It’s an affordable sushi roll shop that’s affordable with great options. 10/10 for their spicy salmon and prawn rolls.
Always super fresh and cheaply priced Japanese fast food. Perfect for the Uni student cohort at Swinburne, I come here 2 to 3 times a week. Never disappointed.
This place is not only cute but the food is sensational! We enjoyed the tonkatasu, the black sesame edamame, the udon noodles and my fave the okayu don which is egg onion and chicken on rice ! Sooo good
The desserts are also a must , the miso ice cream was so unique and I could literally eat litres of it
Thanks for having us , I can’t wait to come back
Grain & Nori is a cute little Japanese joint located near the Hawthorn train station that has been focusing on amazing sushi for years. They have recently started doing dinners with a great menu of authentic Japanese favourites.
You can tell that a lot of love has been put into this restaurant and the food that they present. We tried the pork tonkatsu, kuro curry + soft shell crab, oyako don, renkon chips, and finished off with 2 unique desserts - matcha mont blanc and miso ice cream.
The tonkatsu was super juicy and crispy. The black curry was definitely something I'd never tried before but in a good way!! And the oyako don was the best I've tried in melbs. Never have I ever had an oyako don that I liked outside of Japan until now!
The desserts are a must-order. The mont blanc is a chestnut cream cake. They're a rare find in Melbourne and these guys do a great job with this! And the miso ice cream is like a Japanese style salted caramel ice cream. I'd never tasted anything like it. Everyone needs to try this for themselves 😍😍
If you're on the go, they also have a vending machine (which is very Japan) that offers a large range of yummy Japanese snacks, drinks and onigiri which are stocked fresh every day!
We were invited to try out their dinner menu and we were impressed with their authentic Japanese cuisines. They're now serving dinner from Thursday - Saturday (only) 6.30 - 9.00 PM.
Starting off, we tried out the Japanese Rice Ball (Onigiri) - they have several flavors. We love the unique packaging much like The Onigiris found in the convenience store in Japan. This packaging allows the separation of the seaweed and the rice so that the seaweed won't lose its crispy tates when eating it. Absolutely love it! We tried the classic flavors: tuna - but we'd love to try other flavors next time. They also sell it fresh on a vending machine nearby so you can grab it and go from the machine! How cool is that!
For the main: we had The Kuro Curry Soft Shell Crab, The Pork Katsu, and the Japanese ice-creams for the dessert: Miso Ice Cream and Matcha (Grean tea) Ice Cream.
The Pork Katsu was superb - home-made style at its best. Wonderfully breaded, perfectly fried pork katsu - juicy and tender, amazing katsu sauce, and the portion was massive. Can't fault the katsu at all - good for sharing!
The curry was amazing as well - the crab was crispy and soft, lovely texture! The curry was thick, quite intense and punchy! Really well-balanced, but perhaps we don't mind a bit of heat next time.
And the dessert was also great - very smooth. We haven't tried miso flavored ice-cream flavor before and it was super nice, loving the nutty salty flavors on it - very similar to intense salted caramel but done in a Japenese way.
Overall, really liking this hidden gem. The price is right in our opinion. So...if you're after a great Japanese meal, then we highly recommend this restaurant. Top tips: Don't forget to try their onigiri!
we were lucky enough to try their brand new dinner menu on one of their opening nights - the food was affordable (most dishes around the $10 mark!!) and absolutely authentic and delicious. definitely recommend trying their matcha latte (ask for it extra hot!) and the curry. they were accomodating enough to change my okayu don (usually made with chicken) to tofu instead! the wait was a bit long but i’m sure the service will improve with more experience.
Delicious tasty fresh sushi roll! One of my fave take away sushi place. Tea prawn is always my go to rolls and salmon onigiri is a must order as well.
Grain & Nori is a cute little sushi take away shop tucked away in Hawthorn.
My go to order is the onigiri. Although onigiri is everywhere in Japan (its sold all in all the convenience stores) it’s nowhere near as widely available here compared to sushi. On this visit we purchased the salmon and smoky tuna onigiri. Both were delicious and filling although I prefer the smoky tuna out of the two.
If you haven’t had onigiri before then I recommend that you give it try at Grain & Nori.
Not many varieties of sushi but it’s really convenient if you’re rushing because you can grab it to go and it doesn’t cause a mess when you eat it while doing something else! Price is alright and the service is good!
This is the best sushi spot in Hawthorn without a doubt, and i've tried them all. Grain & Nori could be the best sushi spot in the city. Love your work guys
Best sushi around. Super fresh and tasty
We were invited to try out their dinner menu and we were impressed with their authentic Japanese cuisines. They're now serving dinner from Thursday - Saturday (only) 6.30 - 9.00 PM.
Starting off, we tried out the Japanese Rice Ball (Onigiri) - they have several flavors. We love the unique packaging much like The Onigiris found in the convenience store in Japan. This packaging allows the separation of the seaweed and the rice so that the seaweed won't lose its crispy tates when eating it. Absolutely love it! We tried the classic flavors: tuna - but we'd love to try other flavors next time. They also sell it fresh on a vending machine nearby so you can grab it and go from the machine! How cool is that!
For the main: we had The Kuro Curry Soft Shell Crab, The Pork Katsu, and the Japanese ice-creams for the dessert: Mont Blanc (Chestnut cream cake) and Matcha (Grean tea) Ice Cream.
The Pork Katsu was superb - home-made style at its best. Wonderfully breaded, perfectly fried pork katsu - juicy and tender, amazing katsu sauce, and the portion was massive. Can't fault the katsu at all - good for sharing!
The curry was amazing as well - the crab was crispy and soft, lovely texture! The curry was thick, quite intense and punchy! Really well-balanced, but perhaps we don't mind a bit of heat next time.
And the dessert was also great - very smooth. We haven't tried chestnut flavored ice-cream flavor before and it was super nice, loving the nutty flavors on it.
Overall, really liking this hidden gem. The price is right in our opinion. So...if you're after a great Japanese meal, then we highly recommend this restaurant. Top tips: Don't forget to try their onigiri!
The onigiri was my most favourite thing to eat after school or during my lunch break. It's delicious, filling, of a good price, and convenient. Now that I no longer go to school in that area, I'm mournful I can't eat there as often as I used to. But whenever I'm in the area I always make sure to stop by. It's a real hidden gem. One of the best onigiri in Melbourne!
The picnic platter was delish. All super fresh and tasty. Great service would highly recommend!
Delicious food, the go-to place for our whole family. We eat here at least once a week, and have never been disappointed.
Nice place, great staff and amazing sushi
Convenient and easy access. Perfect for quick bite
Some of the freshest, most delicious sushi in all of Melbourne.
I've searched far and wide and while some come close, nothing outright beats the quality of Grain & Nori.
And the best part? Not at all expensive!
Highly recommended...
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