Melbourne's best Japanese restaurants 2015

Putting forth a list of Japanese restaurants and deeming them this city's best is a dangerous game. Melbourne eaters care about our city's izakayas, sushi-yas, ramen joints and sake-driven dive bars with the same ferocious vigour as others do the AFL. So let's be clear: this isn't ALL of the best Japanese in Melbourne. That's a list too long to tally. This, instead, is the peak of each category right now, compiled by our team of reviewers, who are currently on the road reviewing for The Age Good Food Guide.

Hakata Gensuke

A no-bookings policy means everyone lines up at this year-old ramen joint, but a friendly front-of-houser keeps things moving, taking orders en route. Broth options are the signature peppery tonkotsu, warming black sesame or 'god fire' with adjustable spice. Noodles come in four textures; and extra toppings include black fungus, bamboo shoots and bonus char siu slices. The pot-bashing atmosphere means HG is no fine diner, but the steamy clamour provides the best ramen experience short of a flight to Fukuoka.

168 Russell Street, Melbourne, 03 9663 6342.

Izakaya Den

This long, narrow underground cavern combines hard-edged industrial (concrete, exposed ducts) with manga imagery: Izakaya Den even has its own cartoon mascot, Master Den. Behind the long bar, industrious bandanna-wearing staff prepare small dishes geared for sharing. Scallops come with a bracing wasabi oil hit, and grilled salmon is cleverly offset by sweet pickled cauliflower. The signature Den fried chicken, crisp school prawns are built for drinks, which get equal play – Victorian wines and cocktails with an oriental twist, as in a zippy sake mojito.

Basement, 114 Russell Street, Melbourne, 03 9654 2977.

Kappo

It's the rituals that make it: seats drawn back to scoop you into place; hand towels delivered, plush and thick, and the chance to choose your chopsticks.This is Simon Denton's new, worldly kappo-style eatery where you pick or nix ingredients from a list of 40, and let chef Kentaro Usami go nuts, creating five, seven or nine nuanced courses: crumbed quail legs alongside caviar-dotted pearl meat, snapper, tofu and sweetcorn in a heady dashi, and Japanese-style tartare – chopped lobster, salmon, sea grapes, crunchy black sesame crumbs. Want to make a great journey revelatory? Entrust yourself to sommelier Raffaele Mastrovincenzo.

Ground floor, 1 Flinders Lane, Melbourne, 03 9639 9500.

Kenzan

Decades of consistency and relevance in the volatile restaurant world is a remarkable feat. So it is with Kenzan, an experience that remains as assured as ever. The sushi counter defines the space, with dedicated sushi chefs gliding razor-sharp knives through buttery fish, all served at precisely the right temperature. It's not all raw fish here. There might be delicate agedashi tofu with mushrooms and ginger or ethereal chawan mushi packed with seafood and crisp vegetables. Prawn-stuffed shiitakes, fried to a golden crunch, are a popular beginning while simple mains highlight superb produce, such as expertly grilled and sliced steak, bathed in teriyaki sauce.

Lower level, Collins Place, entry via 56 Flinders Lane, Melbourne, 03 9654 8933.

Komeyui

On looks (neat awning-shaded exterior, blondwood-furnished dining room), you could presume Komeyui was a typical neighbourhood Japanese restaurant. But how many serve Hokkaido hairy crabs, ox tongue, sea cucumber or prawns in a shiokara marinade? Request seats at the counter if you want to watch Hokkaido-born owner-chef Motomu Kumano prepare sashimi and sushi that goes beyond the familiar. Others prefer a table overlooking Bay Street, dipping chopsticks into little bowls of perfectly crisp school prawns with garlic salt, and prising Tasmanian periwinkles in sea urchin garlic butter from their shells.

396 Bay Street, Port Melbourne, 03 9646 2296.

Minamishima

Best sushi in town is the word on the street, and it's not a lie. Two years of planning and a lifetime of training has led to owner-chef Koichi Minamishima (ex sushi master at Kenzan) standing behind his own bar – a wood and stone study in minimalism – beside his offsider, Hajime Horiguchi. You can sit in the dining room if you have a group or need some hot dishes as a raw fish circuit breaker, but really you want to be ringside for this $150-a-head sushi experience where 15 pieces of increasingly eccentric seafood (cockles, uni, geoduck), some imported from Tokyo's Tsukiji fish markets, are winnowed, scored and sometimes briefly scorched into bites.

4 Lord Street, Richmond, 9429 5180.

Two decades after opening in a pokey butcher shop, and five years after upgrading to bigger premises, it can still be tricky to find a table free at Ocha. Families take the early shift, introducing a new generation to the contemporary Japanese food. Long-time fans drift in later, returning for the legendary crunchy-springy prawn dumplings dipped in green tea salt, umami-charged eggplant topped with minced chicken, or a trio of oysters with a choice of punchy dressings, including tangy ponzu and a cross-cultural kilpatrick (miso and bacon). Sushi and sashimi are dependable, teppanyaki eye fillet meltingly tender, and the specials list offers worthwhile diversions.

3 Church Street, Hawthorn, 9853 6002.

Sushi Monger

The tiny size of this lunch outlet is partly responsible for the queues, but it's more about the vivid freshness of the hand rolls and cheap win of a teriyaki salmon donburi with miso under a tenner that sees people piling up before the doors open. There's also the singsong call when miso is ordered (it's got good umami without being a bowl of salt), friendly service and the fact that it's actually an effort to drop more than $10, even for a bento box. It's a sweet and simple lunch hour legend.

Shop 17, 309-325 Bourke Street, Melbourne, 03 9663 0899.

Tempura Hajime

It's everything good about great Japanese restaurants: hard to find, with whispery service; a place of just 12 seats with an offering that's wilfully specific and sharp as a result. It's an omakase situation, with a choice of tempura chased with more tempura, or followed by sushi. It starts with a little seaweed salad, and sashimi followed by a series of ten bubble-crisp, scalding-light pieces of vegetables, prawns and urchin roe-stuffed scallops which are all cooked, one at a time, in dimpled copper vats of oil by chef-owner Shigeo Yoshihara, then placed in front of you with instructions on how to eat. It's magic, every time.

60 Park Street, South Melbourne, 03 9696 0051.

Yu-u

It's still one of the most satisfying dining experiences in Melbourne, to bypass the crowds queueing for every fluoro-lit pinball machine restaurant of Flinders Lane and enter this unmarked yakitori den. Down the stairs it's a sharp and woody wonderland where tiny hearts and ruffles of chicken skin are basted and charred on the grill behind a long expanse of bar, maybe served with a condiment of pickled plum. It's not all about waving around things on sticks and Sapporo. Get a private room, and order a whole grilled collar of snapper; karaage (fried chicken spare ribs) or tidily cut sashimi. Either way, it's a calm and collected oasis.

137 Flinders Lane, Melbourne, 03 9639 7073.