Kinkura — Japanese All You Can Eat — Restaurant in Melbourne

A masquerade of Japanese cuisine trying too much to appeal to the western audience.

I’ve been wanting to try this restaurant for months since seeing the construction but it was a real let-down more so from the quality of the food and uncertain idea behind ‘Japanese cuisine’.

I had an expectation of authentic Japanese food from the way the restaurant came across as. The first thing that caught my eye on the menu was ‘loaded chips’- in a Japanese restaurant? There were well-known Japanese dishes on the menu such as udon, sushi (which you can get the same quality anywhere) and Japanese kare (curry), but the rest was either simply not Japanese or a horrible western mix of what could’ve been a great dish. Where’s the gyudon, ramen or even a bento box set?

We tried the tempura veggie prawn udon and the karaage curry which both weren’t that good. The udon noodles were cooked to perfection however the soup was bland with no hint of umami dashi flavouring. The soup base 100% tasted like instant miso soup from the supermarket shelf. The prawn tempura were 2 small pieces (contrary to what the menu image shows) and the ‘veggie tempura’ was just a patty mash fried together. I am almost certain the curry was made from the packet of curry roux cubes. Unfortunately the karaage wasn’t enough to save the dish because the light-coloured batter was dry and flavourless. From my experience karaage is golden brown, crunchy and juicy tender on the inside. It just wasn’t quite the quality we were hoping for from a restaurant standard.

There’s really not much to say about the food other than it tasted cheap and overly priced for what was delivered. I really wanted to like and enjoy this place, but I wouldn’t recommend this restaurant for a Japanese food craving or experience.

The (only) best part of the experience was interacting with the young Japanese waiter, he was very accommodating...

I’ve been here a few times and the food is great here, however the service is a bit questionable. I came today around 7 and there was a gentleman at the front who also served me a few times. He was incredibly nice and very sweet; had glasses on as well. However the girl serving us was incredibly rude. She slammed the plates down without saying anything and just walked off. I understand it gets busy but its not hard to deliver a smile. I also noticed that we had less food pieces, i came on monday and ordered chicken karage and had about 5 pieces but today we received 3. It wasn’t a big deal, but beforehand there was a comment made about the amount of food we ordered. Overall its always been great but just a brush up on service would be nice, as it isn’t the first time.

EDIT: After attending the restaurant again, I am left more dissapointed than the last time. It is a shame as i genuinley enjoy the food, however the service is disgusting. We had finished basically most of our food and only had two sushi rolls and two octupus balls left and asked for more fried rice which was then met with "are you sure you can finish all the food?'' quite frankly this was disguting to hear, regardless of the intention. At the end of the day it is an all you can eat restaurant and we were already aware of the surcharge so the comment was unnecessary. I don't understand the point of being all you can eat if i am constantly called out for the food we order. As a note, we have always finished all our food. But i will not be returning okami is...

Good food, really friendly staff & tonnes of variety on their menu. I have frequented Okami restaraunts accross Victoria, metro and reigonal; and I can say with full confidence that Kinkura has better quality & tonnes more variety than any Okami I have ever been to. Very prompt with their ordering, no more than 5 minutes from ordering did we get our first plate; and no longer than 20 minutes until we had everything we ordered on our table ( 15+ plates )

Some highlights include their sashimi, very delicious & fresh salmon cuts! Their chicken sushi selection ( avo & tamago ) were fresh & tasty, chicken katsu was cooked to a perfect golden brown, spicy octopus were delicious & not just a simple "spicy" flavour but rather a more complex & sweet, almost like a gochujang spice.

Ice cream was plated beautifully, a highlight as well. Served with a slice of strawberry & some whipped cream. Couldn't possibly get any more value for $39.80.

Parking was a bit difficult as I'm not a monee ponds local, but down the street ( 200m ) is parking, and up the street is KFC's parking. Both are ideal for the restaraunt.

Perfect spot to try if you enjoy other AYCE spots in Melbourne like Okami, but would rather some more variety. Don't listen to the reviews complaining about the quality, as we had no problems whatsoever. Even came in a bit late due to our parking problems & they gave us some extra time to put in last order.

Will surely go again. 3 people, + beer, sake & soda ran us $157 + tip. // ignore...