OMI 380​ — Restaurant in Melbourne

I had the opportunity to experience dining at OMI 380 on Saturday night.

I like its location – located away from the bustling Swanston, Little Bourke and Elizabeth Street but a stone’s throw from Elizabeth Street, a few doors away from Mamak Restaurant along Lonsdale Street. The front entrance (where OMI Bekari’s pastries lined up on the left and the OMI Gelato on the right) belies what is inside. Once inside, the area opens into a (surprising) spacious and modern restaurant with well thought out different seating areas (including a mezzanine), high ceiling, bars and a glass wall that look into and showcase their bakery – aan interesting and elegant design. I am impressed.

I had a chance to chat with the owner Ven Chin about the concept behind OMI 380. He explained that concept is a premium Japanese fusion restaurant with reasonable prices in a nice setting for its customers to enjoy their meal, chill and relax. For those of you familiar with OMI outlets in the food courts of major shopping centers, OMI 380 is, to me, OMI 360. It is based the cuisine sold at these outlets but extended based on four core pillars: premium Wagyu, artisanal Matcha, exquisite Sake and creative Bakery. It is the original OMI but extended 360 degrees! Looking at the menus, one can order an interesting variety from ramen to unagi, from sushi to sashimi, from bento sets to skewers, from deep fried oysters to to gyoza and more. The array of dessert is impressive – from yuzu drinks to matcha desserts from the Matcha bar such as parfait, mochi, jelly, ice cream and affogato, from kakigori to burnt cheeze cake, from swiss roll to tiramisu to cannele ad panna cotta in three flavours – Hokkaido milk, Kyoto Matcha and Hojicha and Hokkaido milk. Lots to choose from and savor. In fact there are more desserts that are a delight to look at and taste and whose name I don’t even know.

Not to mention OMI Coffee serving OMI Kitano Japanese Dark Roast and Five Senses Blend in hot and cold brews. Also OMI Gelato serving Matcha levels 1 to 3, matcha burnt cheese cake, matcha tiramisu, dark hojicha, black sesame, nama chocolate, ogura, lavender, truffle crème and dark roast coffee flavour which I tried and liked.

See what I mean when I say OMI 380 is like OMI but extended 360 degrees?

Anyway, I am happy with the cuisine there, the drinks, the desserts, gelato and patries are really good. I am impressed (this the second time I am saying this). And they are reasonably priced. All of these in a setting that is modern, elegant, spacious with a wide variety of premium Japanese fusion cuisine, dessert, pastries and drinks to choose from.

The above writing is from me, from the heart. If you are looking for a place with Japanese fusion cuisine and drinks, give this place a go and judge...

I enjoyed myself! Not the best but the customer service was so good I give 5 stars la

Omi busting their moves with one of their biggest venues to date 🥳 decor is cohesive, tho I wish it felt less noisy. Had the double black pork belly ramen, truffle ramen, and shokudo (I think I'm spelling it wrong) and warabi mochi for dessert.

The ramen was surprisingly good! Usually don't expect the non-ramen focused places to do well but it definitely passes 💯 very flavourful and the broth still creamy, didn't over boil 👌 egg could visually be better but it was still tasty. Truffle is good enough to warrant a return trip.

Shokudo set felt like it was value for the variety you'd be getting, but despite each one being presented as a sushi piece, their rice broke apart easily even at the carry of the chopsticks and that's when I realised it seemed like normal rice than the usual sushi rice you'd expect. Presentation was good but can't say much else about the taste.

Warabi mochi was a surprise! Loved it in Japan and was keen to have a place here that serves it proper. Unfortunately the mochi was a little viscous but acted more like water, wasn't easy to lift with the dessert spoons (or ramen spoons) for that matter. Taste was a bit too bitter, with too much matcha. That said, they didn't skimp on the honey, hope it improves!

All in all, I've been a bit picky because the price point it's at atm is definitely coming close to unaffordable, which is usually okay if the food was worth the money, but at this moment I can't say it is yet. Our meal cost about $120ish for 3 people.

What carried our experience despite the above was the service. You can really tell they're doing their best, but also, service can only carry you so far, seeing that they've got around 28 staff tonight, they're definitely serious about it, so I hope they take feedback seriously and make the food worth coming back for 👍

Update: wife loves the ice cream, recommend the...

There might be a few Omis around town but there is only one Omi 380 and it's a whole new way to experience Japanese.

With four concepts under the one roof, no one will go unsatisfied from wagyu, a matcha bar, a soon to be sake bar and a Japanese bakery (with the best in gelato).

The second you walk in, this place is a vibe! The bakery sets the scene with over 30 freshly baked items to choose from and the gelato is so tempting it's hard to convince yourself to wait until after for dessert.

I don't know what was there before, but they have done wonders with the space - it's casual yet chic and a great meeting place for a casual lunch to celebrating something special.

The menu is huge too - the Sudoku Platter was a playful and fresh take on authentic Japanese Izakaya and a perfect starter for sharing. Missing out on sushi tacos, the Kushiyaki were just as fun - with 14 to choose from, it was impossible to choose a favourite.

The Salted Egg Fries are always a must as is the Fried Tako but what was a refreshing change, and a new must order, was the Fried Okayama Oysters which were as soft on the inside as they were crispy on the outside, just try not to lose them in your mentaiko dipping sauce!

The Sashimi Chazuke was served with a hot dashi broth for a soothing finish and although it didn't steam like in the Premium Short Rib Wagyu Hokkaido Soy Milk Tonkotsu Hot Pot, don't discount it's Instagram worthiness!

My favourite was a toss up between the Black Truffle Wagyu Don and the Wagyu Gyoza and then there was the hot pot which again if more than two people, it's hard to pass up as a flavourful and delicious winning dish!

The wagyu is basically butter, it's hard not to over order, but save room for dessert because without mentioning allllll the matcha options, the Jap gelato is a must!

It's not a cheap venture but...