Review Machi Restaurant And Bar - St Kilda

We found this hidden gem not too far from the city, about 15 minutes’ drive. The food is stunning, the staff are extremely friendly and knowledgeable about the food. We enjoyed our delicious food and drinks. Pity that one of us couldn’t really enjoy seafood, we didn’t order many seafood dishes, as this restaurant is well known for their seafood. From the corn ribs to the crab meat and till dessert, everything we ate was extremely fresh and delicious. The restaurant also offers wonderful drinks menu. The decor is minimal and simple, not overly busy and it makes the place enjoyable. Overall, we would love to come back here again with friends.

We are so amazed by this place, food was fantastic, we couldn't stop complementing at all food on the table, and service was so good, Ashly was so friendly and very attentive, he was super patient in explaining every dish to us. My favourites dish is the smoky pork belly, it is a must try dish. Excellent experience, not just the amazing food, but also learnt so much about Japanese food culture, 100stars, highly recommend 👌

Food were well presented. Excellent customer service when it's not busy but when the restaurant got packed, we had to keep looking for attention. Restaurant's ambience is very comfortable. Reading the food on the menu looks very tasty and we just wanted to try it all. Tacos were good. Main Wagyu beef melted in our mouth but there were only 5 thin slices. Ordered ribs but it was kind of dry. Special Main Eel to share (3-4ppl), tastes ok. It's fine overall. Just a bit pricey for its portion as it wasn't filling.

Machi has been a bit of an icon in St Kilda since opening in 2012. They've recently added some new items to their menu and started offering a lunch service on the weekends - we were invited down to check it out. I have to say, we were blown away with the food and the service! All the dishes were works of art and the flavours were amazing, with the combination of Japanese technical expertise and the of quality of the local produce really shining through. The staff were really amazing, it always elevates your dining experience when the staff have a passion for what they do Ash took the time to explain the elements of each dish and provide suggestions for us. Catering for dietary requirements was not a problem at all. The menu consists of traditional sushi and sashimi along side a beautiful range of contemporary creations. We tried a range of dishes and highly recommend the Spanner crab tartar (OMG), the delicate flavoursome Japanese tacos and the wagyu croquettes. Oh and you have to try the miso duck breast! Machi nail their concise selection of desserts and they have a lovely selection of cocktails (most can be made non-alcoholic). Pro-tip try the Tokyo Mistress. Post Covid Machi continues to bring an elegant, high quality, intimate Japanese dining experience to the st Kilda scene.

I had been to Machi around 1 year ago and was super delicious so I came back again. The corn ribs and karage chicken still so nice. I ordered the maki roll this time which is quite average, and quite expensive. The sushi taco is ok but honestly the taste and presentation was nicer one year ago. I tired the miso duck breast this time and it was good. Hope that Machi can keep the food quality as I really like this place.

💕 tokyo mistress 🥃 plum splash 🐮 wagyu croquette 🥩 wagyu uni rice 🪷 lotus nori taco 🦀 spanner crab tartare 🐟 cured kingfish 🍣 tuna tartare taco 🍤 prawn tempura taco 🌊 nori chips & curry mayo 🏠: @machistkilda 📍: St Kilda 📝: Machi combines Japanese technique with Australian produce. Been meaning to visit this nice little spot for a while now, they’ve just added lunch service on weekends as well so make sure to pay them a visit. ❤️: Big shout out to their new menu! WAGYU UNI RICE—available this weekend onwards‼️ Love that it comes in a hot stone pot so the rice becomes burnt and crispy underneath 😍. Other dishes were super delicious as well, with special mentions to Crispy Nori Tacos and Wagyu Croquettes.

Always love a good Japanese restaurant and Machi St Kilda is definitely one of them! We dined on a Friday night and they were so under the pump but still managed to served up great food! On the night we had: - wagyu croquette - corn ribs - beef tataki - machi taco platter - beef short rib - lobster don - peach brulee - raspberry sorbet All the food was tasty and service was good and that lobster don was gorgeous. Highly recommended everyone give this place a visit!

I’ve only heard good things about Machi and this place has always been on my list. Finally got to visit on a weekday night and I wasn’t even surprised that it was packed! *Remember to book online / call beforehand! Anyway, the food and service were both not bad. Between the two of us, we ordered four tacos, maki roll, wagyu foie gras uni rice and seafood udon. I would have to say that the portions are small, we left being just not hungry anymore, definitely weren’t full… Out of those four dishes, I highly recommend their tacos and lobster maki roll! Tacos were beautiful and I would revisit just to try other flavours. Crunchy lobster maki roll was absolutely out of this world, I’ve never had crunchy sushi before so this hits me hard but in a really good way. Not only that, the seafood udon was beautiful as well and it has that amazing charred taste to it. I had high expectations towards their wagyu foie gras uni rice but tbh I was a little disappointed as I’ve had better ones elsewhere and having to pay $80 for this rice dish, I def expected more from this… and also, I couldn’t find any uni in the dish even though it’s written on the menu. I would recommend a visit if you haven’t but prepare to spend a lot if you wanna feel full. Other than being overpriced, everything else was enjoyable.

My partner and I googled Japanese close by where we live, this was close. We had tried a few on Acland st and they where cheap but a little bit of. Let down.<br/><br/>We where walking to this restaurant and I was saying to my partner I should of brought extra money, his reply was it’s Japanese it’s not going to be expensive. <br/><br/>Well we where shown to our table open the menu and my partner was like oh no. I was totally wrong. The table next to us ordered grilled beef and we only saw it from the corner of our eyes. So my partner wanted that. I had my mind set on sashimi. <br/><br/>After ordering our grilled beef. It was very small serving for $39 dollars. Taste good but very small serving! It was my partners favourite.<br/><br/>I ordered sushi and sashimi for two people which cost $74.80<br/>The sashimi was supper fresh and the highlight of the night in my opinion. but expensive. <br/><br/>After finishing our two dishes I looked at my partner and said, I am still hungry he laughs and said me to, he then said what’s around that’s open, I said here here let’s get one sushi roll and we will be fine. So we ordered one crispy prawn maki (sushi roll). It was so fresh and it was $19 dollars but worth it.<br/><br/>When we asked question our waiter didn’t speak much English and couldn’t explain the menu very well. That’s half the reason I rate it a 3 and also we still left hungry after spending like $144 <br/><br/>Would I go back. Maybe to just but 3 different maki rolls but other wise I’m in search for somewhere els. I’ll try the one on the esplanade next :-)

Some friends and I ordered takeaway from here via their online menu, which we were sad to find was out of date. When we got to the restaurant and looked at the current menu, the prices were much higher, but we were hungry and we were already there. We figured for the prices, we'd at least get a decent sized meal.<br/><br/>Imagine my surprise when my portion of eggplant chips, which were $17, contained 4 chips. FOUR CHIPS.<br/><br/>And my beef ribs, which were $37, would literally only barely fill maybe one of those small bowls they give you for rice.<br/><br/>So disappointed. Never ordering from or dining in here ever again.

Everything I have tried has been amazing. I absolutely love the black cod and unagi don. Service is great too. You can really tell the quality in all the dishes and I am most impressed with how they prepare all the meals while I've waited for pickup.

All we ordered were not meeting our expectation. Really disappointed. Can't believe you are above 4 on Zumato. If the food were just ok, perhaps you shouldn't ask for such a high price. If your price is high (at least not cheap), you should offer better quality food.

Went to this place for a birthday dinner. A little overrated. The food was normal.<br/>Ordered a taco, the nori shell was too oily, filling inside was normal .The eggplant chips was the best overall but kind of overpriced for 4 pieces of eggplant I guess. <br/>Had a risotto with some foie gras , unfortunately the rice based itself was too oily .

Machi is a Japanese restaurant with simple decor and beautiful walls of art. Their menu is mostly traditional, with little modern twists here and there. Our favourite were the sushi & sashimi moriawase and yuzu kingfish. Fresh and delicious!

Very disappointed. Wait for half and hours for one meals to came out and the bbq wagyu was over cooked.

The urchin risotto is super super super salty! Can’t eat at all! The sashimi was not fresh as other shop. My family feel unwell after eating that!<br/><br/><br/>👎👎👎海胆饭：最期待的一道菜，也是失望到谷底的一到！第一口吃下去差点没有咸到吐出来，那感觉太恐怖了！就像有人毫无预警的给你塞了一大口盐巴。海胆是咸的，鱼子酱是咸的，貌似最上面还撒了盐巴！怎么搅拌都咸到起飞的那种。35.8AUD我敢说是我在全澳洲吃过最差劲的一道菜！<br/><br/>taco拼盘：不知道点什么得话点拼盘还不错，和牛口味的不错，但是也偏咸。没有传说中的惊人好吃<br/><br/>Sashimi拼盘：个人觉得食材不是非常新鲜，也不够冰，有的鱼肉吃起来口感不好……而且由于我们等菜时间太长了，就坐在那边看他们切生鱼，um……我感觉墨尔本随便找家日料都能赢他们<br/><br/>👍龙虾饭：如果一定要推荐一道菜就他吧，量很足（毕竟79AUD），里面可以吃到鱼生、炸龙虾和烤龙虾肉。另外会配绿茶拌饭，挺特别的吧<br/><br/>ps：家人吃完回来肚子感到不舒服……我就不多说什么了

A Nice Dinner.

We sampled some of the dishes that utilises Uni. Uni is the Japanese word for sea urchin and it has a bit of a pungenty flavour, it has become a favourite ingredient of mine lately but it can be quite pricey. The strong flavour means it’s not something to eat excessive amounts of. Machi sources fresh and high quality uni.

Waiting for almost one hour for first dish without water and drinks which were ordered. And restroom was dirty. Can’t believe such poor service. Won’t come again.

Have been here a few times although not for a while. I don’t know what has happened to this place , but the service and food were terrible.<br/>Wait staff were all over the place had no clue what they were doing, food came out in dribs and drabs some of us had already finished eating and others were still waiting on food. The service was unbearably slow, and the food is not what it used to be, very very oily and way too over seasoned.<br/>What a shame , I won’t be back

Lovely small store with good range of choices! Fresh fruit and good quality ic cream! Good service! Definitely will recommend to my friends!

Everything is up to the standard except for the duck breast, the flavour is boring and I wish I didn’t order that<br/>Absolutely love the taco sushi, so crunchy and tasty, highly recommended!<br/>

Yuzu cheese cake is pretty good. <br/>Peach cream brûlée is just fine.<br/>Tacos are always my favorite here.<br/>Unagi don is large portion and the rice mixed with mushrooms under unagi is tasty as well.<br/>A Highly recommended Japanese restaurant

Great friendly service. <br/><br/>The restaurant has a nice ambient feel to it. It would be a nice place for a romantic date. <br/><br/>The food is modern Japanese. They have interesting sushi tacos; think crispy seaweed as taco shells with a variety of fillings.<br/><br/>The Machi seafood platter has a nice mix of hot and cold seafood. Consisting of fried stuff on the top tier, oysters and scallops in the middle tier and sushi and sashimi on the bottom. It's noted down as for 4 people but really it's a good size for 2, maybe it'll feed 4 children.<br/><br/>Overall the experience was good and would recommend this place for good quality Japanese.

To be honest, I am a little surprised by such a high rating for this restaurant. <br/><br/>The food was OK - not great but definitely not bad but the prices were right up there at fine dining standards. Further, service was not great with inexperienced floor staff which were a hard to get hold of at the best of times. <br/><br/>Whilst not a bad experience in any way, the quality of food, service and environment does not balance with the price level this restaurant is playing at, IMHO.

We’ve been told have to wait for half hour in a quite time and there is plenty of seats inside! poor management and poor service! Never back again!

Came by on a Saturday night with a group of friends. It was extremely busy, so service was quite slow. They were considerate and organised for all our meals to come out around the same time. However, the table was booked out after us, so we only had about 30mins to eat by the time the food came out. I had the Tacos (the beef and the lobster meat) - they were something different and tasty. Great flavours and texture. The sashimi and sushi were fresh. The plum wine was sweet and tasty.

The Wagyu beef hot pot is so nice! & seafood sushi roll so love!

For $39 we received 3 spanner crab claws that were dry and with no more than a teaspoon of meat. Paella and Tacos were good as were the rest of the dishes , just expensive . Service was friendly and staff efficient. Just don’t order the crab claw .

If you visit with lower expectation you will be satisfy with the dinner. The customer service is very good, but you can feel the working procedure is a bit messy. We actually booked for 6:45 online but when we arrived they wrote our booking at 7:45. The food serving is slow, there is a long gap time between each dishes. The food is not coming in a good order, (we got hot tempura first, then cold uni risotto, then hot food again, at last for the sashimi)<br/>For food, I am amazed by the eel taco and uni risotto. Salmon sashimi is not at expected standard though.

It’s a strange setting. Its decor and feel is like a standard pub/bar, yet the prices they charge for the food is close to fine dining. I think its score would be higher if the food quality and value is better - unfortunate because the padt reviews has been quite good.

Came here on a Saturday night with friends so had an opportunity to try several dishes.<br/>We ordered the waygu beef tacos, lobster tacos, eggplant chips, beef tataki, spicy tuna tartare, prawn tempura, edamame and chicken karaage.<br/>The stand outs were definitely the beef tacos, beef tataki and eggplant chips. <br/>The cocktail we ordered had a unique taste which I prefer and definitely worth ordering.<br/>Service was friendly and the food came out very fast even though it was nearly a full house.

Excellent Japanese cuisine beautifully presented with attentive service. Japanese with a modern twist. Wagyu fried rice a delicious surprise.

Delicious! Great all round experience - good ambience (the place was filled on a Tuesday night!) super friendly and attentive staff...and enjoyable well prepared and presented food. We had the share platter for 4 - at $109 for 4 of us it certainly hit the spot. Great variety of seafood...the scallops were delicious! We added edamame, a plate of dumplings and 2 tacos and we were quite satisfied. Drinks were well priced and a good selection. Will definitely be heading back...and might try the ‘banquet/degustation’ style feast that the table beside us was enjoying - so much food and so much variety - would’ve fed me for a week!! Thanks for a lovely birthday dinner.

My friends and I all love Japanese food! Saw machi advertising on instagram so we thought to give it a try! Saw instagram advertising their Uni bun and other stuffs but we were told that their sea urchin is sold out. How possibly could a Japanese restaurant sold out sea urchin when most of their photos advertise it? Not to mention that their photos look like some classy restaurant but it looks more like casual/ fast food restaurant to me. We ordered some starter, sashimi and tacos for sharing. The eggplant chips is amazing, but the otoro and beef tataki are not fresh in my opinion. Sorry to say that it is a very disappointing experience, would not recommend to any of our friends.

Even though there were mixed reviews, Machi is definitely worth a try. Everything I had was well above average but my favourites were the bone marrow rice, o toro uni taco and squid ink bun with crab and uni.<br/>Did not like the crispy lobster sushi roll. Very underwhelming.<br/>Price is slightly on the steep side and portions are relatively small.<br/>The service overall was pleasant.

Machi serve top class Japanese delicacies. We went straight to the chef special .<br/><br/>We ordered the grilled king prawn with Chilli garlic sauce and lobster soba as main.<br/><br/>Sushi was well balance and perfectly prepared .<br/><br/>The mini fish tempura was well prepared .<br/><br/>One minor lacking is the dessert . The cream coffee needs to have ice cream . Peach burlee was a much better alternative .

Staffs are very friendly, Great services! Foods are good! Definitely will come back. Booking through zomato 👍🏻 we tried some of their menu and mostly delicious. 👍🏻👍🏻

Beautifully presented machi box 🍣🍱 (chirashi sushi rice with fish on top)<br/>but it’s more beautiful to look at than taste bomb at $70 .. with the exception that sea urchin was really nice! <br/>Good quality ingredients but the taste was just not there for me. 😢<br/>The dishes were more Korean rather than authentic Japanese flavours 😓

Decent Japanese food that’s on the pricey side. The tempura was light and crunchy. The beef tataki was quite strong in flavour, like how it’s done at Nobu. The unagi don had a lot of eel, and was tasty and filling. Similarly, the machi box was very generous in the toppings, but eating the rice in that was a bit bland and needed soy sauce.<br/>The service was friendly and efficient. The restaurant wasn’t even nearly as busy as we expected, as reviews suggested it’s often packed.

We decided to book a family dinner at Machi in St Kilda on a Saturday night. The venue is quite small, but it’s modern and clean, and there’s bar seating where you can watch the chefs prepare in the open kitchen.<br/><br/>The restaurant serves modern, and quite high-end, Japanese fusion food. They have classics like sashimi and tempura, but also fun items like nori tacos and uni buns. I’d definitely recommend ordering the dishes from the Chef’s Special Menu as those were the most memorable of the night.<br/><br/>We ordered a variety of dishes between 5, the main highlights being:<br/>- Machi Taco Platter: 6 different kinds of their famous Machi Tacos! The nori is fried crispy without being too oily and the toppings are delicious! My favourite would have to be the Tuna & Pork Floss one.<br/>- Uni & Crab Bun: quite hefty at almost $30 a bun, but they were absolutely heavenly! The filling of crab was so nice and creamy and the seafood flavour was on point! Definitely try this if you’re okay with splurging!<br/>- Unagi Rice: can never go wrong with eel on rice! The serving was huge, with plenty of saucy eel on top of a bed of delicious Japanese sushi rice. The tea broth when mixed in with the rice is amazing too!<br/>- Baked Mentaiko Udon: such a unique and creative presentation! The udon was encased in a giant leaf and baked inside, so you have to peel it off when you eat it (it can get a bit messy!). The sauce was creamy and rich without being too heavy, and there was plenty of seafood too. <br/><br/>Overall, we had a lovely evening at Machi. Dishes were on the pricey side, but everything was high quality and amazing.

Decided give this place a go had a craving for some Japanese food. Came here and ordered a few dishes and each dish besides the sashimi platter was very unique modern Japanese fusion. Delicious and will be back for sure highly recommended.

The uni risotto is too salty.We order the sushi platter, however the ingredients are not fresh. All staff does not wear the glove to make dishes and some of them even wear the ring, which looks very dirty. Have a high expectation but is jut too pricey. Definitely not go back.<br/>

We ordered the eel taco and the prawn taco which were very nice. The premium sushi platter, o-toro nigiri and the mentaiko udon are pretty average as we felt that some of the seafood ingredients were not that fresh. Also the wasabi inside the sushi was way too spicy and completely covered up all the other flavour. The staff were also unknowledgeable of the ingredients used in the dishes. The girl serving us was very friendly but unable to tell us the types of fish that were used in the sushi platter. Given the premium price they are charging I don’t think I will return again.

Terrible meals, had really high expectation but turned out to be not as fresh ingredients. Defiantly not gonna come again. Worst experience ever!!

A very disappointing experience. In every aspect of the experience Machi cane up very short. I strongly advise anyone in the st Kilda area to avoid this disappointing establishment.

What I like; cured kingfish, tempura and duck breast. The kingfish is reallyyy nice and I’m in love with the duck breast. The vibe is good as well.<br/><br/>What I don’t like; the waitress doesn’t know what nigiri they have in the menu (huge minus point to me) and the way they poured the beer to us is wrong and there were still a bit beer left in the bottle. If you don’t know how to pour beer then don’t do it. And the spicy tuna roll with ‘no-flavor’ wasabi and the spicy tuna isnt spicy at all.

Soon there’ll be a whole lot of new things to discover at Machi. Their summer menu is coming in soon, together with a refreshed interior. As usual, their seafood is of high quality and its freshness really shines. There’s nowhere to hide when the seafood is under the spotlight in dishes like sashimi, scallop and crab crackers, and in their range of Machi Tacos. Always a crowd favourite, the taco menu has a few new additions like lobster and tuna & pork floss.

I was fortunate enough to be invited here for dinner to try their latest menu. All the food served here is home made on site each day and everything tasted fresh.<br/><br/>We started w some delicious seaweed tacos filled w yummy seafood delicacies. They were light and really fun, although a little tricky to eat lol<br/><br/>Then we tried sea urchins w an oyster on house made sourdough w miso sauce and this was a mix of flavours. This was unique, but the sea urchin was delicate and the miso worked so well. Definitely one to try. <br/><br/>Other highlights included a sushimi platter, constructed on a plate as if it was a beach or ocean setting. This was very cleverly crafted and presented and the sashimi, was amazing! <br/><br/>The Grade 8 Wagyu beef just melted in my mouth, it was delicious and I really liked the presentation. <br/><br/>The dessert was absolutely awesome! It was a creme brûlée Japanese style. It just melted and it was the most delicious custard that I've ever eaten!! Full stop. If you like desserts this is the place. <br/><br/>I can recommend this place and I thank the owners for the invitation.

I have tried so many Japanese places in melbourne and I've grown an appreciation for it. This place is something else. Blown away from the first course to the last. Great flavours and presentation. The meat was well cooked and so tender. By far the best Japanese food I have tried in Melbourne.

Eating at Machi Japanese Restaurant last night was an absolute treat; on a warm Melbourne Tuesday evening, tables were full, the kitchen was booming and the energy in the venue was tangible.<br/><br/>At Machi, head chef and owner Michael, who boasts over 15 years of Japanese restaurant experience, along with his talented team, including ex-Michelin star restaurant chefs and chefs headhunted from restaurants such as Nobu, quality is everything, and it is evident in every bite. Everything is home-made at Machi, including, as we were proudly told, the different flavours of ice cream.<br/><br/>Our feast began with sweet potato and taro crackers, which were well flavoured with just the right amount of crunch and salt. Soon after, our scallop crackers arrived, which were beautifully garnished, but tasted even better than they appeared. The scallops were accompanied by different sauces and flavours.<br/><br/>Next we had sea urchin buns. When ordering any kinds of buns, there is often a concern that they will be too dry; Machi removed these fears, serving perfectly moist and soft black buns with a blend of crab and sea urchin plonked in the middle; a genuine treat which was widely enjoyed by our whole party.<br/><br/>The highlight of the meal for many was next; a mesmerising sashimi platter, Japanese tacos and a tray of salmon nigiri. The tacos included tempura prawn, salmon, lobster and tuna; too many to chose from!<br/><br/>When Michael told us that we were soon going to be eating what he called a 'Japanese-style paella', we weren't sure what to expect. But, once it was brought out, this crab and squid claypot turned out to be a genuine masterpiece, with a gorgeous garnished crab on top. The stew took chefs almost the whole day to complete, and trust me, it was well worth it and we enjoyed absolutely every bite and scraped off every last grain from the pot.<br/><br/>A lovely cheesecake, blueberry and ice cream dessert was enjoyed by all, as well as delicious and unique sakes and cocktails - we must confess, the portion size of the cocktails were pleasantly larger than what other institutions provide, so thank you Machi!<br/><br/>Overall, Machi was welcoming and comforting, the food was of a world-class level and is now one of our favourite Japanese restaurants in Melbourne; Michael and the team, we will be back to visit and eat soon!

We were the first to arrive for the night and were greeted with smiles and pleasantries. The place soon filled up as we chose from the big menu. We just started on our edamame (beans) when our orders arrived with impressive speed and beautifully presented.<br/><br/>The sharing platter contained a good mixture of tempura, oysters, sushi and sashimi. The tempura was light and tasty, while the seafood, sushi and sashimi were fresh and deliciously combined. While the platter was big, we demolished it in no time, savouring each bite. Our friend also enjoyed her mushroom and eggplant dish, loving the flavours in the sauce. I couldn't resist the temptation of a black sesame panna cotta, which was sweetened by a chocolate crumble and fresh berries.<br/><br/>The modern setting was a comfortable spot to enjoy their diverse offerings and attentive service. It was packed by the time we left. The taco dishes looked appetising as they arrived on neighbouring tables; perhaps something to try next time we come back.

Such a nice dinner I had tonight . I started having a beef tataki and 3 oysters. Tataki pretty well seasoned and oysters were really fresh also perfect temperature.<br/>After that I had a scallop tataki. Beautiful presentation and full of flavour and freshness. <br/>To end my dinner I had a steamed barramundi which was perfectly cooked. <br/>I’ll be back .

Machi is a Japanese restaurant located in St. Kilda. The place was not so big, but it was always crowded, so reservations are required. The stand out dishes were eel donburi, which was really good. The eel was so tender almost melt in your mouth. The machi box was a creative twist on the classic chirashi, but I prefer the regular chirashi, since it had more flavour from the sashimi. The wagyu on stone grill and uni squid ink bun were average, nothing too special. The machi tacos were really good, the nori was crispy and not oily at all, and the filling inside was really tasty. The desserts were all pretty good, but nothing too special. Definitely would come back for the other dishes!

Very nice tempura seaweed taco. Highly recommend Must visit for seafood and Japanese food lovers. <br/>For more foodie goodness follow my ig: emptystomach

I’ve been here twice & overall the food here tastes pretty good.. this time we ordered a small sashimi, uni risotto, assorted Machi Tacos (I picked Tuna & Uni), lobster roll & Unagi on rice.. my preference was the uni risotto (not sure why it was called a risotto as it was just sea urchin, some cookes salmon, fish roe on Japanese rice with some sauce), my favourite was the Tacos as they use seaweed as the tacos shell & it was very crispy.. another must try dish is the unagi on rice.. it is served together with a pot of soup/stock.. you are meant to mix the unagi with rice & pour in some soup & have it together.. just same like what I have taste when I was travelled in japan.. however for the unagi bowl they forgot to serve us the soup pot until we asked for it.. it is actually not cheap though for this dinner but it were delicious..

We tried few dishes in Machi and the general experience was great.<br/><br/>Urchin risotto: the uni are fresh and the taste of rice is good<br/><br/>Lobster taco: the texture is interesting with the tempura seaweed wrap love it!<br/><br/>Urchin bun: this is the best throughout the whole meal <br/><br/>Wagyu Beef barbeque: the downside of the whole meal. Beef are not high quality , dosent worth the price<br/><br/>Bone marrow kimchi rice: it is fair,would love to try the japanese paella<br/>

Eel donburi is too salty and over priced. The skin of the eel is too soft and aborbed too much water from rice. The rice is mixed with mushrooms and it is just wired.

We ordered two $120 sets, we got an double entrance and double desert but we only got one main course, charged us $240 for this. The food is good but the services is too mess! Too terrible.

A pretty innovative Japanese eatery<br/><br/>Ambience: The place is pretty quiet as it was a thu night, quite spacious but not big and dimly lit.<br/><br/>Service: The staffs are all very friendly, though english might not be the best, basics are okay. It was a bit hard to get their attention but not too bad. One thing was apparent though, the first two dish came quite quickly, but the rest took such a long time, we were asking them a few times about it.<br/><br/>Food: Agedashi tofu was decent, the tofu was fried in this sticky crispy batter and soaked in the soy sauce which were not very salty.<br/><br/>Nori tacos were pretty good, both unagi and fillet were yum, crunchy shell and good combination overall with the rice and vegs, okay snack size, can be bigger.<br/><br/>The lobster maki (if i wasn't mistaken couldn't find it in the menu) was pretty good. It was deep fried so it's crunchy and it wasn't oily, the taste was pretty good overall, wasn't sickening.<br/><br/>Uni risotto: It was my first time having sea urchin so i couldn't say much about it but it was put on top of the risotto and the texture was jelly like and didn't smell fishy, but could've been marinated or something as it didn't taste like much. The risotto itself was i guess decent, tasted like soy sauce and was bit salty, there were also some chunks of salmon in there. The presentation was really cute though, as the plate itself is the shell of sea urchin.<br/><br/>The baked mentaiko seafood udon was actually pretty good. We love the umami flavor from the mentaiko and the poached egg made a creamy sauce. There were salmon, clams and prawns in there. Udon were nicely cooked too.<br/><br/>Miso baked salmon is not recommended. The salmon itself wasn't very fragrant or fresh, and tasted pretty bland. The vegs on the side were bit overcooked as well and again, lacked flavour.<br/><br/>Stone grill wagyu was okay, though the cooking experience was pretty exciting. The meat itself were very tender as it is a first grade wagyu but again you only get a few slices, accompanied with umeboshi (pickled plum), sauce, shrooms, and braised lotus root.<br/><br/>Price: it's pricier than your average Japanese eats, more of a fine dining price.<br/><br/>YUM: nori taco, baked mentaiko seafood udon<br/>NAH: miso baked salmon<br/><br/>photos: more in the photo section!<br/><br/>( follow for more!✨)<br/><br/>ｘｘ，ｊｏｅｌｌｅ.

Would I return? 100%<br/>Machi is quietly tucked into Inkerman St. It is an intimate restaurant with low lighting and Japanese Décor. Though the plates are petite, they come bursting with flavour. Machi is probably moving towards pricey, you can easily justify the cost with the quality of food. I pre-booked a quiet dinner for 2 mid week. As it was a Tuesday it wasn’t busy at all which made for a peaceful dinner. Great place for a date or to catch up with a small group of friends.<br/> <br/>We started with some Miso Soup. It was a cold night and as we were not drinking flet it would be a good starter. We were right, so heart warming and full of flavour. Not your average Miso Soup! Next was Karaage Chicken which was marinated in some kind of incredible sauce and crumbed beautifully. Great to try this dish with a twist on the normal Karaage. Next was the Pork Gyozas, a hit on our table. The skin was on point and the meat tasty although I must say compared to all the other dishes we tried, not bursting with flavour but it is Pork Gyoza. We also had the Prawn Tempura which was equally tasty as it was to its presentation. We finished with a Seafood Noodle Dish. This is something I would normally not try but my partner in crime really wanted to get it. I am so glad that I agreed as it was simply delicious and check out how it came presented – wrapped in a leave.<br/> <br/>Was the service spot on? Yes: they got the orders right and were tentative to our table. Overall, it’s a great gem and I would totally go back again.

Quietly tucked into Inkerman St is Machi. Though the plates are petite, they come bursting with flavour. Machi is probably moving towards pricey, you can easily justify the cost with the quality of food. It’s busy, servers are friendly and attentive. There’s a great selection of Japanes drinks (and an excellent sake list).

Nice price for the quality of food,<br/>If you crave a good traditional Japanese cuisine without the very high pricetag<br/>Machi is where you should be going in the area.<br/><br/> I gave a 4 due to some of the fish didn't taste very fresh

We went there last Sunday. Friendly staff, great environment, food service was quick enough. I enjoyed most of our dishes except the sashimi platter, it’s not very fresh. But to be fair it’s not expensive. The platter is for two people to share but each sashimi has three slices. I couldn’t finish the platter and felt it was a little too much raw food in my tummy. But overall, it’s a great gem and I would totally go back again.

I booked a table for 5 people, but they only served us with 4 people's seats. 3 of us had to squeeze ourselves in 2 people's seats and there was no other place to put our jackets which makes the seats even smaller.<br/>The food was just so so. We ordered 2 entrees, only one appeared on the table. At the end we reminded the waitress twice and finally they served the last entree - the eggplant chips which tasted terrible only sour not crispy at all.<br/>I do believe that the food wasn't fresh enough cos all of us had diarrhea when we back home.

The service here is lovely. Our favourite pick is urchin taco, very fresh and good quality. The portion of eel rice is quit big for two. We will come back to try more very soon!

It’s nice and clean.<br/>The seafood and fresh and good.<br/>The wagyu is half raw, it’s so good.<br/>The pork gyoza got a lot of veggies and nice pork in it, I like it so much.<br/>The uni rice, don’t really know what’s the Japanese name, but it’s the sea urchins with rice, it’s creamy and tasty and fresh.<br/>The udon is nice, I recommend this.<br/>The peach flavoured dessert, that one is good, but I think it taste like peach yogurt.<br/>It’s a good restaurant. 😊

Size of eel donburi is really large.Three of us ordered one and share. Very good Japanese cuisine and even better than Kenzan. Also the tacos for sharing are good！

Perfect sashimi and beef!!!! Unlike the crabs I tried in some restaurants which is thin and merely shell, the one in machi is full of crab meat. Amazing! Urchin risotto is satisfying and I heard now is the best season for having urchin. Sashimi contains various kinds of fish meat, creating a vivid taste for our tongues. I would also recommend the beef which is soft and juicy. I would like to try more sashimi next time.😋😋😋

Another neighborhood gem. I rarely use exaggerated description of a dish but the truffle seafood rice is out this world, worth every cent of its price. It is reasonably priced and with the entertainment book offer it is event better.

Lovedddd all the sushi and sashimi. Everything was fresh and the portion size was very generous. I would have liked more uni flavour throughout the uni risotto though. Service was really good. Everything was aesthetically pleasing. Feast for the eyes and soul. Highly recommend it

Very disappointed. Worst experience ever in Japanese restaurants in Australia. Sashimi was not fresh!! Not fresh!! The cheese cake tasted really bad!! Won’t recommend.

Lovely food, everything was fresh and delicious! Fresh change from all the big names in the Japanese world, so would highly recommend a visit. Though service could definitely be improved, one of our orders wasn’t taken correctly or repeated back, and I found the cleaning of the tables a bit off putting when the waitress just swept the crumbs directly onto us!

Finally got around to trying Machi after hearing so many good things about it. Admittedly, one thing that always put me off trying it was the lack of parking, however we struck gold and got a park nearby without even having to circle the block.<br/><br/>We got shown to the table and given our menus right away, and I was disappointed to see that something that very much appealed to me on their online menu, wasn't in their current physical menu. I think that as soon as a restaurant updates their menu, they need to fix it online too. However ... it didn't take me long to decide what to order, and some of that decision was made based on what I saw people at the next table eating. The food looked so good, and we were not disappointed in it at all.<br/><br/>We started with some Karaage Chicken and a salmon taco and both were divine. I think it was some of the most delicious Karaage Chicken I'd ever had. It was marinated in some kind of incredible sauce, crumbed beautifully and in generous portions with soft, tender chicken. Faultless. I thought there'd be two salmon tacos though for the price they charged ($8 for something you can eat in two bites), but alas, there was just the one. It was so good, I could have actually stuffed the whole thing in my big mouth. It was so flavourful and the seaweed was perfectly crunchy. It came beautifully presented on it's own little taco stand. For the main course (which did take a little while to come out ... ), I got the tempura fish and chips, which was really good. It was two pieces of barramundi and one piece of salmon all in a light tempura batter with sweet potato chips and a great Japanese mayo. It was also very flavourful, without being too oily or heavy. Everyone was happy with the dishes they ordered and all felt content with the portion sizes. All food -- both on our table and on others -- is really well presented and to me that's almost as important as the taste.<br/><br/>Was the service spot on? Not quite; it was patchy and slow at times, but they got the orders right and the tasty food more than made up for it. I'm so glad I came here finally and cannot wait for another visit. I would suggest you book though, because it's not overly huge inside and you don't want to miss out on getting a table.<br/>

Would i return? Hell yeah.<br/>Pre-booked/planned dinner party for 6 ladies - the food was outstanding. Pork Gyozas (we should have ordered more), Beef Tataki, Machi Rainbow Maki x2, Kingfish Sashimi, Scallops, Oysters and more. The Rainbow Maki is perfect if, like me, you love to try a bit of everything - super fresh and full of flavour. I couldn't find a fault in the food if i tried, great for a large party. We also sank 4 bottles of red wine and 4 rounds of Sake and still only paid $60 each. We are already planning our next visit.

A very comfortable space and friendly wait staff. I enjoyed all the dishes but the highlights were the tacos with the super crunchy nori shell with great flavours, BBQ Wagyu beef which was perfectly tender and the eggplant chips which I loved because it's unique and the balance of flavours was fantastic. I left very full and happy! 😊

Its always exciting to try something familiar but new. Machi in St Kilda is definitely a hidden gem.<br/><br/>I ordered the uni risotto, machi box, and wagyu special. The wagyu came is thin slices and definitely is not the marble 9+ as advertised. Although the meat was okay at best, the appealing factor is the little stone grill and the ability to grill your own meat.<br/><br/>Second meal was the uni risotto, this is definitely the highlight of the dinner. The uni here is amazing! And the dashi risotto really makes you salivate and going for more.<br/><br/>The third and final dish is the machi box. Honestly i might have overexpected the dish and the menu mentioned abalone which is nowhere to be seen. Its your standard chirashi made to look pretty. Again, the highlight is the uni. Its very silky, creamy, and fresh. <br/><br/>The negative is the fact that the tuna and kingfish are mashed. I’m not a big fan of mashed seafood, it makes the whole aesthetic of light bite to seafood feel more like food you feed your grandparents. Maybe its just my preference though.<br/><br/>Overall, will definitely come again to try the rest of the menu, but it won’t be my in my top japanese restaurants.

Recommended by Wechat. Very disappointed experience, Japanese restaurant with no Japanese staff in it, even not the owner. Wonder how they get such high rating. <br/>Don’t waste you time and money there

The food is fantastic, love the sea urchin risotto. Tacos are great. We will come back to try winter specials. The dessert plate is perfect for 3-4 ppl sharing.

Returned to Machi after not enjoying my meal several years ago, because the menu looked completely overhauled. We ordered a large seafood platter after much difficulty with the staff, who struggled to give advice on the platters and sizes. She was unable to confidently answer any of our questions. It was beautiful, but the seafood was fairly average in freshness and quality, and some of the sushi was dry and flavourless. The deep fried sushi next was also below average - it wasn't crispy and very bland. Crispy nori taco is a delicious concept, but the cod and eel were also just average and the crispy nori was soft and oily. Still not impressed with Machi especially at its price point.

Found this little gem in our entertainment book recently when looking for Japanese nearby! We had a number of dishes but by far the eggplant chip were to die for, absolutely delicious. Melt in your mouth. We also loved the mixed sashimi and nigiri platter, it was presented beautifully, and was obviously super fresh, went down a treat!

It was a great experience! We were not hungry so we didn’t order much, and were really impressed by the Wagyu beef stone grill. Expensive but worthwhile. Very good business so it’s better to make a reservation. Will come back again.

Went here for a late Valentine’s date and it was a nice experience, although the portions are small for the amount we paid for but overall the food was amazing. The entree was bigger than the main itself. Although the BBQ Wagyu Beef (main) was good but the amount we’ve paid for was not worth it. Only had like 7 small pieces of meat for a main course. But it was worth the experience. <br/>We ordered: <br/>Entree: Miso Duck Breast <br/>SHARE: Sushi & Sashimi Moriawase<br/>Main: BBQ Wagyu Beef

My friend recommended this place to me so I booked the place to try . As u can see , the seafood plate is very creative , the scallop sauce is the highlight , both me & friends felt the same . The restaurant doesn’t look fancy , but the chef really pay attention to details of the food . A high class Japanese restaurant , highly recommended.

Disappointed. The food wasn’t awful but it wasn’t great either. Was disappointed by the sea urchin as it did not taste fresh at all. The abalone in the Chirashi zushi was tough and had no flavour at all. The avocado purée was way too strong and covered any hint of the seafood flavour - tasted more like guacamole with sushi. Last but not least, the uni risotto was surprisingly cold. Although the presentation was pretty, it can’t cover the fact that the flavours are disappointing. Looks can be deceiving.

Soft shell crab 5/5<br/>48 hour ribs 5/5<br/>Gyosa 4.5/5<br/>Wagyu 5/5<br/>Service 10/10<br/>Should have ordered some of the sushi which looked great on other tables<br/>

Had a wonderful meal here. Food are totally amazing and the staff are friendly too.<br/><br/>✨UNI RISOTTO & KANI MESHI taste really really amazing!! Especial the rice part, is my favorite part too!!<br/><br/>✨TSUKIJI MARKET SEAFOOD GRILL is one chef special menu, the seafood include sea urchin, scallop, sweet prawn, abalone, o-toro, sea snails and octopus, they are put in a big sea snail shell with crab butter sauce, which is little spicy but smell and taste really good!!<br/><br/>✨YUZU CHEESE CAKE not only has the cheese cake but also include ice cream (black sesame and green tea)

The food quality and service at Machi is excellent. The udon noodles melt in your mouth & the seafood platter is beautifully presented. The staff are also lovely and prompt. Only thing that could be improved upon is the desserts. <br/>Highly recommend visiting this place!

Very creative! The tuna tacos were delicious, I was impressed by the crunchy seaweed & the balanced flavor. Wagyu beef was very soft & beautiful. I actually came to the restaurant for the uni risotto. Well, it was good, but I think sea urchin should be served in a cold dish...

This place is so underrated! I was craving Japanese so I made a last minute booking. When we arrived we were seated and were given menu. There are set courses but I decided to go with the a la carte menu. I ordered a couple taco - 100%%%% reccomend the salmon taco it is so delicious! The shell of all the tacos was my favourite part. We ordered the machi rolls which was a huge platter of assorted sushi rolls. My favourite was the eel sushi! I also had the oysters, tempura and sashimi. The service was so quick. I felt like we didn’t even have time to sit and relax. It was one dish after another.

Machi Japanese restaurant. I think ownership is not of Japanese but the food is ok to try. Fresh seafood and nice presentation especially the seafood platter.

Machi has changed hands and the differences are not for the better. Kitchen was a mess, I have never seen an open plan kitchen present in such a dishevelled manner. <br/>Wait staff seemed frantic and uncertain and the menu appeared to be more pan-Asian than Japanese. <br/>Such a shame as this was one of my favourite locals.

Machi serves modern Japanese at a high price. While the food was good, it wasn't amazing and the service was extremely slow. High prices aren't really justified <br/>The sushi tacos are yummy as was the tuna carpaccio. The seafood sharing platter is certainly not with 70$ and the crispy skin salmon was very small in serving for 27$. Not bad but wouldn't rush back

Can't express more but say it in triplicate：<br/>The dish is too SALTY.<br/><br/>The dish is too SALTY.<br/><br/>The dish is too SALTY.<br/><br/>Btw, if you accidentally drop your food on the decor, don't bother picking up. It's on the salt and saltier :-)<br/>Food looks nice in the photo was credited to the filter.<br/>

I saw a post about Machi restaurant having the black truffle & rice and the uni risotto,so I decided to check out this place. We have ordered some agedashi tofu, prawn tempura, uni risotto, black truffle & rice , lobster maki, and the seafood hotpot served with udon. TBH I think the agedashi tofu was the worst tofu that I ever had. The prawn tempura I expected it will come out like authentic "tempura prawns" but instead we just got like a normal looking fried prawn which cost $17 for that. <br/>Besides, my favourite dish was uni risotto and seafood hotpot. The service was great but for me the food tasted too salty and it's just not what I am expecting. I don't really enjoy the food yet I paid $320. Overall, food 2.5/5 , ambiance 3/5, service 3/5 .

I love this restaurant soooo much.<br/><br/>The salmon sashimi is so fresh and taste nice.<br/>The taco surprise me! Crispy and flavoursome.<br/>The rice is the best! <br/>I was upset there was no uni that day.<br/>Still looking forward to come back again