Shinwa Izakaya — Restaurant in Melbourne

A catastrophic and disappointing dining experience....

What we ordered: Appetisers: 2 x sushi platters 1 x Karaage chicken

Mains: 1 x Teriyaki Chicken 1 x Beef Oyster Blade 1 x Stone Grill Pork Belly 1 x Japanese Curry

The restaurant was busy, but not full. Myself and three others were seated in the back room which had surplus capacity.

15 minutes after we ordered, the chicken and 2 mains arrived. The karaage chicken was not fresh, certainly cold, and the mains portions were extremely small. We would have preferred to receive the appetisers first, but began eating as we were extremely hungry. We expected the remainder of the order to follow shortly, but this did not happen.

After another 15 minutes the steak arrived, no knife and fork was provided. The wait staff were not attentive to our area and was extremely difficult to get their attention. Once we finally caught their attention, we had asked for the sushi platters, the remaining main, and a knife and fork. Still nothing for another 10-15 minutes.

I reminded another waitress that I was waiting for a knife and fork to begin eating my steak. Shortly after, she brought the utensils, but it was far too late. Questioning the quality of the steak, I took one small bite. The steak was cold, chewy and inedible.

The initial wait staff we informed that items of our order was missing came back to our table and told us they had forgotten to key in the missing items (1 x Teriyaki Chicken, 2 x Sushi platters) and that it would take another 10-15 minutes to get the food ready.

Having to wait an overall of 60 minutes for everyone to receive their food and to recieve it in poor quality was not our idea of dining. 2 of our party had finished half of their mains and was dissatisfied with the quality of the food and overall service. I informed and showed her the steak. Her excuse was that the restaurant was extremely busy. Whilst I empathise with the difficulties of dealing with the rush, missing items and poor quality is inexcusable.

We told her to forget about the rest of the order and that we would only pay for what we ate, we also would not be paying for the steak.

The entire night was ruined by this poor experience and having to force the restaurant to allow us to only pay for what we ate.

Lack of attention to customers is the downfall of any hospitality business. It's clear Shinwa were understaffed on a Friday evening in a venue that was not full.

I'll be certain to never return to this...

Enjoyable meal. Did not book, place was busy for a Tuesday and was seated at the back end. They instantly turned the heater on which was considerate.

You get given a menu with descriptions of each dish, no pictures and drinks list. You place your order by marking a printed list of items on a separate sheet of paper.

Complimentary salted boiled edamame. Ordered: King Crab Claw - the claw itself is exactly that - just a claw which was packed full with shredded crab. The wasabi mayo was subtle - not a fan of wasabi but it was a good accompaniment. Just be careful when you bite into it- it is just a claw shell end, right in the middle. Enjoyed it very much. Tori Karaage - the chicken pieces were very well marinated - juicy, succulent but not as crispy or crunchy but allow the grapefruit dressing to soak in, it is divine- better than just dipping in kewpie mayo. Spider Roll - crunchy middle, tasty but a little too much sweet teriyaki dressing - unable to taste any spiced mayo- could not really taste the crab but the middle was crunchy. A little overpriced for the serving size -but as a sushi roll, tasty enough. Unagi Don - pretty dish, with lots of toppings and for $1 more than the Spider Roll, this dish is filling and more substantial. It had a little too much unagi sauce and was looking for rice and pickles to balance the sweetness. Black Asahi Beer - rice based beer, a little bitter but went very well with the food we had.

Service was good, friendly and food dishes were well paced. The food portions were enough for two. You sit on the floor with your...

We had been meaning to come here for a while, but my scheduled never lined up. Well, I managed to make it to the Sydney Road festival, and walking right past Shinwa I though, hey, maybe now's my chance! I have to admit, I wasn't exactly dressed for such a nice restaurant, but my hisband and I were still welcomed with such warmth that we were instantly at ease. We were seated, and our culinary adventure began. First, some cocktails. We had the Shinwa signature cocktail, the lychee coctail, and the plum wine. Everything was served in the most gorgeous presentation. And they were all delicious. Next the food. We ordered the edamame, okonomiyaki, the kaki fry (deep fried oysters), soft shell crab sushi rolls, the Nasu Dengaku (eggplant), Tonkatsu, Takoyaki, and the eel on rice. Much more food than we actually needed, but we had to try as much as we could! Again, the presentation was absolutely gorgeous, little plates of luxury, but the taste? That was the real winner here. Every single morsel was perfection. I have to say, I don't think many places can nail presentation and flavour, but this place did. And then to add the genuine friendliness and warmth of the staff? An absolutely amazing experience that we hope to repeat again soon. Ps. I have some gorgeous photos that for some reason I am having difficulty uploading, but I will check in again later as they are definitely worth...