Ocha

One of my favourite restaurants in the world, a must visit every time I’m in Australia to enjoy Yasu and Michelle’s amazing food and hospitality. It doesn’t get much better than this. Stunningly fresh seafood, meticulous technique, great wines / sakes / beers, knowledgeable and friendly staff, this list goes on.

Visited this restaurant recently for dinner with my wife when staying a few days in Melbourne. Loving japanese food, I have been to Japan, frequently cook japanese food at home and also dined in countless japanese joints on a regular basis across the world. I looked up 'best japanese restaurants Melbourne' with the aim to dine in of of the highly recommended places here. A restaurant guide from Dec 2021 listed Ocha as one of the top 20 places to eat. So we made a booking for dinner. We ordered: 12 piece Sashimi plate, Eggplant Dengaku with red miso, Katsu Pork Slider, Agedashi Tofu, Grilled Swordfish Steak with Salad and Yakisoba noodles. The positive: Service was friendly and prompt, so 5 stars for that. The food was of good quality. The dining ambience was pleasant although nothing out of the ordinary and certainly nothing related to Japanese dining. The Agedashi Tofu was delicious, can't fault that. The Pork Katsu slider was nice, although nothing outstanding. The negative: Sashimi plate - I have never seen Sashimi cut into such small pieces, looked like a kids meal. While the quality of the fish was good, it was not anything outstanding and certainly the presentation was not what you would expect from such a restaurant. The Eggplant Dengaku, while delicious - the presentation was disappointing. It did not look appetising at all, there was just this blackish eggplant put on to the plate without any regard for making the dish visually appealing (which is what you would expect for a japanese restaurant). The Yakisoba noodles were a fair and decent sized portion. The taste however is not any better than what I had in places that charge half of that. Watery sauce, large amounts of chunky cut carrots. The biggest let down was the grilled Swordfish steak. While the steak was tasty and perfectly cooked, the presentation of the dish is the worst I have ever seen. A bunch of green leaves of whatever 'salad' that is supposed to be dumped lovelessly on to the plate and then the 2 pieces of swordfish popped on top. Zero stars for presentation. I would not even serve a meal like that to my friends on a weekend BBQ at home. Japanese chefs and restaurants are known for their passion and attention to detail, they take great pride in making the food look as good as they can. This is what japanese cuisine stands for. None of that fundamental principle was evident in any of the dishes we had on that evening. I don't know what the owner and chefs of Ocha consider 'modern' japanese, but to me the only modern aspect of this restaurant is to bring the typical australian 'laid-back' and lazy attitude into the presentation of their so called japanese dishes. And you pay 40$ for that - are you kidding me? Overall - the place is highly overrated and underwhelming. Would not go back and would not recommend either.

Was really looking forward to this evening.What a disappointment Huge push for sharing which destroys my pleasure. Customers do not need any pressure. Nice dining? Food wise, yes. Fine dining absolutely not. Noisy and very crowded. Food quite nice but very expensive plus a huge credit card surcharge. Service was just adequate. Uber eats had a huge priority. Certainly would not recommend

The food here is excellent and the service is equal with enthusiastic and friendly staff who are attentive and courteous. A byo is also another good reason to eat here for all who have a nice wine collection to share with friends. A great chef and a special mention to Eric who’s knowledge and service is impeccable.