Delighted to know Namoo is still offering takeaway and delivery during this climate. On a Saturday evening, we ordered Namoo Platter, Yaki Platter, Beef ribs bento and Ebi Tempura. The delivery was so smooth and staff’s been very helpful.
I’m truly impressed by the epic Namoo Platter - $69 for 24 pcs of Sashimi, scampi, prawns, nigiri and wasabi-marinated octopus. What an amazing deal for generous portion of fresh sashimi/sushi in CBD area! Prawns that evening have been extra fresh as they tasted so sweet.
Their Yaki Platter ($18/6 pcs)’s definitely drool worthy as well. Each skewer was so delish and grilled to perfection. My faves have been Chicken, Pork Belly and Prawn.
Beef rib bento - Love how tender and nicely marinated the beef is! Quite generous portion of beef ribs offered.
Last but not the least, don’t forget to get their Ebi Tempura. Soo crisp on the outside and inside the prawn’s soo juicy and fresh!!
Definitely a wonderful fix to my cravings.
Situated in the CBD, Namoo offers a relaxed atmosphere paired with a quality dining experience.
Holding true to its Japanese heritage, we found each dish was characterised by fresh, quality ingredients, executed simply yet perfectly, to create a tasty and satisfying meal.
Namoo offers a laid back environment for catching up with friends and family with a focus on delicious Japanese food designed to share in comfortable surroundings.
We had ordered set menus and also tempuras. Food was amazing and very fresh! I really loved the king fish! Will definitely be back!
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Namoo
Customer service: 8.8
Taste: 8.0
Nutrition: 8.5
Price: 8.9
Ambience: 8.8
Food
We decided to order the soba salad and Namoo salad, and let's just say I was very impressed with both the taste and nutrition, at a really good value both for under $13! They say eat your rainbow, and youll definitly hit that nutrition goal with these salads, with edammame beams, radish, seaweed, cucumber, pirple cabbage and brown rice.
The amount of sesame dressing in the soba noodle salad was just right, unlike a lot of other Jap cafes where the dressings are poured into the salads in overly-generous amounts. Definitely looking forward to coming back for another Namoo rice salad!
Ambience
Everything about this medium-sized restaurant is cute - from the "were open" sushi sign and vintage bike at the outdoor entrance to the Pinocchio doll on the wall. I really enjoyed the dark atmosphere made all the more romantic by the low neon lights. Good place for an intimate Friday night couple date ;))
Customer service
The workers there are extremely nice, had a smile for us from start to finish and even offered to let us order from their lunch menu instead of the dinner menu when we didn't know they had a different menu!
It was time for lunch and I decided to meet Joanne | Melbournecitay for lunch.
The service at this restaurant was really friendly and professional. My pork belly w rice and salad; was really tasty. The pork was soft, the salad fresh and overall this was a really pleasant meal.
This restaurant was great value for money and definitely worth a visit.
Spinning Round Horse Kick
+5
It’s a good place to chill and drink with your friends at night. It’s a little bit quite before 9pm, but after 9pm the place is getting busy. The staff are really friendly and nice, I love the food and will come back again.
Good prices for lunch. If you looking for quick lunch. Try Namoo. Quick and good price.
Also all staff really nice and friendly.
often go past this place and always wanted to try it and so last night we did, excellent octopus, cheap beer, great service and a beautiful tripe stew, really enjoyed the chilled atmosphere too. I’ll be back.
Joanne | Melbournecitay
+5
If you see a lunch crowd here, it’s really easy to understand why. Namoo is one of the better Japanese options for office workers in this area. I’ve come here so often that it has become my default option when work gets crazy. Absolutely love their sushi rolls - the avocado salmon and tempura prawn are my favourites. The brown rice is delicious on its own and they also add a sweet sauce to the tempura. The prawn also remains crunchy regardless of what time I order the rolls
I have also ordered their udon and rice dishes. It’s much better to eat those in store rather than in a takeaway box because the curry sauce is very generous and your rice might get too smothered in it. Love the flavour and chicken is well cooked. My favourite among the ala carte dishes would be the chicken curry udon.
Namoo was a real delight to visit. The service was very good from start to finish. Staff were polite and efficient.
We had the weekend lunch special (3 courses for $19) which included a drink, an entree and a main.
We had the Matcha latte and Houjicha latte. Both were very delicious with lots of beautiful smoky flavours. For entree, we ordered the Okonomiyaki and deep fried eggplant with miso. They arrived piping hot with a slight crisp on the outside. Again, both items were full of flavour.
For mains we had the Nigiri plate (this was beautifully presented and tasted on point!) with brown rice. The Namoo salad bowl consisted of mixed sashimi with avocado and pickles on brown rice. Everything was fresh and tasty.
Namoo = Oishi
This is a great lunch spot in the city, if you’re craving for hearty and good value Japanese food. I had the chicken curry don for $10.90 which was deeelicious!
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Firs of all, I like the ambiance of the place and it's pretty spacious too. The staffs were lovely and the food didn't take long.
Had the karage chicken curry and it was pretty good. I like the rice used and though the curry wasn't special, flavour was well balanced. The chicken was okay but could definitely be juicier and would love to have a bit more.
Had the lunch set menu.
Picked the nasu dengaku as the entree and it was pretty good. I like the texture and the miso flavour, though it was bit salty so goes well with rice.
The salmon though was looovely, and it was quite generous too. Cooked and marinated perfectly, along with sides that added extra texture and yumness ;p It didn't come with rice but they offered it for free anyways if you want some.
Matcha latte from the set was also great. The matcha flavour was strong but not bitter and the perfect sweetness too, though the houjicha latte didn't meet my expectation as you can't really tast the houjicha.
Overall, a pretty cute Japanese eatery worth checking out.
( follow for more!✨)
ｘｘ，ｊｏｅｌｌｅ.
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3 sentence in overall,
Great food, great environment, good price.
Definitely enjoyed it with my friend. The prices are definitely acceptable for food hunter who's looking for delicious food, acceptable price, good environment, and good services.
1st Picture: Karaage Chicken Curry Rice
Sweetness and saltiness are just on spot.
The only thing I felt is the chicken meat is a little less as probably they serve more chicken skin to make it more crispy.
2nd Picture: Salmon Steak
Salmon meat is just right, not over cook and not undercook. Served with some edamame, salad and fried sweet potatoes. You can even order a brown rice for free if you feel that this portion is not enough for you!
3rd Picture: Dengaku Nasu (Eggplant)
Served with terayaki sauce, suggest to eat with a bowl of rice as the sauce is salty. However, the eggplant is soft and nice even with the skin.
4th Picture: Matcha Latte
Rich matcha flavour with milk coffee, not too sweet as compared to other matcha latte I tried. Will love to have another cup, so belive me I definitely recommend for matcha lovers!
5th Picture: Hojicha Latte
Hojicha flavour is just nice for me, slightly sweeter than matcha latte but sweetness is still on spot. If you are sick of matcha, this is another option for you :)
All this food doesn't even cost us AUD35 in total.
5 Stars rating!
Seriously the best brunch place in the city. Both the staff and the food are wonderful. Would eat here every day if I could. Namoo is a must try for everyone.
A nice and busy (which is always a good indicator) Japanese Cafe & restaurant on Bourke St. Food is simple yet good. There isn't much fuss and isn't much surprises either. Tried the "Braise Pork Belly on Rice" and pork was really well cooked and juicy put on top of black rice. Good for a quick lunch..
My wife and I stumbled on this place and glad we did. We eat Japanese a lot but are not in the city much and so are not familiar with good Japanese places. We also find it hard to get good Sashimi and Sushi that feels and tastes fresh like it was just made and not sitting in a fridge for ages. My wife is very fussy and the team at Namoo were excellent along with the food. The dishes were very instagamable as all were done with great presentation. The pricing was very reasonable and the food very lovely. We will be back many times!
We stumbled upon it one Sunday wanting a light brunch, and Namoo certainly delivered by providing us with very tasty Japanese meals. We will absolutely return here, highly recommend.
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🥓 ORDERED MENU 🍳
Chicken Karaage Curry ($11.9)
Weekend Lunch Special: Nasu Dengaku (Entree) + Hot Houjicha Latte (Drink) + Salmon Steak (Main)
🙆 WHAT WENT WELL 🥰
✓ Food: Always love to come back here for the Weekend Lunch Special! The Nasu Dengaku is rich and bursting with umami, and their special miso sauce has a complex sweetness! I recommend trying it out at least once for the entree!
Had their Houjicha Latte served cold before, and that was great too, but the hot version was a lot creamier. Loved the intense flavour of the Houjicha, and their foam is just wow!
Salmon Steak was beautiful, albeit a bit overcooked for my liking. The sauce was great, the portion was good, just didn't particularly enjoy the pumpkin (?).
✓ Service: Staff is always warm, polite and friendly! The waitress gave us the wrong order, but they quickly apologized for their mistake and sorted out the order politely! The ambience is very cosy, great place to catch up with your friends over a casual meal!
✓ Value for money: Weekend Lunch Special is always a bargain for me! For the proteins they use in the mains, I definitely expect it to be priced at least at $14-15. That's an additional $4-$5 for a beatiful entree and a brewed drink! Definitely a great value if you want to treat yourself!
🙅 WHAT DIDN'T GO SO WELL 😬
× Food: My sister's curry is reportedly just standard. I don't expect much from curry, however, as I don't think it can be further improved by a great margin. Other than that, I don't have any issues!
🌺 FINAL THOUGHTS ☘️
I'd always love to come back to this shop for their Weekend Lunch Special, despite thier steeper price compared to normal lunch specials in the CBD. However, their food quality and the value for money makes this place a regular spot for a Japanese feast!
My fav lunch place near my work. I always go for the chicken soba salad and love that they offer black rice sushi. food is always excellent and dishes come out quickly. If they chose to provide reusable chopsticks instead of disposable chop sticks that would be the best.
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On this Friday afternoon, I ended up wondering along Queens Street for a new eatery to try and I stumbled across Namoo Japanese Cafe! I had a peak through the window and it looked very interesting so I found my lunch place today =)
🔆LOCATION🔆
Namoo Japanese Cafe is on Queens street near the corner of Bourke Street. The cafe is casual and relaxed layout with plenty of seating.
🔆SERVICE🔆
The service is extremely friendly and efficient. Staff is very fast in cleaning tables, serving customers and all have friendly smile and very helpful. They offer free WIFI (see photo reference) and have a self-service counter at the back (next to the drinks fridge) where you can top up with ginger, and/or get a glass to fill with water (the water is located at bottom shelf).
🔆MENU/PRICE🔆
Namoo has a variety sushi, rice, noodle, entree and salads in their menu.
As it was a little cold, I decided to order a noodle soup.
Karaage Udon Noodle Soup $10.90
🔆VERDICT🔆
Highly recommended! I surprised myself today in stumbling across this cute cafe so randomly today!!
Very clean cafe, extremely friendly service and delicious food! I am excited to return to try other items on the menu - next time I need to bring people so can order more food to share/try!! The soup has alot of flavour, it was very delicious (refer to my photos) - I polished everything even all the soup! Hehehe! The white radish is something you dont see in typical Japanese Udon Noodle Soup, but I really enjoyed it because its been cooked so long in the soup broth that its soaked up the soup so sits packed with flavour and very tender! The only downside is the Karaage (fried chicken) as its been placed directly into the noodle soup, so it was quite soggy - it should have been place on a separate bowl/plate and also the Karaage lacked flavour. Nevertheless the soup and Udon noodles made up for it. The Udon noodle was made to perfection! Extremely happy!
So happy that there’s a Japanese restaurant like this so close to my workplace. Whether you’re after a quick meal in store or wanting takeaway, Namoo can do it all! I often come here for their tasty sushi rolls- the California with purple rice is my favourite as it’s just so clean and fuels me up for the afternoon just right, without feeling too full. Besides sushi, they’ve also got plenty of other options on the menu such as noodles and rice, which I’m yet to try!
A place I would like to go back again. Not like some fancy places. I am not the kind of person lining up an hour try to squeeze in a ins type cafe for photograph but turns out I don't remember what I had after. They are the one focus on the taste and service. Keep the work!
Mark this hidden gem in the ground-floor of a corporate office building on Queen St.
A visible sign is tacked on the wall outside so you don't need a guide to get you here and you won't be disappointed. Lively lunch crowd, bustling, small quarters and inventive dishes besides traditional sushi and sashimi. Try this magnificent Wagyu Tataki, Served Around freshly grilled sweet pumpkin , mushrooms , capsicum, crispy prawn Tepura Udon. The chefs homemade salad is to help you to decode the menu for just the right match.
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If you are after a place with fancy decor, this is not the place for you. But it's a clean and tidy joint. My friend and I decided to have lunch here on a Sunday after someone at work recommended it to me. We ordered the weekend lunch set. Each set comes with a choice of drink (coffee, tea or soft drinks), an entree and a main. I chose gyoza for entree and sashimi salad bowl for main as I wanted something light. And I order a coffee to serve after meal. The gyoza were good size and tasted nice. And I LOVE the sashimi salad bowl. I was expecting some sashimi served on top of a bowl of mixed greens, but they delivered much better than my expectation. The sashimi was cut into bite size and coated with crushed avocado and nuts. The salad is a mixed of at least 8 different veges and pickles. Very delicious and satisfying. My friend ordered sashimi for entree and beef for main, they all looked very nice and well presented. Coffee was average but can't complain. I will definitely recommend this place and I would go back very soon.
Delicious Japanese food, fast service and friendly staff. This cafe/ restaurant is located in the heart of the business district so you’ll see a lot of business workers eating here for breakfast/ lunch. The ambience is clean and cozy. Although I didn’t order any sushi, the table next to us were complimenting on how great the sushis were. We on the other hand ordered the ‘Namoo salad bowl’ (with chicken) which was packed with a variety of healthy ingredients. The flavours were strong and well balanced. It’s a bonus that you can have Japanese food whilst ordering yourself a coffee/ hot chocolate/ tea etc. Overall, a wonderful place to dine at, provided you manage to get yourself a table!
Best tempura and skewer. go really well with beer.
price is little law than most of japanese place!
All sftaff are friendly and helpful. I'll come back and try more menu for sure👍🏿🙊🙊🙊
㊙️ The Traveling Foodie
+4
Super quick . Meals arrive in less than 3 minutes .
Staff were prompt and friendly .
King fish salad variety is excellent . Need more fish 😊 .
Standard chicken curry but well made .
Clean and nice shop . Good crowd .
Modern Japanese cafes are trending, but Namoo is reminiscent of no-frills eateries like Brim CC and Purple Peanuts.
The menu has more variety than said venues, with options like bbq and yakitori at very good prices.
Lunch options are good value and I love the purple rice that comes with many dishes, as it’s more healthier than white rice.
The curry chicken is very satisfying, a tad mild and not overly sweet.
Recommended for homely, tasty Japanese food.
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First time we've made a table booking via Zomato and it worked a treat, Namoo currently have a 10% discount on any bookings made online during dinner so that's an added bonus. We just missed out on their happy hour which finishes at 6pm but still ended up with some cocktails in hand, a refreshing mojito but with sake which as a result was smoother.
We start off with some hotate (grilled scallops) which were given as little canape servings. The flavours were on the light side and I felt that it would have worked better if it was more rich. This was the same case with the tuna tataki but I didn't mind it as much as I enjoyed the thick slices of fish.
We also ordered a couple of classic Japanese items. The agedashi tofu was slightly crispy on the outside and smooth inside. The broth was what made it with a satisfying umami that kept you going back for more. The nesu dengaku was also excellent, the halved eggplant was very creamy and buttery topped with a miso sauce. Very nice.
The nigiri with black rice was arranged beautifully and is eye catching with its black rice. One of the chefs is Korean so you can see a bit of Korean influence here and there in the menu, this being one of them as black rice is prominent in Korean cooking (at least from my experience). I tried a couple and it was decent, you'd expect a more grainy texture and flavour profile. Next was the yaki platter in which you are given some flexibility as to which skewers you'd want grilled. I enjoyed the chicken with spring onion which had a lovely glaze of tare sauce. I couldn't pass up some wagyu which was tender and juicy.
If that wasn't enough, we also got some extra wagyu but on a hotplate. It sat on top of some rosemary and I was happy to roll it around to impart some of that flavour onto the meat. The wagyu was hot off the platter and didn't overcook thanks to the rosemary. Accompanying this was some grilled vegetables as well as a side of salad.
Off menu were the panna cotta topped with fruit. I enjoyed the matcha one the most, noticeable matcha flavour and I enjoyed the black rice cracker that went with it. The black sesame was less smooth and more grainy from the seeds (not particularly a bad thing).
An item we did not get to try were their nabe (Japanese hotpot), my friend seems to steer away from soups. A real shame as I can imagine how tasty that'd be. The meal overall was great value for money, they're also open lunch time where it turns more into a Japanese cafe serving up quality coffee (Dukes coffee) with your Japanese fare.
Top service from the friendly staff at Namoo! Variety of options on the menu for great value. Nice quiet and relaxing ambience on the weekend.
The edamame, gyoza, wagyu steak, kingfish steak and dessert were all delicious! Thank you!
I was trying to find some Japanese restaurant. This cafe gives warm energy. When looking for service, the staff came promptly, the wine was cheap priced and food as well. However, high quality..!!
Came here on weekend, fantastic value.
It was great Japanese spot highly recommend a visit you won’t be disappointed.
Staff were very friendly and nice.
Worth every cent!
Amazing food selections and beautiful ambience. This Japanese inspired cafe is tucked away on a quiet street during weekends but busy during week days. All the food on menu are so value for money - generous portion, good quality ingredients, nonetheless yummy too! Oh ya, they used organic coffee beans for my cuppacinno and I love it. Will certainly come back again.
So handy from work! Food was nicely portioned and after dinner my belly wasn’t on my toes. Super delicious, genuine and super friendly. Free desserts topped up an amazing experience.
Excellent service - everyone was very attentive. The lunch special was good value for money. The food was good quality food & authentic tasting. Relaxing way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
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My husband and I found this hidden Japanese cafe gem on Queen Street and it hits me enough to urge me to write a review straight away ( Im not really a big reviewer tho). The cafe/restaurant was quite quiet on a Sat night but as a quick chat with the owner, they have just opened beginning of this year.The restaurant seems nice and spacious from the outside yet we actually felt quite cosy, maybe because of the welcoming hospitality of the staff, very friendly and helpful with lots of smiles on their faces. Decorations are very cute and detailed in each corner
Food was so delicious. We started with gyoza as my husband likes it. Im not a big fan of gyoza but this one was quite good. Other starter was eggplant with miso sauce.Im a huge fan of this dish and have to order it in every Japanese restaurant. Im so in love with the texture of the Wagyu Nabe soup while my husband really enjoyed all the cold dishes especially the Caspaccio King Fish ( Yuzu or cirtrus) and the Teriyaki BBQ skewers. We especially got a special treat from the chef with the Tuna Tataki and it was so fresh Tuna was melting in the mouth. We also tried the dessert Matcha ( Greentea) and Sesame Panna cotta homemade 👍👍. Pity that we were so full we couldnt try any of the hot plates. Cant wait for next time to be back as price is very reasonable for quality food. Another pity that they dont open late at night ( Maybe because they open from 7am-9pm?)
Another plus point is wheelchairs and pram accessible ( ramp on the side of the restaurant) and its spacious so easy to move around. Last but not least I highly recommend this place because I think all the stores that are using or shifting to a more eco-friendly packaging and system should be recognised. Little act helps the environment even tho it may increase the business cost. They earned so much points from me using paper straws and bags. Im gonna be your loyalty customer.
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This place is a gem. It has just opened and I’m so excited that we discovered it while walking back from the gym one day.
It has a cosy atmosphere, smiley staff and a great menu with fantastic value lunch deals.
We went in to try one of the lunch deals - 19 dollars got us a hot or cold drink ( this includes matcha/houjicha/coffee lattes!), an entree and a main. We think this is a really great deal, especially since the food was spectacular!
I ordered the gyoza for my entree - there were 4 crispy skinned gyoza with delicious fresh fillings. Omg. So good.
I got a beautiful sashimi salad bowl for my main - it was filled with fresh and colourful veggies, avocado, edamame, pickles and the textures and flavours were spot on.
For my drink : iced houjicha. So refreshing for what was a really hot day.
The menu had curry, salmon steaks, noodles and more.., so much variety!!
It really was stunningly presented, and so yummy. We are heading back for dinner soon and will tell you what that is like too!
Edit: Went back for dinner! It was wonderful.
We ordered the kingfish steak hot plate, and the plate of nigiri. Both were presented beautifully and cooked to perfection. :)
We loved that the kingfish steak had topped with wasabi and then torched- that smoked wasabi flavour was addictive. The veggies that came with it were special too- the pumpkin being our fave. The salad had a ponzu-style dressing, and had pickle in it. Yum!!
My fave out of the black rice nigiri was the eel, but all of it tasted super fresh! I love the fact that they use black rice here!
The restaurant offered us complimentary desserts: a matcha and a black sesame panacotta. Both were creamy, not too sweet and really spot on in flavour. Generous servings, plus the garnishes were delicious.
P.S: We have also been back to try the grilled chicken curry at lunch - it is awesome!! Highly recommend! 😍😍
The food was fine, but there's no value for money here. I don't mind paying for quality food but I have had better at other places for less.
Maybe it because we had take away.
It's a places you need and hour or two, to sit in and order a few things to share and enjoy the food.
It ls a lovely little setting, hidden away, an I would love to come and back and experience the dine in.
3.5 ☆
10/10 will be back again. Everything on the plate is quality, beautiful, and yummy.
Usually come here for lunch but dinner presents a different menu I had to try.
Nabe is enough for 1.5 so ordered a salad. Servings are generous.
Store is clean and staff are attentive. Came at 6 and food was out very quickly.
Delicious! The food was very good, got a whole meal with so many different kinds of dishes for only 30 dollars. Very filling. The presentation of the food very accurate. The location easy and had great music in the background. The kitchen was open till late and even if they closed they let us finish our meal with no rush. Great job!
Great food!
Fried chicken was juicy inside and crispy outside with greatly marinated! Recommendable for anyone wanting Korean food. Also, they've got nice sashimi range! Will be back for sure to try other menu in the near future.
Delicious Japanese curry with good size portions (for affordable prices). Friendly staff and good atmosphere. Lunch menu may be limited, recommended to come during dinner time
Great place for seafood lover!! highly recommend the unagi roll and the fish roe hotpot ❤️quite expensive but the food quality is great! sashimi is fresh and the food is served very quick!!
Good meal. Nice environment.
Chicken katsu was a bit dry.
Presentation of the food was good.
Bingsu was a bit expensive for such a small portion though.
I highly recommend this Japanese eatery because of their customer service, excellent friendly staff & wonderful quality dining experience.
Wagyu Steak
I was stunned at how well cooked the wagyu steak was with the nice searing on top. The wagyu steak itself was so juicy, tender & a delicious eating experience.
Namoo Platter:
The platter comes with assorted 24pcs Sashimi, Scampi, Oyster, Nigiri, Tacowasabi & Octopus. The generous portion of the sashimi/ seafood on the platter was very fresh & goes well with the dipping sauces included in the Namoo platter.
Vegetable Nabe:
The soup was the perfect combination to follow up with the main dishes. Very light soup and highly recommended.
Soft-shell Crab Roll:
The sushi roll was delicious. It was perfectly rolled with generous filling of the crispy soft shell crab.
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