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Izakaya Chuji
Ph: (03) 9663 8118; 165 Lonsdale St, MELBOURNE 3000
japanese, $, * for Food & Ambience
Open mon-fri noon-2.15pm mon-Thu-sat 6-10pm Fri 6-11pm, Closed Lunch on public holidays and sun; Licensed, BYO, Corkage $2 person; AE DC MC V EFT
Mietta's Review
Unpretentious space serving impressive Japanese food at very reasonable prices. Wonderfully eclectic mix in the clientele, business types and students enjoy the excellent sushi and gyoza dumplings side by side. The selection is large and there are usually a lot of specials to supplement the printed menu. Casual and fun.
Other published opinions
The Age Cheap Eats 2008 "lzakaya Chuji is a passionate devotee of the happy art of eating and drinking, and its laidback surrounds (comfy chairs, pine tables) foster an equally deep devotion from its student regulars"
The Age Cheap Eats 2007 "lzakaya Chuji's share-house ambience - industrial-strength blue carpet, pine tables and comfortably worn upholstered chairs - perfectly suits the student-dominated crowd that flocks here, drawn to always good, often excellent, Japanese fare."
The Age Cheap Eats 2006 Admit it. It's a little creepy shadowing international students in the hope they'll lead you to an authentic, inexpensive nosh.
The Age Cheap Eats 2005 "LOOK for the shopfront with the red neon Japanese characters in the window. There's no number on the door, the name is found only on a tiny window notice and they answer the phone in Japanese. But this merely adds to the sense of authenticity at this buzzy cafe"
The Age, 24.04.01, Matt Preston review "The clientele for Chuji says it all. In one corner of this narrow restaurant are a group of svelte teenagers of Japanese extraction, with designer haircuts and baggy street clothes...In stark contrast, across the way are a couple of Melbourne's more prominent Japanese businessmen and their low-bowing companions. They're all here for the food - un unpretentious menu modelled on the sort of dishes served in an izakaya, Japan's answer to the pub. Chuji's asari clams are one of the best things I've eaten this year."
The Sunday Age, 10.09.00 "Decor not flash, serves very well priced and impressive Japanese food, best tamago sushi, excellent gyoza dumplings cooked to order, beef and sweet potato curry is great also."
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