Machi Restaurant & Bar

When you’re thinking of a classy night out in St Kilda, then you need to be thinking about Machi Restaurant & Bar on Inkerman Street. They’ve got all the credentials necessary to create the perfect evening: an open kitchen that allows you to see the sushi artists at work, a drinks menu that can get the night off to the best possible start and a food menu packed with enough Japanese classics to satisfy even the most demanding of gyoza gourmands. You can reach Machi simply – take the tram from Melbourne CBD to the centre of St Kilda and get off at Inkerman Street – and once you’re there, their staff will do the rest. Book a table today.

“Machi” is the Japanese word meaning “small town” or “community”: an appropriate name, then, for Machi Restaurant & Bar in St Kilda. It was the community in St Kilda that inspired the moniker and when you head along to Inkerman Street, it will be easy to see why the name fits. Their name locally is well known, due largely to the winning combination of friendly service, reasonable prices and a menu that encapsulates the very best of Japanese cuisine in Melbourne. We emphasis the Melbourne, as while the dishes and techniques are from Japan, the locally-sourced ingredients represent the finest that Australia has to offer.

Take the fish: the maki rolls are made of Moreton Bay bugs, the tempura is local flathead and there is a miso-marinated barramundi, cooked in the oven and served with fresh green veggies. Alongside the Aussie products, Machi use the freshest sushi grade salmon, tuna and kingfish as well as scallops and prawns. Seafood aside, there are meat dishes such as Wagyu beef sukiyaki, teriyaki lamb shoulder and a huge range of gyoza dumplings. If all that sounds too much like hard work, however, then let the Machi chefs pick for you through their set menu omakase selections. Reserve yourself a table and head on over to Inkerton Street in St Kilda for a Japanese feast to remember.