Shoya Japanese Restaurant

Ph: 9650 0848; 25 Market Lane, Melbourne 3000 www.shoyamelbourne.com

Japanese, $$
Open Mon-Sat noon-2.30pm Sun-Thu 6-10.30pm Fri-Sat 6-11pm; Licensed; AE DC MC V
Chef Shigeo Nonaka (5-12-08) Owner Shigeo Nonaka & Ron Lim (5-12-08)

Mietta's Review
All you wanted to know about Japanese eating (and drinking) but didn't dare ask will be explained when you enter Shoya and have to choose how you'll eat - table and chair, tatami area, BBQ table, at the sushi bar, at the sake bar or perhaps you'd prefer the karaoke room. Once the formalities are out of the way you'll find good Japanese food, including excellent sushi and sashimi, in this massively made over building.

Other published opinions

Age Good Food Guide 2009 Score: 15.5/20 "The dishes of purifying salt on Shoya's doorstep are not only a Shinto tradition; they also suggest a place as serious about food and wine as its next-door-neighbour, the Flower Drum"

Gourmet Traveller 2009 Australian Restaurant Guide "This multi-level slice of transplanted Tokyo offers a choose-your-ownadventure in contemporary Japanese hospitality, from the basement barbecue den and casual horigotatsu area with low tables and tatami mats, to the sushi and karaoke bars"

Herald Sun Claire Sutherland, 10-06-08 Score: **** "Melbourne's best Japanese restaurant - sought out by visiting Japanese foodies"

Age Good Food Guide 2008 Score: 15.5/20, One Hat "Ascending the stairs at Shoya, welcome calls of 'irishaimase' ringing out from every corner, you'll swear you just caught a cab from Narita International"

Gourmet Traveller 2008 Australian Restaurant Guide "Shoya brings new meaning to multi-skilling. Ranged over six levels you'll find four karaoke rooms, a DIY barbecue grill, sushi bar, shoesoff seating pit, dining room and even a chill-out lounge"

The Age Good Food Guide 2006 score 14/20 "There's a barbecue area with its own menu of DIY grilled morsels such as wagyu beef and ox tongue, a horigotatsu area with low tables set over seating pits, a sushi bar, a karaoke bar, and finally, a lounge."

Herald Sun Dining Out Simon Plant 28/6/05 Score 16/20 "Abandon all preconceptions about Japanese food and open your mind and tastebuds to the glories of Shoya. The produce is exceptional, the presentation dazzling, and alert staff attend to your every need."

The Age Good Food Guide 2005 score 14/20 "FROM the sleek, top-floor cocktail bar to the barbecue tables six split-levels below, Shoya is an impressive, multifaceted display of Japanese dining. The beautiful wooden fitout includes Western-style seating, tatami areas, karaoke rooms and a space-age sushi bar where owner-chef Shigeo Nonaka can be found crafting brilliantly fresh seafood."

Gourmet Traveller 2005 Restaurant Guide "Shoya is a vast new Japanese pleasure palace within the shell ofa recycled old city building. It houses a variety of activities: Japanese barbecue, a la carte, tatami room, sushi bar, sake bar and karaoke rooms. Much ofShoya's approach is authentic; sake is taken particularly seriously. A lot ofthe food is superb and uncompromising, too."

Age Take Five John Lethlean 11/7/04 "Two doors from Flower Drum, Shoya, a vast kind of rambling Japanese warehouse, is in good company. You must choose your table: barbecue or a la carte (there's also a sushi bar upstairs). It's a little confusing."

Herald Sun, Weekend, 26/6/04,Bob Hart,'an opulent establishment-six levels of activities ranging from yakiniku (do-it-yourself barbecue) tables on the lower floors, set lunches and a la carte service and a splendid sushi bar on the mid levels, karoke parlours and a lounge-bar on the upper levels. Grill,eat drink or, if you must,sing in private...Shoya is an absolute winner.'

The Age, Epicure,20/4/04,John Lethlean,Score 15/20,'the food here is excellent,even if rough edges need to be knocked off the package...And the produce used-pivotal to the success of most Japanese food-is in keeping with the upper-end pricing.Superb.'