cute, I loved the tatami style tables! I ordered the Unagi don from the lunch menu, which was only $10, and it was pretty good! Will definitely come again :)

Not particularly great dining experience. I would suggest less soy in the beef tataki and kingfish carpaccio. The soft shell crab uramaki is nice. The ramen quite small for the price. In a restaurant strip where there are many more value for money options, they would have to decrease prices to warrant a second visit.

Tried this place out for the first time today as they are running a $10 lunch special. Ordered the Eel and Stone Grill Pork from the lunch special and the noodles were $12.80 with chicken. I love agedashi tofu but this one seemed to lack flavour, I think the tofu used wasn’t the right variety as it didn’t absorb any of the soy sauce. The stone grill pork belly was full of flavour but there wasn’t much pork belly in the dish. I would be disappointed if I paid the full $16 for this dish! The stir fried noodles came out in a fairly large portion and well worth it for the price. Overall, food was average and nothing to rave about but worth the try for a cheap meal in Glen Waverley. Oh, I also adored the decor and the traditional Japanese table seating that was set into the floor. Just really hard to get out after having a meal 😂

Food is average, nothing special. However, customer service is beyond average. Staff are very friendly and helpful, which makes this place a pleasant one to visit 😊

Don’t let all these white people reviews dissuade you from coming here. Us yellow people know where it’s at. Good food, good atmosphere, and good atmosphere - what more could you ask for?

Food was below average, but wasn’t bad either. Beef and pork portions were smaller in size. We had crab claw, beef and pork slice and a few other variation.They did have a nice interior

The food is below average. Especially ramen was really bad. Among them, Uramaki was delicious. But the price is expensive. The staff were also kind and the restaurant environment was good.

The interior is sooo cute and I love how the floors are more undergroundish gives the illusion of sitting on the floor but there’s actually room for ur feet like you would when sitting on a normal chair. The food here is a lot like waya. I wasn’t crazily amazed by the food because I go waya regularly and I think the food is pretty similar so I would just go waya.

With no much preference for lunch, decided to try places I never been. I have to admit I was attracted by the restaurant decor for my pick.<br/>We order tonkatsu and chashu ramen, vegetable yakisoba and sashimi. The soup for ramen is very bland, it doesn’t have much taste at all. <br/>Sashimi is fresh however the serving portion is tiny! Never had such small piece of sashimi in a restaurant. Yakisoba taste like food court / instant noodles version. <br/>The only reason why I give 2 stars is their customer service. The lady who serve us is very polite and attentive. <br/>Not an authentic spot for Jap food. Quite disappointing located at dinning prime spot in Kingsway. <br/>

Really bad experience. Poor service and gross environment. One of the waiter was stepping on the bench seats without taking his dirty shoes off when he’s taking order. No body cleans food craps left on the table and floor.

Not an authentic japanese restaurant, food were average. Portion wise, couple of them are quite generous. Service was quick except sushi and sashimi which saids on the menu there will be 20-30 mins wait. The sashimi comes out fresh and generous portion. However, they do not serve alcohol at all. Won’t consider going back for sure.

Standard food, not surprising. Their katsudon is bit of a disaster( looks alright but tastes horrible). Getting good food out of this restaurant is like digging good, I visited many times just to deny my thinking of “this place is full of none good food, yet I was right from the beginning, this place doesn’t have many good food at all, except of the Hokkaido style salad. The worst part is they don’t serve alcohol anymore. What kind of Izakaya doesn’t have alcohol? Well, bad ones I guess.

I was first attracted to this place mainly because of their seating placement. Other than the environment, there's nothing else that would worth 1 star. I had the buffet and ordered sashimi, sushi, M6 wagyu, and beef/pork/chicken skewers. The sashimi was okay, the wagyu was too well cooked and had no flavour (seem like I was eating Chinese stir fry beef), the chicken skewers were very obvious that as it did not tasted fresh, the beef skewers had a taste which I nearly threw up (but I still swallowed it because they would charge full price for not finishing the plate and waste food). I was still charged full price on one of the sushi plates as it was spicy and I could not eat it. When I went to pay the bill, I was told that I have to finish the spicy sushi otherwise it would be considered as waste, I explained to why I did not finish it and the staff offered that next time I should order it with the sauce on the side. I mentioned that I don't mind paying that dish full price since they brought the issue up. But instead of doing so, they decide to ask/inform the manager/owner and have that person to talk to me again. I was already unhappy that they were taking the plate of sushi back and forth, and then they decide to make such a big deal out of it. All I hope now is that I do not get food poisoning.

The food taste like any other place out there but the thing that annoys me the most is the waitress blames us for not finishing what we have ordered when we still in the process of ordering more since it’s the $59 all you can eat per person . The food is slow and some of the dishes ordered are never to be seen and has to be chased numerous times before it is arrived on the table , if your thinking about dining here I recommend you think again

*excuse the photos, I only took a video*<br/><br/>We got the hot pot with extra Ramen noodles ($3). The hotpot itself was about $40, and is probably a reasonable price. There wasn’t much meat and was definitely overflowing with vegetables 😂👌🏽However, we did enjoy the meal and would love to come back for another round!<br/><br/>Also, the Taiyaki was amazing! It had red bean filling and grapes and cream on the side! Too good 🤤<br/>

Ever since we’ve visited Japan our taste for sushi has elevated a notch and Ninja attracted us to it by its floor seating and ambience. <br/><br/>We got an eel bowl and a sushi platter, sadly it tasted like any other mediocre sushi place. I’d like to know whether our orders were made from scratch? Because that’s the least this place can offer!

Love the concept of sitting on tatami mats (there is still the option to sit on chairs). The food came very quickly and the staff were helpful and polite. The food was quite good, highly recommend the spicy tuna crunch uramaki, their yakisoba (seafood) & their ninja okonomiyaki (however u kind of need to mix the top and bottom as the sauce only coats the top, leaving the bottom kinda of lacking in flavour)

The good<br/><br/>Service, serving size, generosity, variety<br/><br/>The bad<br/><br/>Food<br/><br/>All carpaccio, tatake are bland, thick cuts of onion, sauce is not balance, no finesse.<br/><br/>Salmon looks like some dry translucent gummy snack, taste unfresh, told the waitress and apparently its just some part of the fish, hokay shouldn't have served it<br/><br/>Soft shell crab turned into hard shell crab because of the thick batter<br/><br/>Seaweed have no crisp, they're soft and chewy<br/><br/>Even the shredded daikon taste and look like they have been in the fridge for far too long<br/><br/>Sorry ninja, I really did not see you coming

Tasteless food & dirty plates,what a let down. The place looks nice and thats what drew our attention instead of going to our usual place “ Ajisen ramen”. Don’t waste your money here.

We went on Monday 16th July for lunch, we had the Okonomiyaki, Chaohan Vege, Teryaki Chicken, Vegetarian Sushi, and Yakisoba  Vege and a few drinks of Sakura. The food came out fast, it was well presented and delicious. The Sakura drink was refreshing,the service was amazing, staff really friendly and accommodating. The restaurant had a nice relaxing atmosphere ,nice Japanese aesthetic surroundings. Would definitely recommend it and will be going back soon.

This is literally my bf’s and my go-to spot after work at night. The interior is so cute and cosy. Staff always serves with a smile. Food wise, we’ve tried the karaage (crispy and nicely marinated, can’t go wrong), sushi and sashimi platter (not a bad quality for its price) and soft shell crab roll. Our favourite is the crispy scallion tuna roll (didn’t take picture) which we’ve ordered twice. Flavour and textures and combined so well together.

If 0.5 existed, it would be a 2.5.<br/><br/>The low tables with the sunken floors were what drew my attention while walking past on a previous occasion.<br/><br/>We decided to try out this place tonight. The J-pop music, fish pond and wall art all added to the lively atmosphere.<br/><br/>However, some of the dishes needed a bit more love. We got the chicken chaohan, curry chicken don, spider sushi (soft shell crab), vege croquettes, taiyaki and a few drinks.<br/><br/>Good points: soft shell crab sushi was delicious, no extra soy needed, crunchy soft shell crab, tasty and fresh.<br/><br/>Bad points: curry don lacked curry sauce with limp salad; taiyaki was cold and tasted like stale cake; black sesame ice-cream was in parts icy.<br/><br/>Service was super friendly and welcoming.<br/><br/>Would I return? Probably not on my own accord.

The service was not too bad but the food.. We ordered almost all the star rated dishes on the menu, but was quite disappointed. The wagyu beef was definitely not wagyu beef: very chewy and hard to swallow, and was pricy. I couldn’t stand the garlic mayo on every vegetable and on the soft shell crab salad. Was very overpowering and salty. The sashimi and sushi were alright. Anyway I don’t recommend and I won’t go there again.

Always love to try a new restaurant, finally we went to this one. We ordered 2 lunch set which was katsu don and chicken curry. Katsu don is my favourite but the one in here was terrible. It was just pork cutlet with fried egg and the sour tonkatsu sauce. Totally different from what it supposed to be. There was no sweet soy boiled onion and egg sauce at all. Fried egg and the pork was dry, don’t know why they put the tonkatsu sauce on it, maybe they don’t know what the difference between katsu don and tonkatsu rice set? Chicken curry was just average, nothing to talk about. The wagyu cubes we ordered, just don’t waste your money on it. I won’t recommend you to go there if you looking for good food, but you can go there for the atmosphere there... nice decoration. it’s enough for me to just visit once.

I went last night with my partner we ordered some sushi and a few mains. I really enjoyed the food so did my partner. The interior was nice. And I found the staff very friendly and helpful with helping us order. <br/>I’d definitely come back again.

Food: The sashimi was soft and flavoursome, it was of high quality. The teriyaki salmon don utilised flavours that complimented their well cooked salmon. This dish satisfied me and made me want to tell my friends to eat here. I’ll be coming back. <br/><br/>Staff and service: The food came out so quickly, staff were friendly, professional and efficient. <br/><br/>Ambience: The table-wear was stylish and authentic. The water feature added a nice vibe, hearing running water. The seating is in ground, which gave it a more authentic touch. I felt like I was experiencing Japan.<br/><br/>Reasonably priced

We walked past this place last Friday night and saw lots of people in here so we thought we would give it a try. We didn’t order the buffet menu because we were feeling poor 😂. In terms of presentation, we thought it looked nice. In terms of the food, we thought the food looked quite nice. In terms of the taste, we really enjoyed the crab with salmon sushi. The Hiroshima okonomiyaki was nice too, however as expected it can’t beat the one we had in Hiroshima in Japan. But still it was nice. We thought the seafood noodles was quite oily, but still taste alright. <br/>If you are looking to get a taste of Japanese food, you should consider this place.

Restaurant has nice interior and seat arrangement, but unfortunately under average food. Ordered a beef sukiyaki and an add-on 'sliced' pork. The sukiyaki was presented very nicely, taste-wise it was okay. The add-on pork was shocking. They basically gave us the unwanted cuts of pork from other dishes, it was pieces of pork fat.

Come here few times. The food looks pretty and also the testy are getting better than the first period. <br/><br/>Tried unagi don and Katsu don this time. Katsu don is my favorite! And also salmon prawn Uramaki always awesome. I order it every time. <br/>Smelling others sukiyaki and wanna have a try next time. <br/>Drinks very refreshing. Peach iced tea I even can drink two at the same time. <br/><br/>very friendly service. Very happy to see they are keep improving. <br/><br/>The waitresses are all friendly and always apologize to me just because these two girls are busy and need to run back and forth without taking care of me carefully. <br/><br/>Just keep that passion, I trust they can do better<br/>The manner is the most important thing

Customer service was lacking. We waited a while to be seated with the waitresses either ignoring us or was oblivious to their customers walking in. It wasn't a busy night as well so our first impression was already at a low start.<br/><br/>We were aware of the negative reviews that the restaurant had before coming but wanted to give the place the benefit of the doubt as it was still fairly new.<br/><br/>The food we ordered were average at best. Definitely wasn't the worst but needed a lot of improvements.<br/><br/>We ordered the Takoyaki, Sashimi Mix, Spider Uramaki and the Beef Tataki. The takoyaki tasted bland and the sashimi did not look or taste fresh. The spider uramaki were average with the beef tataki the only dish we really enjoyed.

The interior stood out to me since there isn't really anything like this on Kingsway. Decided to come in and give it a shot. I was excited they had a selection of sushi, but i think it's a little overpriced. We had the unagi don, classic chicken karaage and sushi and sashimi entree. The unagi don was just really standard, nothing wowed me.<br/><br/>I was disappointed in the selection of mains on their menu, there wasn't much. The chicken karaage was quite good, you get quite a lot for what you pay for. The sushi and sashimi entree had better fish than what I've tried before. The menu didn't have much of a selection, but saw a few people having the sukiyaki. Maybe for next time.<br/>The reason for the low rating is because it didn't seem authentic. I couldn't see the proper chef in the kitchen, everyone seemed to just be kitchen hands putting food together, it didn't look professional.<br/><br/>I'd try again for the sukiyaki, but I don't think I'd come back.

Japanese style interior and a variety of seats. Ordered the potato croquettes which had a crispy batter and dense potato mash inside. Katsu don was disappointing. Soggy katsu and overcooked rice. Waited around 15 min for the okonomoyaki. Hiroshima style was also disappointing and not the wait. Watery cabbage with minimal noodles. It was also drenched in a pool of tonkatsu sauce, not sure if saw any bonito as listed on the menu. Let down for food for such a well presented place.

We entered here for dinner before Mother's day. It was busy but we managed to get the last table. I ordered the peach ice tea, spider rolls and tonkatsu ramen. The tea was refreshing. The spider rolls were delicious. Unfortunately I felt that the ramen was underwhelming. The soup base simply had no substance. The food also took awhile to come out, and not at the same time.

The concept is interesting but not wheelchair friendly. Food were overpriced for their portions. The owners were Chinese but at least the chefs were Japanese <br/><br/>If you want authentic Japanese food this is not the place

Had a great time! :) Super friendly staff! Great food that wasn't super expensive and tasted amazing. Loved it! My entire family enjoyed it a lot! :)

Me and my partner decided to try out this new place at glen waverly, the restaurant set up was quiet interesting and fun to dine at. The service was quiet good when given however when we waved for someone almost every time the person we caught the attention of would not help us but instead delegate service to another wait staff, this made things awkward at times and made service quiet ineffective and majority of the time the first staff member wasn't even busy.. <br/><br/>We ordered takoyaki, salmon and prawn hand roll and the ninja okonomiyaki. Food was definitely below average you can grab a better feed at other jap places a few shops down such as Ajisen and Waya. The takoyaki was frozen and refried when ordered, this was obvious when I bit into one and it was frozen solid in the middle ??? Waiter was nice to replace the meal and gave us free prawns. The hand roll was good but they're good is abit inconsistent and they were super stingy on the fish roe. The ninja okonomyaki was about a 15-25 minute wait, the was full of cabbage and didn't really have much filling like a typical Japanese pancake, and they advertised as hiroshima style, by it was more like a sad sickening pile of cabbage.<br/><br/>If this place specialised more with drinks I would probably just go here for that but unfortunately this "izakaya" does not. So unfortunately I wouldn't go back or would I recommend.

We tried ninja izakaya for the first time this week. <br/>It is a new Japanese place in Glen Waverley. Good, attentive service by all staff. The menu looked a bit tacky - like a primary school project where they had just cut and sticky taped bits of paper into a book - not very professional BUT hey, we’re here to eat their food not judge a book by its cover 😏<br/>Firstly, the yuzuade - It was definitely more lemonade than Yuzu. Although the yuzu syrup was on the bottom and you had to stir it, even after mixing it well you could barely taste the yuzu flavor. The classic Karaage was the best dish of the night - although the portion was a bit small, every bite was delicious. Would definitely order this again. We then had the pork okonomiyaki - not quite the kind I’ve tasted before. It was kind of like they had dumped all the ingredients (mainly noodles and cabbage) and then cracked an egg on top. I’ve not tried the okonomiyaki in Japan, however I think the dish would have been better if all the ingredients were mixed together and the meat was cut a bit smaller. The edges of the pancake were quite mushy. The sauce and bonito flakes made the dish better and also the crispiness of the noodles on the bottom - although they were slightly burnt. Wouldn’t order this again. <br/>Next came the salmon and spider rolls - these were good! We also tried the pork gyoza - I love dumplings and I love gyoza, but unfortunately these were 100% Chinese dumplings - like the ones you get from aunties dumplings or David&camy. When I think gyoza, I think of a super thin wrapper and the gyoza melts in your mouth with hardly any chewing - these were not that! Don’t get me wrong - These were good dumplings, but not what I was expecting. <br/>Overall it was a good experience, it took a little while for the dishes to come out but they are a new restaurant so expect some teething problems, give it a month and they should become more efficient. It was also a little bit pricey.. but we are in Glen Waverley ...we will probably try other dishes next time.

Tried this lovely little place for the first time ever but was extremely disappointed. Came with a few friends. Shop was new, so we decided to give it a try. Ordered several rice dishes which came out one after the other instead of all together like we had requested. One dish we waited for over an hour and still didnt receive so we just cancelled the whole thing. Considering that it was still relatively new, I will definitely try it again at a later time when things are more settled.