ima Asa Yoru — Restaurant in Melbourne

Quite disappointed. Waited for 1 hour for a table - which is understandable as we didn’t make a booking , definitely fault on our part.

Went to order but was told that most of the menu was no longer available as they had sold out (basically had 3 options to choose from) but we were still ok with this.

We ordered the onigiri set (which comes with 2 - 1 fish and 1 prawn).Whilst waiting we overheard that they were running out of prawn onigiris. The head chef then instructed the team to replace it with the vegetarian onigiri, but not to tell the customers and just introduce it as if it was part of the set. This slightly annoyed me as I felt there was a lack of transparency.

We then waited another 1 hour before our food was served, only after we reminded them as we were so hungry! It was 1:30pm at this point. Even though it was busy what baffled me was that the onigiris and all the side dishes were already pre made - so I wasn’t too sure why it was taking so long to put it onto the serving platter. It was not like they had to wait to see what people ordered by this point as there was only 1 option left for people to choose from…just as an observer - the management in the kitchen seemed inefficient and unorganised.

By the time we received the food, we ate so fast and because we had been so hungry - but even then I felt it was subpar. We went to a diff Japanese restaurant nearby called Lunã by Hikaru to order some takeaway onigiri as we were not satisfied and felt that it was much better and cheaper.

I had previously been to Ima Project (which was the original /related restaurant) which was in Carlton in the past where similar incidents have happened where they would run out of a lot of menu items. I wanted to try here to see if it was just a once of but unfortunately have left feeling extremely disappointed. + not that cheap either. The wait staff however were lovely.

EDIT - REPLY to the below Thank you for your reply. Apologies for the misunderstanding about the onigiris - however we weren’t informed that they were replaced. I am aware that the restaurant has reopened in a new location recently - however I feel the issue of many of items not being available on the menu did occur previously as well in the older location. Obviously this is a personal anecdote however. I understand the restaurant isn’t a fast food service but I was not expecting a “slow food service” either. I don’t think waiting 1 hr for premade food is satisfactory. Finally, this is the only review I had posted. I did not bother or complain whilst dining at the restaurant, nor have I left multiple negative reviews that were untrue. Might be good to be able to be receptive of critical feedback from a professional...

22nd May 2021

This place has been on our list for sometime after our visit to torissong (fancy modern bentos, many small plates on a tray) but ima has brunch hours, whereas torrisong is open for dinner.

Seated outside (hold onto your bags ladies) we're on the corner opposite Shaw Davey with a pot of Hojicha tea. Wearing a hat but regrettably not sun block, should have bought a white parasol too.

Here for the bentos all but the sardine has sold out, the breakfast one being the most popular. Fresh 'ocean sweet' sardines were recommended, I've never had fresh sardines before. We also add a magical onsen egg and my favorite, miso glazed eggplant.

Thin slices of panko sardine were light and not so fishy (yay) complemented with an onsen egg and all the fun rice sprinkles. Punctuated by lightly fermented carrot and a creamy yuzu mayo dressing, though all the dressing was under the salad... the miso eggplant was nice, very similar to calia but lighter.

I quite like it but still prefer torrisong as they're similar in price (we added the egg, eggplant and tea though)and open at night #notamorningperson. But we'll be back for the breakfast set.

Damage 30-something

//25th June 2021

A return to @imacafemelb ima, the line is short but so are the number of tables, did we just line for an hour for lunch on a Friday? Yes as they've lost half their tables to the rain. 😥 . 🍋 Yuzu Lemonade with a salt rim. It might be only lunch but it's Friday! This would be so perfect for summer. . 🍱 Japanese Breakfast with hibachi grilled market fish (yuzu miso glazed grilled salmon), okazu(s), pickles, rice, miso soup + egg $28. So beautiful and delicious, but $3 extra for an egg is a bit iffy I think for the price it needs to be included.🥚 Great contrast of textures and flavours.

🍆IMA Don w/NASU $23 Rice bowl with nasu-dengaku (miso glazed grilled eggplant), onsen egg, pickles and tasty okazu(s). How does a rice bowl cost $23 without wagyu or sashimi? It was indeed delicious but overpriced. . Really good but price point says a try once or twice thing, also brunch hours and lines kinda kill it for us (not morning people and not too keen to line for brunch). Maybe arrive when they open to skip the line. . 🍱 @imacafemelb 📍Carlton // Near Lygon...

I had a very disappointing experience at this place. After arriving and waiting for 10 minutes, we were finally told that the kitchen was about to close and we couldn’t dine in. This could have been communicated earlier to save our time and frustration. It left a really unpleasant impression. ——————————————————————————— UPDATED REVIEW:（Reply to business）

The time you provided is incorrect; I arrived earlier than the time you mentioned. The key issue was not the exact number of minutes, but the lack of timely communication to tell customers that you stopped queuing is more imporatant. I witnessed about 3 groups of customers lining up behind me — it is simply unrealistic to suggest that all of this happened within one minute.

It is extremely disappointing that instead of addressing a customer's concern professionally, you chose to respond with 'Shame on you.' PUBLICLY SHAMING a customer reflects poorly on the BUSINESS, not the customer.

After carefully reading your replies to others, I now understand why you responded to me this way. Wow, you always seem to be defending yourself, and every negative review is solely blamed on the customers. But this time, you used an even more rude and disrespectful way to respond to your customer, which is truly offensive.

I have to say I have visited your restaurant COUNTLESS TIMES before and have always enjoyed your food and every set (YES I WAS LOYAL CUSTOMER, but now...). Obviously, this experience, particularly your RESPONSE, showed a level of RUDENESS and UNACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOR that is truly DISAPPOINTING.

I trust that others can clearly see the situation...