Unabara Lobster & Oyster Bar

When we arrived here, we had a great welcome with the staff. However, when we ordered the lobster, they run out off it. We were disappointed at that time, but the staff kindness helped us to ordered one from another shop. When we have the dishes, it was shocked me. Like it was amazing and lovely food. I really love the lobster.

The lobster roll is the best!!! One of my favorite restaurants.🥰

The food here can be considered expensive given the lobster roll is $30 (!) but one may consider it worth the money - we had the lobster risotto and it was everything we wanted and more, so creamy, succulent and cooked to perfection. Even came with a mini bisque on the side.

We also had a few dishes from the Gyoza Gyoza side, including tamago (surprisingly cold?), pork and garlic gyoza, karaage chicken with mustard miso (chicken was crispy and well-seasoned but the miso didn’t taste like much - might just order the ordinary chicken next time) and the soft shell crab salad (just the right amount of crunch but on the smaller side). All the food was well cooked and came out quite fast so we didn’t need to wait long at all!

The yuzu sorbet drink was too sweet unfortunately, but I don’t have much of a sweet tooth.

I didn’t go to a Seafood Disco last night, no, because I didn’t want to pull a mussel 🤭

And while some people don’t like fish puns, they kinda kraken me up 😂 🦀

Unabara means, in Japanese, sea or ocean and when I found out about this place the one single thing I could think was: I am taking a boat trip to Japan, yaaaaaas 🥳

But don’t worry, I didn’t need to marry any fisherman, because I don’t need someone to string me along 💃 this little place is just at the CBD and they are so popular that they have two locations just one next to the other!

Both of them look beautiful and inviting and if there is one thing you can be sure when you visit them is that not only will you have the best service and food but they actually even know a fish’s favourite song! 🎶 Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you drown 🎶

It’s the true ultimate place that a Japanese and seafood lover can ask for!

The menu is not only very interesting but they have a few unique items with lobster and also play around with desserts and defying-that-creativity-line drinks! They also have a all day brunch menu with very good looking items with that mix of Aussie and Japanese style that I absolutely love, so this place has from its concept to the actual reality a huge expectation by the consumer - that doesn’t disappoint!

The prices are quite reasonable for the brunch menu and the rest and more seafood based option is quite more expensive but still a fair budget. It is certainly good value for money and you have find options for everyone ☺️

After going through the menu, we thought it would be a good idea to try a couple of entrees, mains and a dessert so here is what we had:

- Grilled Corn - not only it came beautifully presented but the actually taste was incredible and insanely good 😍 I have to confess that I haven’t tried grilled corn until last year (shocking I know!) but since I discovered, I have become addicted to it and have tried quite a few! This on in particular was outstanding not just for the portion and looks, but the actual taste! They use a Japanese sauce on the bottom and that takes this item and that ‘simple grilled corn’ to a whole new level! It was a great starter and would have it again 👏

- Tilapia Sashimi with Yuzu Dressing - we went a little beyond our comfort zone when it comes to sashimi and escaped the usual tuna or salmon. The kind fish option sounded pretty good too but this is not a very usual option in Japanese menus so we decided to go for the tilapia! The waitress also highly recommended it and it came nicely presented too, with 4 pieces of a thick and fresh tilapia. A very appreciated entree again, and I regret not asking for more sashimi actually! The quality is really good and I would recommend 👏

- Lobster Egg Benedict - when it came to choosing some mains, oooooooh, that’s when the problem started 😂 in a good way! They have so many good options that I seriously couldn’t decide which one to go for. Their most popular options vary from grilled lobster with fries (similar to fish and chips) to lobster with mashed potato but we thought that it would be interesting to see how they would plate and create a lobster version of an egg benedict! Portion is good and it’s definitely eye catching and insta-worthy (more in real life than pictures to be honest because it was shot indoors and we all know that’s not the best option 😂). It comes with a huge tall toast slice with lobster meat on top and creamy hollandaise sauce that was INSANE 👏 the curious thing about this meal is that that combo not only works wonderfully well but they take it a step further and add a 63 degrees poached egg on top of that. Oh WOW 👏 the taste is incredible! Because it wouldn’t be a breakfast item without the famous avo, they plate it nicely with a rosette sliced avocado on the side 👌 if you’re a seafood lover, you’ll love this. It you’re a breakfast lover, you’ll love it even more. If you don’t like any of those, what are you even doing with your life? 😂 definitely a good one here!

- Lobster Linguine - this was one of the popular options and an absolute must try for me. And while I was thinking I would be happy with it, I never thought it would be THAT good. This seriously surpassed al expectations! With fresh made pasta the pasta was perfectly cooked and seasoned with a tomato flavour that we might have or might not have fought about it 😂 I cannot believe this was so good still! The best part is definitely in my opinion the pasta and the whole sauce that it comes involved in but wow the grilled boston lobster that a true experience! We had to open it using our hands (although we were offered a clam cracker!) and the meat inside was SO GOOD. This is a winner. Period. Do it, my friend, go for it! 👏

- Octopus Tentacles - we thought about going for some calamari but again, why not try something a little more bold?! Deel fried octopus tentacles! These were crunchy and not oily and that mayo, oh my god, the mayo 😍 I am still not sure it I would rather have calamari or the octopus as this little side dish, but I genuinely loved this option and I think the serving was also quite appropriate 👏

- Unicorn Temptation - for the piece of resistance! The ultimate drink 🥳 they have a special drink on the menu that while we were considering the options, we absolutely had to try! I honestly cannot remember the ingredients of the juice but I remember it was vegan friendly and the ingredients were quite appealing to me with summery fruits! The fairy floss on top is just so extra and so so sooooo needed 😂 I remember also that the price was around $16 and it sure can serve 4 people, being a very good value for money! 👏 would recommend for taste and obviously for an incredible insta-shot!

- Tropical Garden - for dessert we had a couple of good options but I had already laid my eyes on this one and it wasn’t negotiable 😂 why? Because this is a raindrop mochi that I had never seen anyone else in Melbourne doing so it was obviously a must try! The mochi is not like your usual mochi and it had a semi hard jelly consistency! It’s quite wobbly too and very amusing to watch it giggle and to eat it 😂 with comes with honey comb and incredible and must add on black sugar syrup and as topping they use a crumble, passionfruit and mixed berries. The edible flowers were incredibly appreciated too 🤗 portion isn’t massive but I guess this Isolde of a gourmet item and quality overrides quantify for sure 👌 it’s - good treat to share at the end of a meal like we did but I think that having 2 smaller plates with 2 raindrop mochis would be a great idea too because I don’t want to share this again 😂😍

The environment was very pleasant and the people around us were also having a great time and very happy with their experience, without a doubt! Even though this place goes a little more above your usual brunch, I think it’s definitely worth those extra $ for the quality of food and for the service they provide. It makes sense and it’s still reasonably priced. Plus, the exclusive items they have is worth the time and money for sure 👏 what a great experience!

We came here and had the teatime set which is a $15 deal where you get to pick two tapas and have a drink. We ordered the kimchi gyoza and cheesy okonomiyaki. The gyoza was really crispy and delicious and the okonomiyaki was really good. We also ordered the japanese iced coffee with mixed soft serve and that was really good too. Will definitely be returning