Okami Japanese Restaurant — Restaurant in Melbourne

6 July: I recently dined at Okami Pinewood twice since the roll-out of DIY mobile order system.

The food remains reasonably priced, offering great value for the money spent. The staff were attentive and worked hard to manage the busy environment.

Disappointing DIY mobile ordering system: Orders do not come out in sequence. Both times our sushi and sashimi platter came out after 1.5 hours despite being the first item ordered. It does not show what was served, causing further confusion. New customers may get the same food first, while the neighbouring table have been waiting for hours. Similar table numbers like 33 and 33A lead to incorrect food deliveries. This became evident when I checked the receipt the 2nd time using the DIY system. The system does not allow customers to check what was ordered. The confusion from wrong table deliveries leads customers to place additional orders unnecessarily. Despite the DIY system, the friendly and upbeat atmosphere from staff and customers has noticeably diminished.

While the food and staff are commendable, the restaurant needs to address these flaws in their mobile ordering system to enhance the overall dining experience.

17 July update:

We returned to Okami Pinewood again, thanks to a generous voucher they offered us to retry their establishment.

The experience this time was fantastic.

The restaurant took onboard most of my previous feedback, and it showed. Both mobile and waiter orders are offered. All food arrived promptly and correctly. The atmosphere was great, with all customers seeming content and happy, contributing to a lively vibe. The service was excellent, attentive, and courteous. The food remained delicious, with a nice surprise of a few new sushi dishes added to the menu.

Overall great service and value, vibrant atmosphere, and consistently excellent food. Highly...

Okami Japanese Restaurant, Mount Waverley Review on Tuesday, 12 February 2025

When dining at Okami Japanese Restaurant, it is recommended to have a light lunch or none at all beforehand to fully enjoy the extensive all-you-can-eat buffet menu, ordered through attentive waiting staff.

The service provided by the staff was not only efficient and courteous but also added a touch of humor to the overall dining experience.

The buffet features a wide array of exquisite Japanese dishes, presented in small portions to allow guests to sample a variety of hot and cold items. Dining with a group of six or more is advisable to fully appreciate the diverse culinary techniques and flavours.

Our Selection included the following:

• Starters: Miso Soup, Seaweed Salad, Beef Carpaccio, Cooked Prawns.

• Sushi & Sashimi: Assorted Sushi, Sashimi, California Rolls.

• Tempura: Prawn Tempura, Vegetable Tempura.

• Grilled Dishes: Grilled Chicken Wings, Teriyaki Beef, and Grilled Squid.

• Fried Dishes: Chicken Karaage, Pork Gyoza, and Agedashi Tofu.

• Desserts: Taiyaki, Green Tea Ice Cream, Black Sesame Ice Cream, Plain Vanilla Ice Cream.

There are areas for Improvement: • The Miso Soup was somewhat bland and lacked the distinctive seaweed flavour.

• The Tempura Prawns resembled fried prawn paste rather than prawns in a crispy batter.

• The Ice Cream, now served in small tubs, lacked the richness of the previously served scoops. The Black Sesame flavor was particularly disappointing.

• The Chicken Wings were not as fresh and juicy as I expected. It might be due to the hot weather on that day.

Okami is a licensed establishment that permits BYO alcohol with a corkage fee of $10 per bottle. Discounts are available for children and seniors.

The diverse selection of dishes is visually appealing and tantalising to the taste buds, exemplifying true...

Utterly disappointing experience definitely won't be back. Never really been bothered to leave a bad food reviews but felt compelled tonight. 7 of us booked for dinner at Mt Waverley restaurant and we ordered a selection of wagyu beef, nigiri, tempura, seaweed salad, cold prawns, sausage which were I would have rated 3 to 4 stars. However a couple of us just wanted a sushi platter each as they were not keen on anything else. The first order arrived which one member of our party ate but second platter did not. We flagged another waiter 20 minutes later who asked us to order again which he placed in a tablet. Still nothing for our friend who waited 20 minutes and a different waiter we flagged came over and gave us a story about the tablet they were placing orders must have failed. We ordered again on his tablet and still nothing. At this point the person in our party who wanted sushi platter had only eaten 2 dishes- one tempura plate and one seaweed salad. I called for the Manager and she explained she actually "cancelled" our second platter order as the first was meant to be shared. I said it was ridiculous as no one else in our table wanted to eat that. When asked if there was a limit she said no we can order again and again. I suggested if she was actively cancelling orders to let customers know rather than wait or place multiple orders that will never arrive. At $40 per person I suggest if you are there mainly for sushi like my friend was then go elsewhere for "all you can eat". Lost our appetites and we left without the ice cream desserts just in case she might have asked us to...