Review Yamabuki - Williamstown

My partner and I went here last week for dinner and it did not dissapoint. The food was fresh, tasty and the portions were reasonable for the price. The staff were also friendly. Will definitely come here again!

A Monday night catch up was wonderful at Yamabuki. The food was great and the service was attentive. Would definitely go back. Thank you.

Great Atmosphere. Restaurant looked very authentic and had a good selection of dishes and drinks. The clam soup was good and sashimi was generous. Well priced as well! Would come again!

Absolutely and thoroughly enjoyed my meals here this evening. Everything was fresh and delicious I really really loved my experience here.

Beef from Bento box was chewy and very stringy. Not a pleasant experience. Squid was also tough. Salmon and Miso soup were good.

Williamstown classic! Super fresh with the usual favourites plus some great traditional dishes. Love this place

Love this place been going there for 30 years love there california rolls best in Melbourne, teriaki chicken and Japanese noodles and teriaki salmon on sizzling plater my wife loves

Beautiful food and great value. Very fresh, felt like a home cooked. Very hospitable too. Will definitely go back.

Save your money and go somewhere else. We ordered edamame ($9?!!!!!), sashimi, takoyaki, tofu teriyaki on rice, katsudon and udon and everything was less than average, lacked flavour and quite pricey for the food. One of the worst (if not the worst) Japanese places I’ve ever eaten at. Will not return.

Eye filet steak? It was too hard stringy and gristly to chew! Unable to swallow it, ended up with a sore jaw and giving it to the dog. He was chomping and gagging ! Avoid! <br/>

Food was overall good as was service.<br/><br/>Steak was horrible - chewy and tasted off. Advised staff and was barely acknowledged when bringing it to their attention. They still made us pay for it - all was still on plate except for the one piece which I had to swallow - $26 for the few bite size pieces of steak.

Very popular with the locals, clean fresh food, friendly staff and the menu range very extensive. Had the bento box which was great and value for money, along with sushimi and chicken.

We love this unassuming place. It’s not fancy but the food always hits the spot. I can’t go past the salmon spring rolls, they are delicious. We also love the sashimi and mixed tempura which consists of prawns and seasonal veggies.

Sushi was average. The sliced beef with sukiyaki sauce was horrible. It smelt like a frozen meat just got defrozen in the microwave. Our order came out so quick so I don’t think it was freshly prepared. Even the rice wasn’t that hot. The sushi at the Sushi Sushi tastes nicer than what we hd here. We won’t come back again

Food is alright, price is great comparing to the small Japanese restaurants/cafes around the same area. For a lunch Set Meal, it's $14, including a main, miso soup and little bit pickles. I have been there for lunch only, it's not a fancy restaurant, but good for going out with friends for a quick meal. There is no vegetarian dish on the lunch menu, however you can request to 'adjust' the food on the existing lunch menu to make it vegetarian. The restaurant does has a full menu with more choices if you don't like any of the choices on the lunch menu.<br/>I had tried their Tonkatsu Set Meal (Crispy Pork, rice, little bit pickles and miso soup), Sushi, Gyu Tataki (Raw beef) and Katsu Don (Crispy Pork cutlet, egg, vegetables and condiments on top of medium grain rice).

How is this place not packed? Or at least queues out the door for takeaways?? So fresh & full of flavour! Best value Japanese this side of the bridge. (Keep trying others only to be disappointed).

I really shouldn't recommend anyone for this restaurant. We paid $11 for this "squid salad". Sashimi wasn't fresh and very tiny pieces. <br/>Foods is under expectation. Poor service also! <br/>

Food is excellent! <br/>Sushi / sashimi is delicate and fresh<br/>Crumbed pork - yum!<br/>Tofu - lovely <br/>Noodles - yum! <br/>Very easy going, casual and clean. <br/>Favourite Japanese restaurant to take my wife and kid. <br/>Easy access, plenty of parking nearby. <br/>Love this place, highly recommended for casual dining. <br/><br/>

We enjoyed sashimi and sushi from the lunch menu, which for $14 is good value if you are after something light and healthy. However, I found the quality of the fish poor and I have definitely enjoyed better Japanese food in the city

It's not often you walk into a completely empty restaurant and feel very comfortable, but that was us on a quiet Tuesday night in the main street of Williamstown.<br/><br/>The lady who served us was incredibly warm & helpful when making our menu choices, her English was quite good and she even began to engage in conversation regarding her homeland.<br/><br/>Whilst the place needs a little bit of a face lift inside, we were pleasantly surprised at the quality of the food. The gyoza with ginger sauce was beautiful and the addition of mushroom into the miso soup was a winner for mine.<br/><br/>Chose the Wagu steak with Japanese Fried Rice for the mains, and they didn't disappoint. Steak cooked perfectly, and the steamed carrot sides were just divine - teeth sunk through it! Only thing I'd say is the portion sizes were a little on the small side for what you pay, but hard to argue when you leave there as content as we did.

Ordered from takeaway menu so rating given from said perspective. <br/><br/>I thought the price was a bit dear. However the service staff are very welcoming and hospitable in person and over the phone.

Ordered the Katsu Don for lunch. The pork as tough and was very salty. Egg was over cooked. Service was average despite the restaurant wasn't busy.

Have been to many Japanese restaurants in Melbourne but sadly to say this was worst I have had. <br/><br/>Positive is the service was very welcoming and friendly. Sashimi was delicious. <br/><br/>Negative: the mains we ordered were gyu don (beef on rice) and oyaku don (chicken and egg), both dishes were half full with the "soy soup", the beef were well overcooked, tasted very dry and can't even swallow. My husband is not a person will waste food but the first time he didn't touch the gyu Don at all (we weren't charged for the it in the end which is reasonable). We were quite disappointed with the dishes we ordered and unfortunately we felt like this would be the first and last time to the place.

Saturday 20/8<br/>We were hoping to get a last minute table at El Burro last night but the only tables available were outside but we declined because it was too cold. We then headed to Helenic Hotel to try our luck but nothing! Then we saw Yamabuki a few doors down from Helenic Hotel and made a last minute decision to go in.<br/><br/>Service: fast and welcoming, got a table right away<br/><br/>Price: average expect to pay around $70 for 2 ppl<br/><br/>Ordered: entree size sashimi (good, fresh) beef tataki (expected the meat too be lightly seared, sliced thinly and served with a citrus-soy sauce) but what we got was completely different and definitely not beef tataki. The slices of beef were not thin and not marinated in the citrus sauce. It was so tough and they put a raw egg on top. Very much like beef tartare. See photo (we mixed the egg in before the photo was taken). For mains we ordered wafu steak which was just a bit below average. It looked very sad. For a wafu steak to have my tick of approval the steak needs to come out sliced not in chunks and it needs to be on a hot sizzling plate cooking in wafu sauce. When we got ours it was very dull and not much of the sizzling action going on. 2nd main was Tempura Udon, while the flavour was on point the salt levels went through the roof and that just killed my taste buds. What a shame it could of been a good dish but ruined by too much salt.<br/><br/>Summary: No doubt this Japanese restaurant is not authentic. If you love Japanese food like i do, you can feel the authenticity if its there but this restaurant is far from it. Staff are lovely though but it's safe to say it will 100% be my last time. No offence.<br/>

The food is good and fresh, sushi is very delicious. I'll rate the food 4.5. But the service is quite disappointing, we ordered sushi and soup and dumplings, and waited for half and hour!

Ive never had Japanese this bad<br/>Service was non existant <br/>They were polite i will give them that<br/>Restaurant wasn't even full<br/>The Food was terrible<br/>Very Bland nIght :(

We have eaten there a few times and have always found the food to be great. The restaurant seems to be busy every time we go there too so I'm guessing I'm not the only one who likes this place.

Very average. Ordered udon noodles and there bowl was filled with more bean sprouts than noodles! Ordered an apple juice which we saw them pour from a Just Juice 2L bottle. I would go somewhere else next time

We used to go here all the time UNTIL about 8 years.... The food used to be good. This used to be the only Japanese food in the Williamstown/Altona/Werribee area. As sushi store started to become more popular, Yamabuki started its slow decline in their quality of cooking.<br/>As the years went by, we started to notice that the food in general was starting to get saltier and saltier.<br/>I'm guessing the chef is a big smoker and now has extremely high blood pressure, mainly because this is known to greatly reduce their ability to taste salt. Hence, the overuse of salt.<br/>It's been years since I last went there. I really hope they have read these reviews and changed the chef..

Awesome Jap in Willi!. Fantastic food, great service, the California roll and salmon sashimi were on point, so fresh and delicious! We have been there 5 times in the past couple of months and will keep going back!

Yummy jap. Went out last night to one of the few BYO restaurants in Williamstown. Had a lovely meal. Ordered the tempura squid and dumplings for entrée and ginger beef salad and wafu steak for mains. Friendly service. Will go back, surprised restaurant wasn't busier.

Terrible!!!mayonnaise taste like pork fat!!!. I always dine there but last night all the food was terrible. We ordered :<br/>fried squid - taste like rubber <br/>Tendon - normally they put sauce on the rice but last night the sauce was terrible and the vegetable is not cook.<br/>Katsudon - the sauce is very sour<br/>Salmon spring roll - salty and the mayonnaise taste like pork fat!!!<br/>Agidashi tofu - the sauce is not enough to cover tofu. <br/><br/>We tried to ask if they change the chef but they just smiled to us.<br/><br/>We will never ever dine there again.

Very disappointed. I have been to Yamabuki a few times, each time hoping it will be better than the last but I'm always disappointed.<br/>It is the only japanese restaurant in the local area otherwise I would have gone somewhere else a long time ago.<br/>Last week I ordered the chicken and seafood for a main and I was so disappointed with the quality, taste and service I will never go back. I called to speak to the manager to give them some feedback but I was told the manager wasn't there and would be away for about four weeks and there was no one else who could help me. They then hung up the phone. <br/>I cannot recommend this restaurant on any level.

Been frequenting yamabuki for years now. It's generally quite good, and the wafu steak is a winner. Service can be iffy

Worst Japanese restaurant. I was so disappointed in their dishes like miso soup, tempura, bento box etc.<br/>They are not authentic at all. I believe that the chef is not a Japanese person.<br/>I have taken a few Japanese friends with me but all of them say that the taste is horrible and they would never go back.

Never Again!. Sorry to say, this is the worst Japanese I have ever eaten. Wait for meal was over an hour, sashimi pieces were very scarce on the plate, wasabi in hand rolls was far beyond excessive, making the rolls inedible. Very disappointing. Also smell of cooking oil is very off putting. Sushi at Sushi, sushi in Altona Gate for superior and half the price!!

Was so disappointed with this place, I can honestly say it is the worst Japanese food I've tried to eat. Arrived starving after a long day, and asked what was recommended. The waitress just shrugged, pointed to the menu and asked "what do you like?". After asking if a few particular things I pointed to were good, and getting no more help, I quickly settled on the octopus salad and teriyaki salmon. I can't even express how bad they were. The 'octopus salad' was cold (straight from fridge) chunks of cooked octopus, with some Japanese mayonnaise squirted on top (not even mixed through), and a dollop of flying fish row. The teriyaki salmon was burnt. Not just charred, or bubbling on the hot plate - the teriyaki coating was bitter and black, so burnt dry that there was no liquid sauce left. No rice came with the dish. I tried to eat some of it anyway, as it seemed they had closed the kitchen and nowhere else was open by this stage, and I still couldn't get through more than 3 bites. I gave up and asked for the bill, showing them the burnt teriyaki sauce and explaining how bitter it was and that I wouldn't be paying for it. This resulted in the manager abruptly telling me that I had eaten it (three bites out of desperation) and must pay for it. No apology. I finally left after paying for the proportion of fish I had eaten, and went straight to the grocery store to try to find something I could eat in a hotel room with no kitchen.

Good clean food, budget friendly however a little cold.

Delicious Teriyaki Trout. Served on a sizzling cast iron dish, this was a most delightful dish!

Don't waste your time with this place. Initially satisfied with the sashimi, but the experience went quickly downhill from there. The agedashi tofu was not crisp. The udon was served 30min later and it was still congealed and looked like it just got popped out of a packet. Worst of all wad the udon stock which was simply water with a pinch of colour and flavour.

Tasty. Love the salmon teriyaki - big hit!!!

Great gyoza, sushi and tempura. Service average and meals well priced. Will definitely be back for more sushi!

Not terribly impressed. We had the salmon spring roll for starters which was VERY nice (although 4 pieces was 2 rocks cut in half!). Then we had the seafood sizzling plate which was underwhelming. Vegetables were broccoli and carrot only, cut in massive chunks - not terribly Japanese.

Great JapJap. Love this place since the first time we went. The food is fantastic, Sushi is fresh and tasty, drinks are cheap and the service is excellent. Even takeaway it still maintains its standard.<br/><br/>There are a few standouts on the menu (Gyu Tataki, Tempura, Japanese Fried Rice & Te-Maki Sushi)<br/>Have tried most things on the menu, a few are a bit 'meh' but maybe they are just not to my taste, it's still great quality and great food.

Delicious classic Japanese food with authentic service! The sashimi is among the best I've tried!

After the 30 min wait food was awful threw it out. Didn't taste fresh and not nice at all. Been to many Japanese restaurants and this doesn't compare. Miso soup was terrible! No customer service either quite rude!!<br/><br/><br/>-----25 Aug, 2012-----<br/><br/>Very disappointed won't reccomend to anyone 30 min to get takeaway of miso soup and sushi when told 10 min wait. They tried overcharging and I questioned the price and they insisted the amount was correct. I then asked to use their calculator and showed them they then apologized for overcharging. Won't be going back ever!!!!

Not impressed. Hardly a smile or word from the waitresses. Had to ask several times for water and the bill. Looked very busy but basic service non-existent. Food awful, worst japanese food I have had. Watery miso soup, dry and tasteless sushi- we left most of it uneaten. Only japanese restaurant in Williamstown but could do a whole lot better

Good jap. This place has been here for years, hasn't changed either. Like that. Nice family own it, authentic Japanese food that's good to take away as well as dine in. Welcoming of families and the wagyu steak is amazing.

They don't deliver

Really bland food. First time I've ever had to add soy sauce to miso soup. There are better places to eat Japanese in the west.

Had the most.delicious trout dish which came out sizzling and fresh. it was so delicious!! Great value but the service was a touch slow.

Nothing Special.. My little saying is "you can always tell a restaurants true nature by the furniture". This is true in with this restaurant. Cheap, not overly flash and made in China. My Japanese wife and I dined here hoping to find a decent meal, away from the tourist traps on Williamstown main drag. This didn't happen. We started with an entree of Tori Shiso Maki. Chicken thigh cooked in a soy sauce and wrapped in a seaweed strand. Was nice, similar to yakatori but without the charcol flavour. The lemon on the plate didn't need to be there. It created an overly sour taste to the sweet sauce. I ordered the Sukiyaki Beef, which was missing... well.... the Sukiyaki! Thin sliced beef wok fired/boiled in soy sauce and oil, with crunchy carrots, onion and medium cooked rice. The serving was large yet the flavours were well off. Was more like a McCain's healthy choice stir-fry. My wife tried the Salmon Terriyaki Don. Very salty and nothing special. Dry salmon fillet on top of rice with minimal sauce. We finished our meals and took it on the chin. Then before we leave, LOUD talking from the kitchen. Chinese language..... This place should be called Asian Restaurant, as they certainly aren't serving Japanese food. Lot of work to be done yet.

Yamabuki: Its Japanese for 'the chef is from Hong Kong". We have been to Yamabuki a few times over the last 8 years or so.<br/>They have been very consistent in that time in the quality of food served. A nice mix of Japanese favorites at reasonable prices, and for Melbourne's West you would have to say it is the best Japanese restaurant.<br/><br/>On the down side, much like MOST of Melbourne's Japanese eateries, the chefs are not Japanese, so there are touches in the food that betray the true Japanese tastes. And when I say touches, you could really say 'more touches than Gary Ablett on a good day at the footy'.<br/>But basically, the food is a bit too salty or the sauces / flavours a bit too strong, which detracts from the true falvours of the meat / fish / vegetables.<br/><br/>But its still a good spot, but I wouldn't call it 'Authentic Japanese'.

Service is brilliant. Friendly staff, but not too disruptive. Have not had a bad dish from there so far, and becoming a regular as live nearby. Good variety in the menu, BYO wine only.

Fast and tasty. The service here is very friendly and VERY fast. all dishes are presented nicely and portion sizes are generous. I've been here numerous times and always find the food to be really tasty. I'll remain a regular.

Japanese for Me. I'm not the biggest fan of Japanese cuisine, but Yamabuki does dishes I really like.

Good and Bad. The only restaurant I could find in Williamstown after our sunset cruise. At first sight, the food seemed really cheap, but serves are actually too small, even for that price. Sashimi were not thinly sliced and came in rectangular blocks. <br/><br/>What did surprise me was the attentiveness of waitresses and the speed which dishes were served. There was about a one minute wait between each course and my lemonade was served WHILE I was ordering it!<br/><br/>Overall, the service is A+ but is countered by poor value and lack of refinement.

Good value. Very good bento box. Good sashimi, tempura, and wafu steak. My favourite dish is the gyoza: exactly the right amount of charring on the bottom. Delicious.<br/><br/>Service is friendly and fast. When you tell the waiter that you will be sharing all dishes, they know to bring out extra plates without being told.<br/><br/>I tend to stick to eating places within a fairly limited geographical range, and Yamabuki is a bit out of that territory, but worth the drive.

Great Bento box

The chef uses a bit too much salt in general.