Yakikami — Restaurant in Melbourne

This place is immaculate. This is the second time we’ve been here and I’m still blown away at how good the food tastes, the freshness and the quality. We came here to celebrate our 5 year anniversary. The staff were very attentive - refilling water, asking everyone if they wanted another drink whether it was the same or a different one. The bartender we asked to make a drink executed it perfectly. We gave him a drink profile we were after and he delivered. We also had shots on the house which we asked to take with the bartender.

The Zensai was out of this world. The jelly that was paired with it was the perfect mix of tangy and sweet.

The Oysters, were also very nice and fresh. I’m personally not the biggest fan of oysters, but the sauce paired with it went well.

Sashimi - unbelievable fresh, delicious. The standout pieces were the scallop, The fatty tuna piece which melted in your mouth and the salmom which was immaculate.

Snowcrab - as someone who hates crab and has never had an egg cooked this way before, it was very delicious. seasoned well with sauce, the dish was immaculate. Great balance of meat to egg ratio. There wasn’t a lot of meat to take away from the star of the dish; the egg and there wasn’t too little crab pieces to make you feel like you’re getting your moneys worth.

I’m an avid Chinese BBQ skewer lover. The skewers ere are very different to Chinese bbq skewers (which are typically street food). Yakikami has a more elegant take on it, the food was extremely soft, it was packed with flavour but at the same time not overpowering the actual dish you were eating.

Chicken wing - amazing Shittake mushroom - fresh, juicy Chicken neck - texture wasn’t my partners favourite, it’s definitely a little different, I was able to overlook the texture as the flavour was great. Chicken inner thigh - super tender and flavourful Chicken meatball - I was pleasantly surprised by this as I wasn’t expecting to like it. It paired well with the pasteurised egg. Duck skewer - I’ve never had duck outside of Chinese bbq style duck, so this was nice to try. The flavour is very nice, the leek paired perfectly with it.

Chicken soup - the broth was velvety and smooth. Seasoned very well. I will say it tasted very similar to Dari’s chicken soup you a pick up, but there’s some extra stuff that makes all the difference. Dari’s chicken soups flavour is about 70% the same, but there’s texture of this soup and the remaining 30% is very different to Dari’s soup and is well worth it. Chicken was sous vide or cooked similarly. Extremely tender and not something easily replicated. Pork had a Smokey flavour to it (very subtle), but very much had that traditional char siu flavour

Dessert was so good. Presentation was nice and was a great way to end the evening. Full disclosure, we did order a couple extra skewers before we got to dessert. An omakase isn’t about making you completely food, but to experience the journey of taste and artistry the chef has put together. We left Yakikami full and were not complaining. 10/10 experience, we’ll...

Made a reservation for their A5 Kobe Wagyu Burger omakase one week in advance to celebrate a special occasion. Was initially really excited to try this place and was looking forward for this for the whole week as I've heard good things, especially their Wagyu burger omakase, priced at $150 per person. However, when we arrived and saw the menu, it was a very bad surprise to find out that the omakase is now priced at $195 per person, adding an extra $100 to the bill without any prior notice.

The main reason we came was for the wagyu burger too but this was of course also not on the menu anymore because they have now changed to a "new menu". While I understand the nature of omakases and menu changes, charging an additional $100 without informing customers beforehand was very misleading and felt like day light robbery. It wasn't as if we could simply walk out of the restaurant too since booking cancellations are subject to a charge of $50 per person.

You can see that even on their website, the omakase experience is still advertised at $150 with no indication that their menu had changed and how often this happens. Their website also still lists their omakase experience as the A5 Kobe Wagyu Burger omakase which is clearly not what they are offering anymore. Having this unexpected price increase added to the bill without any prior communication and having the one menu item that we came for no longer available on the menu, this started our evening and omakase experience off on the wrong foot and left a very bad first impression of the restaurant.

At the end of the 8 courses, while they were good and presented well like they should for omakases, it was definitely not worth the $195 price tag. I've had way better wagyu omakases at lower prices, where I was wow-ed by almost every course but this fell short and did not feel as "luxurious" as they claimed their experience to be. Their price hike seemed unjustified and we left very unsatisfied. I am not sure whether this increased price is their new set price for their omakase experience but either way, we will not be coming back and will recommend everyone who's made a reservation to call ahead to confirm you're going to get what you thought you booked for instead of having high hopes and relying on what they advertised on their website at time of booking and then leave feeling scammed.

Gave an additional star as they accommodated a last minute prawn allergy which they did not have to and I really appreciated...

Went into yaki kami for lunch

Food was delicious and well cooked, the waguy meat ball was great, skewers were simple yet deep flavoured and perfect. But thats where it ended

Me and my partner got the lunch set which is very poorly described. Menu advise pick one of 3 meat options and comes with 3 sauce on the menu.

The lunch menu DOES NOT STATE anywhere that it comes with 3 side dish which were potato salad, kimchi, cabbage salad and miso soup

My partner wanted soup due to stomach pain and when we asked if they have any soup, the waiter who was a male just pointed at wonton soup and was very quick to dismiss and wanted to quickly end the interactions.

We ordered kimchi and potato salad on the side, which he also failed to give us further information that the lunch set comes with the side dishes.

In hindsight they do have pictures but it was not clear at all these were included in the lunch set.

We saw this lunch set online and it says unlimited rice refills. I wanted to confirm this and when i asked the head waiter, he was quite rude and answered me like i was an idiot for even asking. If you work in hospitality and cant speak to customers with respect why are u in the industry? You were acting like a man child and it was embarrassing.

The two chef working at the kitchen was lovely, and very helpful when my partner requested for more rice.

Lastly when we were eating waitress came around and took empty plates away, which was very helpful but she mistaken taken food that was still being eaten. I understand it was in good intention but it really ruins the experience and felt like we were rushed to finish our food and get out. i got up and pay for the food and i had my drink on the table, when i came back it was gone 💀 ask before you take things away … the restaurant was not busy …. Why are you in hurry to kick us out.

Management/ owner, if you're reading this please re-train your staff to show tiny bit of hospitality. We were so excited to be there, food was amazing and we had plans to come back with family and friends. Atmosphere is very clean and modern.

Staff behaviour and ability to cater to customer experience is so quite pathetic and a little insulting. Yes im just random customer and this review will never reach the owner but I will be telling everyone i know about my experience and how we was treated.

Again food was amazing, kitchen staff was lovely. Waiter and waitress was a...