Shinjuku Sushi Bar

NB: Probably important for most people: Their EFTPOS and credit card facilities are questionable. I highly encourage you to just pay in cash here if you can. They *do* offer payment by credit/​debit cards, but they use one of those really old machines that take an imprint of your bank card. Then, they call your bank to confirm you have sufficient funds for the payment. It’s an overly complex and time consuming affair, and I always feel bad having to make the staff go through that. No idea why they don’t have an electronic EFTPOS machine, but it’s certainly just easier to pay cash here if you can.
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I’ve been to Shinjuku Sushi five or six times now, and all of my experiences here have been pretty consistent over time. Located very close to the city end of Sydney Rd, Shinjuku is a great place to eat if you want to get out of the city a little bit but don’t want to be too far away from all of the conveniences. It’s location is great in that there are usually car parking spaces directly out the front at dinner times; alternately, the tram along Sydney Rd goes right past it if you’re of the public transport persuasion.
I was originally attracted to this place because of the name. I couldn’t find any reviews or tips for this restaurant online, but a couple of the times I have visited Tokyo in the past I have stayed in the Shinjuku ward (which happens to have the world’s busiest transport hub — approximately 4 million people travel through Shinjuku train station every day!) — so this was definitely a place I wanted to check out.
~ The staff appear to be legitimately Japanese. It may be surprising to know that the majority of Japanese restaurants in Melbourne typically aren’t run or owned by Japanese at all. Not sure whether this contributes to the authenticity of the food (probably not, since some of the writing on the walls in the restaurant are in Chinese), but it’s good to know nonetheless.
~ The food is consistently fresh. Every time I go to Shinjuku I usually order some variant of their sashimi range. They always offer an adequate quantity of fish and it is always fresh and tasty.
~ I’m not sure whether I am an over-​consumer of wasabi, but I don’t think there has ever been a time where I haven’t had to ask for more here. If you order a main sized sashimi dish they will provide you with a tiny glob of home made wasabi. But ask for more and you shall receive.
~ This place is dead silent the fast majority of the time. They have authentic classical Japanese music playing very quietly at the back of the main part of the restaurant, but apart from this the atmosphere can often be awkwardly silent. If you want to have a confidential conversation with your dining partner over dinner, perhaps Shinjuku isn’t the best place to go. However, the restaurant usually only has two or three groups of people at a time, so it’s typically not much of an issue.
~ Prices are good. Because you’re that little bit out of the city, and Brunswick is known for it’s cheap, high quality food, Shinjuku offers great value for what you get. I’ve never been disappointed with the quantity or quality of the food provided to me at Shinjuku.
Overall, I’ve been to this place many times, and I plan to continue coming here many times more. Why don’t you give it a try too?

The fact that Shinjuku Sushi has sushi in the title really shows that it’s a business that has an idea of what it does best. If you want to eat some of the freshest, most pure sushi and sashimi around, then this is the place you should be heading to. Seriously. It’s pure deliciousness. However, despite the high quality of the sushi making, this restaurant is certainly not without its flaws.
The service can be a little meek, resulting in a slower evening than you may have planned. The menu is lengthy without being too confusing, but not all dishes are created equal. There’s one that is literally a bunch of seafood and vegetables in a weak broth, cooking slowly and unevenly in front of you in one of those transportable gas woks. It’s also all a bit on the costly side, with only a few dishes adding up to a pricy night out rather quickly. It can also be a bit on the empty side most nights making for slightly uncomfortable conversation when you realise that the staff can hear every word you say in the silence, and it’s quite dark inside.
The place is BYO wine, but beer and a couple of other basics can be purchased.
But seriously. The sushi is incredible.