Okami Japanese restaurant — Restaurant in Melbourne

Okami Dromana: All You Can Eat... if You Have the Patience of a Monk and the Metabolism of a Cactus

Let me paint you a picture: you walk into Okami, stomach growling, eyes sparkling at the thought of endless sushi and tempura. You sit down, ready to unleash your inner food warrior. But little do you know… you're about to enter the Hunger Games: Dromana Edition.

They proudly advertise “All You Can Eat,” but what they really mean is “Some You Might Eat… If You’re Lucky… And Very, Very Patient.” The food takes forever to come out. Not just fashionably late — I’m talking “we could’ve grown the ingredients ourselves by now” slow.

You flag down a waiter — or you try to. The staff treat eye contact like it's an ancient forbidden ritual. I began to suspect I’d been cast in a reality show where the twist is that no one actually serves you. You place an order, and then it vanishes into the void, never to be seen again. Occasionally, a single lonely dumpling appears like a mirage, giving you false hope before you’re plunged back into silence and starvation.

The food itself? Honestly, not bad. But that only makes it worse — because you’ll spend two hours getting three dishes and still walk out hungrier than when you arrived. It’s like being invited to a buffet, then being hand-fed peanuts one at a time by a sloth with commitment issues.

The whole thing feels like a clever scam wrapped in soy sauce. “All You Can Eat” should come with an asterisk and a footnote: Subject to glacial service, server invisibility, and a strict limit of how much joy you’re allowed to feel.

Do yourself a favour — skip the drama, save the dollars, and go somewhere that actually wants...

We decided to go with the all you can eat option for $40 pp and there was plenty of food. You can keep ordering as much as you like. The food was fresh and delicious. The only downside was the food was very salty so ensure you get plenty of water to keep yourselves hydrated. One of the dishes on the menu was steamed vegetables which looked quite nice but as soon as I took a bite of either the broccoli, zucchini, carrot or Bok Choy it was like drinking a mouthful of salt water. Way too much salt was added to these vegetables. You're meant to be able to taste the vegetables outright. I'd never add salt to steamed vegetables at home.

Other than this minor detail, it was a good experience. The staff were attentive, friendly and easy to get a hold of if you needed something.

At the bottom of the menu, it does mention that they can charge you for food wastage so try not to over order. Order a few dishes to begin with and then see how you go and how full you get.

This was my first time attending this restaurant and apparently there's a bunch more of them in and around Melbourne.

The table next to us was a family with kids, and on the other side of us was a group of adults so it really does accommodate a variety of clientele. There is a wheelchair access at the front of the restaurant with ample room to get in and out easily. The restaurant in Dromana is enormous, the shop goes back a long way which looks to me like there was a function space and private dining areas set up.

We had dinner here at 6.30pm on a Sunday night so not too busy, but I can imagine that it would be pretty hectic on a Friday or Saturday night and also during the...

Been looking forward to this experience for a few weeks but very disappointed when we finally went there last Friday night. Not a pleasant dining experience. Noisy place. Staff were rushed and under pressure. Took the 5.30 dining time as 8 was too late for us. Got the boot at 7.55pm. Not good. But understand why. Food is definitely not authentic Japanese. It’s similar or the same as you buy in the supermarket. Tasted ok but not what I expected . Didn’t see or get any proper Teppanyaki.

Great spot if you want to shove your food down in a noisy hurried atmosphere for a set price all you can eat. Everything was too quick

Good on them for having a go but it’s just not my cup of tea.

The local Karcha Thai restaurant has much better food, Much friendlier service, always a nice place to dine out and is actually cheaper. You don’t get kicked out at 8 pm.

I don’t look for cheap, I look for a good dining experience for a reasonable price that’s also Byo I prefer to bring my own wine. Don’t mind paying corkage as we all need to make a profit

I won’t be going back to this Japanese restaurant unless it improves

It would be fantastic if someone started an authentic Teppanyaki restaurant on the Peninsula

Might try the new Vietnamese place where Heng Loong used to be in Rosebud

Having said all that I would like to see this Japanese restaurant improve and succeed

I only wish them well and it’s certainly a good...