Wabi Sabi Salon

Wow wow wow!! The Vegan ramen at Wabi Sabi in Collingwood is hands down the best vegan ramen ♡ A creamy sesame base. Just the right hit of lip tingling chili and so filling! Lots of vegan options. Hubbies chicken katsu curry was also exceptional. Bit of a wait to get a table but that's coz its soooo good!

such a cute restaurant with the loveliest atmosphere. staff were really welcoming and helpful, food was amazing !! I had the teishoku set. definitely worth checking out if you’re in fitzroy!

Ordered the fried salmon and it’s cooked to perfection, however their side dishes are a bit of hit and miss. Some were very salty, while some are quite plain. The zucchini with sweet corn combination is a little weird personally. We were seated upstairs and it feels a little cramp, and you could literally see everyone that comes into the restaurant and also see what they are eating 😆 For the price you are paying, you’re better off eating at some other places selling similar Teishoku sets. Toilets are extremely dark and located in the garden outside.

Wabi sabi salon and staffs thank you so much for an lovely evening and I definitely miss everything about ur meal ur vintage Japanese decoration and fantastic service. I still remember the 1st came to ur shop like 15 years ago and also the kimono sales. I am so glad that you guys are still there stronger than ever. Your foods are amazing and so clean so healthy which exactly what I miss about the most about you guys. I don’t know how to describe the taste and the smell and the texture about ur good foods. Please kindly see my pictures for more details and also the staffs who service us are very friendly, helpful and certainly knowledgeable . Thank you so much . Arigatō ありがとう

Wabi Sabi Salon sits above Smith Street like a little Tokyo apartment, all paper lanterns, mismatched ceramics and shelves of lucky cats peeking out from wooden beams. Low lighting and indie jazz create a cosy hush, yet the open kitchen still lets you catch the sizzle of karaage hitting hot oil and the thrum of “irasshaimase” each time the door opens. It feels instantly transportive without tipping into theme‑park territory. Food strikes a smart balance between comfort classics and seasonal specials. We started with house pickles and gently smoky miso eggplant, followed by an oden pot that arrived steaming with daikon, tofu and a soy‑dashi broth perfect for Melbourne winter nights. The sashimi set was impressively fresh, slices of kingfish and salmon fanned like origami across hand‑thrown plates. Chicken karaage delivered the ideal crunch‑to‑juicy ratio while a vegan katsu curry swapped meat for panko‑crumbed pumpkin and did not feel like a compromise. Portions encourage sharing which lets you sample more of the menu, and the sake list ranges from crisp junmai to rich nigori if you want to explore beyond standard pours. Service is warm and attentive without hovering. Staff happily explain unfamiliar dishes, check spice and gluten needs, and top up water before glasses run dry. Bookings are wise on weekends; the narrow staircase and intimate dining room fill fast, though takeaway trays slide neatly into the footpath crowd when the wait list grows. Prices sit in the mid‑range for Collingwood dining and feel fair once you factor in the evident care taken with produce and presentation. Wabi Sabi Salon offers a mellow pocket of Japanese hospitality that rewards both quick weeknight drop‑ins and slower celebratory dinners. A ten out of ten in my personal point of view :)!

The food was very underseasoned. Everything we ordered was bland, with the exception of the miso. For a Japanese restaurant, this was especially surprising and disappointing. We had booked an outdoor table, but the booking system doesn’t specify whether this means out the back or on the street. We were seated out the front, where it was far too windy to be comfortable. When we came back inside, we were told we could sit at a table for two. After sitting down, a staff member came to take our order but then informed us we only had 30 minutes due to another reservation. After quite a bit of back and forth, we were eventually moved to another table (a longer table that no one else ever joined, so there was no actual issue). To add to the confusion, only one of our drinks arrived from our order. The biggest concern was the bill. By our calculation, the total should have been $162, but we were charged $183.98. After checking the menu again once we left, the total still does not add up. The only explanation seems to be an added charge of around 13.5%, which we did not approve and which isn’t a standard tip amount. Between the bland food, confusing seating situation, incomplete drink order, and unexplained extra charge, this was a really poor experience. Sadly, this may be the worst Japanese food I’ve had in Melbourne. Very disappointing.

Vegan options available💚 The service was very good. Vegan dumpling was served boiled style. They come with spicy sauce, and it was good. Vegan Tantan Ramen was quite spicy, but it made me warm. If you don't like spicy food, I think it's a good idea to order it with a mild spiciness😙 Thank you for the delicious meal. ごちそうさまでした💚

I would say this restaurant is quite hyped up. Went for a friend’s birthday lunch. For the price point, was quite disappointed with the dish I got, didn’t quite hit the spot. The side dishes were also quite average.

I felt conflicted about leaving this review, wary of spreading negativity, but this needs to be said. I don't want to bottle it up & I need the closure to move on from this. My experience began with awe at the amazing retro aesthetics & lively atmosphere. After a 10min wait for a table (peak hour), the waiter at the door gave us a 3 seater table. Another waiter asked us if someone had seated us there, as if we weren't supposed to be there. We didn't think much of it, & said the first waiter directed us there. A waitress gave us menus & took our orders at 1:10PM, based on the timestamp on my screenshot of their Insta. I was chatting to my friend (both of us were one of the few Asians there at this point) when we were asked to move to the upstairs bench so a group of 3 could be seated there instead. We carried our own water, napkins & cutlery upstairs. We lost track of time chatting until it was already 2PM; 50 minutes had passed since we first ordered. We should have checked after 30mins, but making sure they had our order was not our responsibility. My friend checked on the order, stating that about 1hr had passed since we ordered. The waiter replied, "what did you order? I'll look into it", & later to his credit as she was walking away, "sorry for the wait, our kitchen is really backed up at the moment". Good hospitality practice would have been to apologise sincerely & fast track a forgotten order to the start of the queue. Depending on restaurant protocols, complimentary drinks or a discounted meal would have been a reasonable goodwill gesture. Upstairs, a pair of white-presenting girls had just been seated & asked me if they go downstairs to order. I told them we had been waiting for 1hr; they should go downstairs to order if they want food. To our shock & dismay, both of them got their food within 15mins, while we were still empty-handed. The white-presenting trio we were bumped from our first table for were already halfway through their meal. This demonstrated that our wait wasn't simply an issue of kitchen inefficiency. It wasn't that the food was not being cooked, they had just chosen not to serve us. I am still in disbelief about the blatantly selective hospitality existing in Australia in 2025. What is disappointing to me as someone who has had 8 years of hospitality experience is not just that they lost our order -- but more importantly how they handled it. It happens, but the way a place responds shows their integrity. As a place that calls itself Japanese, there was a startling lack of Japanese hospitality -- it was saddening to see the nonchalant attitude, dismissiveness & lack of proactivity in solving our issue apart from, "its coming soon". By 2:30PM (1hr 20min later), we had tried to remain as positive by laughing the situation off & listing things we were grateful for in life, but it was becoming too much so we decided to leave. On the way out, she told the waiter we were leaving, to which he replied casually, "oh they haven't given you your food yet?" -- no further apology or investigation on what actually went wrong. It took us until after 2:37PM for us to get a bite, from Huxtaburger instead. Seeing Reviews, it made sense the extended wait time was a regular occurrence during a busy lunch hour. What didn't make sense was, the majority of customers who had a 40-60min+ wait time were non-white. Surnames like Yang, Hutama, Jang, Teh, Yun, Yen, Singh, Ding, & Tangtanawit. Whatever the reason, this reads like discrimination as other reviewers have pointed out, & isn't a good look, especially at an Asian eatery partially staffed by Asians. Am I wrong to feel indignant about yesterday? There are worse things in life than what happened. This review is not intended to be vindictive. While these events won't hurt the business, they've repeatedly hurt customers. I hope this prompts them to improve their practices, so these issues are minimised & managed well when they do occur. While I have lost 1.5hrs of my life I will never get back, this doesn't have to happen to others. Wabi Sabi, please do better.

We stumbled upon this place when we found out that Josie Bones a few doors down has closed. The service is really nice, very authentic. The food was pleasant, nothing too fancy. The decor and atmosphere was what I liked the most.

Wabi Sabi Salon could be a set from Kill Bill, it's just begging to be smashed up by some hungry ninjas. Not that I want that to happen - it's my favourite Japanese restaurant and I would be devastated to lose it! I admit there are other better known and cheaper Japanese eateries on Smith Street, but Wabi Sabi is a cut above, so if you want to make a night of it's worth coughing up the extra dollars. The second best thing about Wabi Sabi (the food being the first) is the different spaces. Over the years I've sat on cushions out in the garden where you can hear the dinky traditional music and little else, up in the mezzanine that's so low you need to crawl to your seat, and downstairs in the more standard restaurant space. My pick is definitely the garden - if you go with a group you'll have it to yourself so it feels like your own private restaurant. Another advantage of going with a group is that you'll be able to order a wider selection from the menu. The dishes are all designed to share, but with only 2 people it would be hard to get through any of the larger items on the menu, which means missing out on the whole fish. All the dishes are both simultaneously authentic and modern, most likely owing to the all-Japanese kitchen staff.

Wabi Sabi is an authentic and cosy Japanese restaurant in Collingwood. Service was great and there is outdoor seating which is perfect for larger groups. I had the Japanese curry with panko chicken. It was delicious and a very generous portion!

Wabi Sabi translates from Japanese to "Beauty in Imperfection" much like a the word Baroque. This style and imperfectious beauty is present in the restaurant's incredibly interesting contemporary Japanese food and the crockery itself. The relaxed atmosphere is wonderful, giving you free reign to peruse the décor and the menu and slowly make your way to the meal. The servings themselves go for presentation and quality of food over the quantity, and because of this I'd recommend not going there on an empty stomach. You'll end up getting a few more plate than expected and pushing the price up. And of course you'll wash these delicacies down with great imported Japanese and local beers, the perfect companion to Japanese food. The tables themselves are arranged rather close, so you may find yourself on a busy night practically sharing a table with another group. A friend talks of how she found herself and her friend sharing a table with a couple who were ending their relationship. Thankfully this only a once off, but can you imagine the awkwardness of the meal? I've only ever made more friends here, perfect for drinking further on.

Simply my favourite Japanese restaurant in all of Melbourne. Fresh, tasty sushi and sashimi, green tea and black sesame icecreams, incredibly sweet waitresses, cosy without being poky. Love it!

Went with a friend for dinner who had heard great things about this place and I wasn't disappointed! Food is absolutely delicious! We had the duck and it was tender and full of flavour. We also had the double-boiled pork which melts in your mouth and is super tasty! I liked having the option of having brown rice instead of white rice, which was a nice change. The waiter we had was really lovely! He was so polite and very courteous. The restaurant is also pretty cool! Keep an eye out for all the toys that are hanging around!