The Roe Australia — Restaurant in Melbourne

I booked this restaurant as Japanese restaurants have many options for foods that do not contain gluten or dairy (compared to other cuisines). Google lists The Roe in the Japanese restaurant search results.

After explaining to our waitress (the assistant manager) of a dairy and gluten intolerance, I was told that the only option I could order for a main on the menu was the Glacier King Salmon Donburi Set. So, this is what I ordered.

When the food was brought to the table I was then told that I could not eat Sea Urchin Kombucha and Chef Appetizer due to them both including dairy. I was also told that the Miso Soup had gluten, which is strange as Miso soup does not normally include soy sauce. After asking the same waitress to check on this, I was then told it has no gluten but instead has a milk based ingredient. Also strange.

At this point I asked about the Matcha Mochi and was told it had dairy. So, the assistant manager who took our order and told me specifically that I could order this set, proceeded to tell me as the food was brought out that I in fact could not eat it.

I also ordered a side of edamame which had shells that would not open, I literally had to bite through the skin to get the beans out. And these beans were dry and crumbly. I asked the waitress to replace them and the second dish of edamame was exactly the same. I've eaten at countless Japanese restaurants both locally and abroad but have never had edamame this bad. Even the frozen mukimame from Coles is better.

When we were almost finished with our meals the waitress brought me a plate of complimentary kingfish, which was a nice gesture but not asked for nor what I ordered.

Upon paying for our meal I mentioned that I should not be charged full price for my set meal. The waitress told me that she brought a complimentary plate, to which I replied it was complimentary, not what I ordered. That, plus she had told me specifically that I could eat the entire set meal I had ordered, which was untrue. I was also told that the items in the "set" menu are just extra and the charge is just for the donburi bowl.

After speaking to the manager in front of me, in what I assume was mandarin, he informed me that he'd apply a 10% discount. To which I agreed, but this was only applied to my set meal and amounted to a $3.99 discount. Surely the set menu items are worth more than that.

But it gets even worse, my partners Matcha Mochi (she ordered the Hot Rose Salmon Donburi + sea urchin and pork dumplings) was never brought to our table and I had to asked for it, receiving an odd look from the manager in the process.

Overall it was a very disappointing and underwhelming experience, the food was average and the friendly service which seemed genuine at first, devolved into something that felt dishonest and cheap.

We most certainly will...

This restaurant was recommend by a Chinese friend. First of all, they do not provide a menu. You need to scan a QR code to access the menu & order. The system convenience you to use Google or Facebook to login which I do not want to exposure of my privacy & then I need to use my mobile to register an account. This is not a friendly experience. The renovation was very poor. The roof looks like never complete. There was a front gate & being hide by a big piece of cloth. The toilet was not clean & make you feel like you are eating in a $10 chinese food court. I cannot understand how can they obtain a food registry from local Council.

The oyster was in promotion. However the oyster was not clean after opening. You can feel a lot of small pieces of broken shell in your month. Uni is the main character in this restaurant. A Uni Don is starting from $50 each. I have order a Tuna Urchin Don, I don't feel any flavor on the tuna, uni or rice. The rice is not anything from Japan. It has no flavor at all & seems like from short grain rice buy from local grocery shop.

Furthermore, they are charging extra for paying by credit card. A very typically Chinese owner way of running a restaurant. I understand that you are totally correct for passing the bank charges to customer. Consider that you are charge $50 per person & still want to pass the bank charge to customer? This does not seem fair.

I will not come again & do not recommend you to go to a Chinese own Japanese restaurant.

10/07/2021 Thank you for the owner positive feedback. How does the local Council, fisherman or Federal government support your restaurant ? However I can see the owner is divert the direction to racist discrimination of the Chinese community.

Do u have any feedback about the broken shell found on oyster? The flavor is very unique to each person. Where did your tuna & rice come from? Personally it is not what I expect, maybe you do, for a $50 meal.

I can also see the owner is a very greedy business mind. Passing the credit card charges to customer is a real bad experience. They were doing birthday promotion earlier but when I approach on IG, they just ignore me. When I post a bad review, the owner came out within hour.

Uniboomboom owner, enjoy making every cent of profit from your restaurant. I hope u will be...

We visited Uni Boom Boom for dinner at Glen Waverley and it was like a warehouse style restaurant. It was designed with a Sea urchin theme in mind as you can see urchin shells, sea shells, and ocean drawings. The place also sells an extensive range of bird nests in their shelves.

The restaurant owner is very knowledgable on the different types of sea urchins and explained to us about the long and short spikes of sea urchins and how they were seasonal and have different tastes.

Apparently sea urchins are considered a pest as they have been feeding on kelp, and leaving nothing but open areas of rock. Through their restaurant's sea urchin specialty menu, they were hoping more people would know about how delicious these sea urchins are, as well as to consider that the sustainable harvest of these 'pests' would have positive consequences for the coastal ecosystems. This would be a win-win situation.

When we arrived and was waiting for food, there is a little toy on the table where you can play with to try and help the little sea urchin out of the cage. We struggled for a while and gave up haha.

Then our sea urchin popcorn came and our first appetisers. They were yummy and unique!

After that, we tried the world's first sea urchin and caviar coffee! It looked very deconstructed when it came, with sugar, mint and caviar on the side for us to mix in the coffee. The result was actually quite salty at the start, but when we added the sugar in, it tasted nice.

The unagi (eel) ramen with sea urchin looked awesome as well. It came with the broth on the side which was cooked for 48 hours, as well as some sea urchin butter which tasted a bit sour like mayonnaise. We had to mix everything in and it was fun! The ramen was really nice and the sea urchin was just melt in mouth freshness! The taste was a bit slimy, soft, and fishy. A bit sweet as well. I loved the broth as it was very rich in flavour.

Next up we tried the wagyu don with egg yolk and sea urchin. The wagyu slices were really big and flavourful, whilst the sea urchin was really nice with the rice.

Overall, we enjoyed this sea urchin themed restaurant and all the food items with sea urchin in it were really creative! Well done team and thanks...