Kisumé

We visited Kisumé for New Year's Eve 2025 and had a brilliant night. The service was fantastic and very attentive throughout the evening, adding to the great atmosphere. The food was incredibly fresh and the quality was amazing. While the sushi and starters were incredible, the surprise highlight for me was actually the chicken thigh. I didn't expect it to be my favourite dish given the quality of the seafood, but it was an absolute delight. The drinks selection is outstanding as well, with a mind-blowing wine list. The only odd note was the questionable choice in artwork, but the food and service more than made up for it. Highly recommended!

Fine Japanese fusion cuisine in comfortable seating suitable for small group catch ups. Dishes are skewed towards western taste buds. Ingredients and preparations are acceptable but have rooms for improvement. Portion is small for the price as expected in fine dining. Its environment and service have met expectations. However ingredient freshness and food textures fall slightly short to the expected quality we anticipate for such price range. Nevertheless, this fine restaurant deserves a good review.

A hidden Japanese-style restaurant tucked away in a small alley in the city. Their weekday lunch set menu offers great value for money, and the ingredients are exceptionally fresh. The house-made sauces are perfectly crafted and pair beautifully with the dishes. Sitting at the counter allows you to watch the chef prepare various sashimi and sushi right in front of you. It’s recommended to make a reservation in advance.

Hands down one of the best dining experiences I’ve ever had. Kisumé was honestly incredible. Every single dish was next-level! So fresh, perfectly balanced, and packed with flavour. The sauce pairings were unreal and clearly so thoughtfully done. Even the smaller dishes completely blew us away. The edamame, the wagyu, the crispy rice sushi… like??? How are the starters that good. Nothing felt like an afterthought. Even the mocktail I had, was so delicious! Everything tasted so clean, refined and just straight up delicious. I’m still thinking about the food days later. 10000/10 experience and easily the best Japanese food I’ve had. Cannot wait to come back.

Came to try their lunch sets to decide whether it was worth to visit for dinner, and overall verdict was unfortunately a no. We did enjoy our time and experience at Kisume but did not feel it was worth the price to visit for dinner. Although it is a fine dining restaurant, I felt the ratio of meat/tofu to rice/noodles in the dishes was not proportionate. However, the quality of the sashimi in the chirashi don was fresh! We also tried a few of their entree dishes and our favourite was the crispy wagyu truffle, I’d definitely recommend that to try if you’re visiting Kisume!

We booked the Chefs Table experience and we’re not disappointed. Seated in a group of 12 around a counter in a private room, we enjoyed a huge 18 course epic journey of Japanese cuisine. The whole evening felt authentic yet modern and it was a joy to watch the well choreographed team of chefs and wait staff seamlessly keep it all moving along so well. Being our wedding anniversary, we very much appreciated the surprise extra anniversary dessert at the end!

Dined at Kisumé on a Friday night, booking was 1930. Service was great, staff were friendly, food was served in perfect timing. Food was delicious, we ordered the chefs menu selection as well as some starters, such as the miso soup, edamame, Angus beef taru taru tart and 16piece sashimi. Everything was delicious! Highly recommend the beef tart and the edamame, so delicious. Great selection of cold sake and delicious cocktails.

My husband and I went for lunch and we can honestly say it was phenomenal! The service, the food and the atmosphere were impeccable. We got several servings of the assorted sashimi and it was incredibly fresh. It took us back to Japan which is hard to do all the way in Melbourne. Very happy and would definitely recommend!