Japanese Gourmet Kenji — Restaurant in Melbourne

I used to come here often. However, the overall experience was consistently disappointing so we stopped for a while. Recently, we thought we'd give it a chance. I always had the illusion that because it's run largely by Japanese the food and service will be of a certain standard. I was so wrong. The service was slow. They were under-staffed, same as 6 to 8 months ago, same as a year ago. The order took so long and the food just refused to arrive. Not to mention that the table served to us was also filthy. We cleaned up ourselves because the waitresses were so overwhelmed. After a long wait, we followed up on the food and realised that a number of other tables were frustrated too. It became clear that they were not able to cope. We literally waited more than 50 minutes for our first dish to be served up and continued to wait another 14 minutes for the next. To be fair, the food was ok. Not great, but okay. I'd say other nearby Japanese restaurants are significantly better. After following up multiple times, we got our food. There were no apologies, no explanations, no customer service which we generally experience from many other Japanese and asian cultures. When we left, we could see many other frustrated patrons. Average authentic food expected of Japanese operators, long wait for food and very bad customer service.

Do not recommend you go there if you're...

Edit: Recently decided to give Kenji another shot as it's been a long time since we visited. The manager went out of his way to make sure that we had what we wanted, even to the extent of adding uni to the Mega Chirashi as a special request. The food was excellent, as always. With only one sushi chef, sushi and sashimi does tend to take a while but it is always incredibly fresh and reasonably priced.

Old review: Have been visiting Kenji for years and sadly the service and quality of food have gone downhill. I asked for an ala carte sushi that wasn't available but the waitress never told me. We waited nearly half an hour for our food and after nearly finishing our meals, I asked about the sushi and only then was I told it wasn't available. By that time it was too late to order something else as we knew we'd be waiting another half an hour. Disappointing, I don't think...

The Best Japanese Restaurant in Burwood & Burwood East – An OG Gem

This is hands down the original Japanese restaurant in the area, serving the community for over 20 years.

🇯🇵 Authentically Japanese – proudly owned and operated by Japanese locals, and it truly shows in the food. 🍚 Donburi dishes are outstanding – every bowl is full of flavour and comfort. 🍣 Sushi & Sashimi – incredibly fresh, beautifully sliced, and always consistent. 🍜 New Ramen Line – recently introduced and just as exceptional. Rich broth, perfect noodles, great toppings. 💸 Amazing value for money – generous portions, high-quality ingredients, and prices that won’t hurt your wallet. 🍵 Service is warm and welcoming – they even serve complimentary hot tea with a subtle smoked corn flavour that’s unique and comforting.

A true hidden gem that locals already love. If you haven’t...