Gaijin – Melbourne Sushi Fusion Restaurant
7 Comments October 19, 2009 / Posted in Food & Wine
Mai at Gaijin
So you all know I love Japanese food, especially sushi, so when a reader suggested I should go to review the new sushi restaurant Gaijin, I took up the challenge (considering they were offering 20% discount until October?).
Gaijin is a Fusion Japanese restaurant which is interesting because while I’ve been to fusion chinese, vietnamese, thai, I don’t think I’ve ever been to a fushion Japanese, so I was definetly looking forward to it.
Ambience
The ambience is quite nice, the place was bustling but wasn’t too noisy. The waiters all seemed to be occupied despite having many of them on the floor. The food is beautifully presented which is perfect for the eyes 
.
Despite having your green tea and alcohol beverages, they didn’t have sake (Japanese rice wine). I usually order a sake whenever I’m at a Japanese restaurant - probably didn’t have it because the restaurant is fusion.
The price is very reasonable (between $8-$10) and there were lots of fusion type (non traditional) sushi rolls that is a must try . Since there were 3 of us, we decided to share the dishes to maximise the different types of sushis and sashimis we can have.
- Gaijin Special Salmon Salad $8 (The Best Dish at Gaijin)
We decided to start the night off with the special salmon salad. The sauce is really nice but perhaps they added a touch too much? However, the overall dish tasted wonderful as my 2 friends can attest to. This is one of our favourite dish for the night.
Gaijin Special Salmon Salad
- Prawn Coconut Crunch $9
The second dish is the Prawn Coconut Crunch sushi. The inner side of the sushi is deep fried shredded coconut which gives you a nice crunchy texture. All this is wrapped on a soft sushi rice topped with fresh prawn. This this is divine! One of the fusion dishes done well
Prawn Coconut Crunch
- Rainbow Roll $8.50
The third dish we tried was the Rainbow Roll which I consider traditional in many ways as it consists of fresh fish, avocado and sushi rice with crab meat filling. Another favourite as the fish tasted so fresh! It is also colourful thus the name.
Rainbow roll
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Soft Shell Crab Roll $8.50
The next dish was the Soft Shell Crab Roll. I like like to compare this dish to one of my favourite take away sushi restuarants in the city called Kenzan (which is located at Melbourne GPO Shopping Centre at Bourke St). Gaijin Soft Shell Crab Roll is nice but I think Kenzan is better :).
Soft Shell Crab Roll
- Baked Dynamite Roll $9
Our last dish was the “must try” Baked Dynamite Roll. The dish was baked crab meat filled sushi rolls topped with Masago, Mayonaise sauce and crab meat and scallop pieces. Perhaps it was very similar to another dish I had in the past and disliked, but I don’t think this dish went well. Firstly, it tasted too creamy/cheesy. I also think the hot sauce and the cold of the sushi rolls gelled badly together. Didn’t like the texture at all. The 3 of us only managed to eat half of that dish so it wasn’t just me.
Gaijin Baked Dynamite Roll of Crab Meat and Scallop Pieces
Gaijin Extensive Fusion Menu - a mixed of traditional sushi/sashimi and newly created fusion rolls - all dishes are presented beautifully
My overall rating….I quite like Gaijin and would be more than happy to return. I think the best thing about the restaurant is the price. The total bill came to $55 including non alcoholic drinks for 3 people which equate to $20/person including tips .While some other restaurants may have better food, I think its hard to beat Gaijin on price, ambience and service.
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Thanks for the tip~! Might drop by there and check it out, sounds a little like Nobu without the fancy price tag =) Btw-Indonesia food festival is on this weekend at Federation Square.
Nobu’s very overrated. When I was in London, Nobu’s one of the very few good Japanese restaurant because there aren’t many good sushi restaurants there – I went there regularly taken by customers. In Melbourne, we’re spoilt with good Japanese restaurants and I have never stepped in Nobu here and never will.
hi mai, i came accross your website when i was researching an idea to open a sushi shop in mornington or rye and after reading some of your comments i thought id ask if you have any comments at all or advice for me. myself and my wife feel there is a gap in the market for good sushi. at present there is only a sushi king in rye and it has a bad name mainly due to the fact that the sushi looks like its been sitting there for 3-4days. our idea was a small shop with a conveyer belts style with seats around the belt, as you walk in there will also be takeaway options and the customer can also order a small selection of hot food ie)miso soup,gyoza and 3-4 more. nothing too big! any advice you could offer would be great as it looks like you certainly know your stuff!!
thanks for your help and great website.
glenn
Hi Glenn,
First of all, congrats for identifying a gap in Mornington Penninsula region market for a good sushi place. My suggestion is to try sushis in the places as recommended in my Melbourne Best Sushi Takeaways post and see which one you like best. Once you master the right sushi recipes and consistencies, you can decide whether you would like to open a take away style, a cafe (bistro – quick sit down) or a full blown formal sushi restaurants. The secret to sushi in my opinion would be the fresh ingredients, this include all the fish, rice and trimmings (salads, vegetables, nori, etc). In Japan, they do not use fancy ingredients or any type of fusion styles, they only use basic ingredients and that work well. I personally like my sushi with more fillings than rice ratio. Good luck and keep us updated with your sushi venture at Mornington. You never know one day I might pop in and do a full review
!
For conveyer belt style sushi, check out Go Go Sushi at Swanston Street between Lonsdale and Little bourke street. They have basic sushis on display and for any gyozas or tempuras, customer need to order off the menu and they usually cook 3 -4 extra plates and serve the spare on conveyer belt to ensure freshness but also effectiveness of preparing not just for one serve.
My other favourite sushi cafe without conveyer belt is a place call Samurai in Glenferrie road, Hawthorn (posting about this place is coming next month), I have been travelling doing review of hotels in South East Asia so didn’t have enough time to post a review on Samurai Sushi. The place only have seatings for 20 people max (small) but looks profitable as they have been around for years!! Great price, simple place but nice. Good Luck again!
Hey, thanks for the blog posts. Will visit a few places.
You’re spot-on with Nobu – I’ve been there and it is ridiculously priced for the crap quality food that you get. I suspect the same dishes that they serve in NY Nobu but with not with the same talented people – probably students from William Angliss TAFE. One “signature dish” I tried was the salmon salad with roquette and OVERpowering (sorry had to shout!) soy/balsamic sauce dressing. Too much on the sodium and their miso soup tasted like the instant packet ones, in fact worse. Needless to say, I’ve never ventured back there.!
For expensive but top quality Japanese food, you must try Kenzan at Collins Place (opposite Kino Cinemas inside the building). The sushi that they serve over the sushi bar (different quality from those you get sitting on a table but you might get a little shock with the bill at the end as there’s no menu, approx $6-$8 per sushi from memory) but the sushi is absolutely AMAZING.
For cheaper takeaway sushi, there is this little Japanese grocery/sushi store called “Suzuran” in Camberwell which is really good and very reasonable priced.
I’m wanting to try Shiranui at Glen Waverley, have you tried it by chance?
Hi acacia,
I was a Nobu regular in London – mostly for work related dinner. Lets just say, it’s the best sushi in London but not necessarily the best sushi in Melbourne
.
I’ve been to Kenzan at Collins Place probably 7 years ago. Great sushis.
Shiranui is great. The first time I went there was about 8-9 years ago. The chef used to be the sushi chef at Daimaru (the Japanese shopping centre which used to occupy Melbourne Central). You can also sit at the sushi bar and be served a pair of sushis at a time until you tell them to stop
. I think he’s one of the few chef that’s licensed to serve the poisonous puffer fish. I also love their desserts. Booking in advanced is essential.