Sakura Kaiten

First time conveyer belt sushi experience. Didn’t disappoint. Sushi was good and they have variety of stuffs to choose from. Bit pricy, but worth the experience.

If you want a variety of sushi on a train then this is the place to be at. Good quality fresh sashimi and friendly staff can’t go wrong. Place is quiet small but very nice and cosy

Good quality Japanese sushi train style restaurant. Decent quality sushi, fresh and quite a variety of dishes available. If a dish from the menu is not on the train then the kitchen can whip it up for you pretty quickly. Desserts are delicious such as the mochi, black sesame and green tea ice cream. Service is very friendly and relatively prompt. Seating is a bit squishy when it’s busy. Bill came to $ 108 including drinks. Have been before and would go back again. Conveniently located to Mantra 100 Exhibition.

I don’t get the fuss. This is a nice place to go with someone who is on the fence about sushi, or wanting to delve into the world of sushi. But if you are a sushi lover, I don’t think the selection is going to be very wide. There were so many plates on the conveyor belt of cooked items and desserts. They did have some cooler sushi dishes like uni and scallops, which was refreshing and nice to see. However, if you go for that, your bill will skyrocket! I haven’t been to many sushi spots in Melbourne, but I wasn’t very impressed by this one. Quality is decent and staff are friendly. Overpriced in my opinion!

For sushi train lovers, looking for something a little fancier, Sakura Kaiten is the place to be.
Good quality nigiri & sashimi, is complemented by varying styles of hand rolls (including fried!), desserts (the Mochi & red bean is awesome), and other Japanese dishes (tempura, takoyaki etc).
As per most sushi trains, I always walk in planning on spending around $ 25 on a few plates, but end up grabbing more and more as they keep going past on the conveyer belt taunting me to eat them! It’s a little on the pricy side, but the choice is different so I’ll go back every now and then.
Fun Fact — They’ve put a big of thought into the way they serve dishes — Takoyaki are served in what looks like an egg container!

Just loved the quality of the sushi here! Best conveyor belt sushi I have ever been to…

I usually love this place but tonight definitely made me extremely unhappy.
We walked in without a booking (it was 615 pm on a Tuesday night) and asked if we could have a seat and they said yes and seated us. The waitress then proceeded to ask us if we were sure we would leave within an hour as it was very busy!
I wouldn’t have been annoyed if they had told us before we were seated! Reminded me of a quick and easy Chinese restaurant rather than a somewhat expensive Jap place.
Definitely better for lunch. And book ahead unless you want to be shooed off.

Went here last night for dinner with my boyfriend.
Really super easy to get to, right around the corner from Parliament train station!
Now, I am from Las Vegas, NV in the US, so it has been EXTREMELY difficult for me to find a sushi place that I am used to. Usually in the states you can find an all-​you-​can-​eat sushi rolls place for about $ 26-​$ 30. Sadly, THOSE DONT EXIST IN MELBOURNE! And i have been so sad about that, but this place did not disappoint! Its about as close as your gonna get to all you can eat sushi. Only difference is its not all for one low price.
This place has 4 different colored place by which they price them. Pink plates are $ 3.80, Black plates are $ 4.80, White plates are $ 5.80 and red plates are $ 6.80. It actually priced pretty well for what they gave you. We paid about $ 67 for the two of us and I left the restaurant with a full sushi belly ;) And that was just for food, because we only drank water.
Some of our favorites were the duck spring rolls (white), octopus balls (white), seaweed salad (pink), edamame (pink), gyoza (black), ell nigiri (white), salmon, cream cheese and avocado roll 3 pcs. (black), and there was many others that we wanted to try but we became full pretty quickly.
Now, i’ve read some of the reviews about the horrible service here, but we didn’t have a bad experience with the service at all. Little tip! On a saturday night we arrived right at 5:00pm when they opened and there was only one couple there. We sat down got our drinks right away and the lady was really nice. After about 15 – 20 minutes, the bar at the train was completely full! (probably about 30 seats) This place fils up FAST SO COME EARLY! That probably the best advice I can give you. Arrive right when they open and the service isn’t terrible.
If you arrive later in the night and you have to wait for a table, I suggest you do because this place was really good! And don’t get all annoyed that you have to wait and then you don’t get a refill of water right away, like seriously, get over it! Your just probably annoyed already that you had to wait so your gonna be crabby about the slightest little details. Shut the fuck up and enjoy your meal. Who needs water anyway? Your there for the SUSHI NOT WATER!
Anyway thats my input, i just wanted to stick up for this place because every review says the service is bad and I wanted to be the one to say it really wasn’t! Yes, its a cramped space. Yes, they charge 50 cents for a bowl of pickled ginger and Yes, most of the servers dont speak a lot of english. But you know what? They MAKE AMAZING SUSHI SO SHUT UP SIT DOWN AND ENJOY IT! Okay i’m done now.

Amazing place with some fantastic tasting dishes! Reasonable pricing especially for uni students. Great fun sitting down at the sushi train. Brought my girlfriend for her to try Japanese cuisine and she loved it. Will come again!

Sakura Kaiten is one of those frustratingly wonderful restaurants that combines a quality that I love with a quality that I don’t: I love sushi trains, and I hate loud and cramped eating environments.
There are, surprisingly, very few sushi trains in Melbourne, and high quality ones are few and far between. Sakura Kaiten is definitely on the list of the high quality ones: a team of highly active Japanese sushi chefs can be seen working hard at the far wall of the restaurant, with the sushi train belt running from the chef area to the front entrance.
The restaurant environment definitely isn’t the most pleasant: highly cramped seating area with additional non-​sushi-​train tables forced in to any spare square inch of space, very noisy, and uncomfortable finding a safe spot to put your bag or handbag down if you’re carrying anything with you.
Staff are pleasant, albeit slow on the uptake when requesting more tea, and generally slow when ordering specific dishes or additional pickled ginger (which they tend to flag an extra 50 cents on your bill for!). Interestingly, when you request the bill, they are very fast, encouraging you to immediately go up to the register to pay and then get out.
It is clear that this establishment is really focusing on a high turn over of customers, and will try to jam as many people in a small space as reasonable possible. At the same time, the chefs to appear to have an attention for detail with their dishes, which I have found to always be of a high quality. And, as the guest I brought along on my second visit to Sakura Kaiten said, they serve «the best sushi I’ve ever had!»
NB: If you’re sitting at the sushi train, I recommend you take a look at the à la carte menu too — often you will see additional yummy sushis on there that you will want to order, but, for whatever reason, there aren’t any on the train during your visit.

Sakura Kaiten is a Japanese sushi train restaurant in Little Collins Street. Sushi train is like tapas on a conveyor belt, which makes it extremely dangerous for me. I only stopped in for a snack, but I knew what was happening I’d already snaffled five plates.
I started with some very good gyoza, then grabbed a bowl of edamame (soy beans cooked in the pod — sort of the Japanese equivalent of beer nuts), some scallop sashimi (also very good), a couple of pieces of Unagi (grilled eel) which was delicious and some grilled wagyu beef which was sensational. Washed thus down with a jar of Jokigen sake — crisp, light and served cold.
Overall, good variety of dishes, well prepared, and good value for around $ 50 (especially considering the sake ate up half the bill).

I was expecting your typical sushi train, but NOOOO. I would call this high end sushi. I’m not going to lie, but there is quite a few cooked items. The presentations are so beautiful that I wanted to eat them all. What I noticed is this place doesn’t overload rolls with too much rice, unlike many other sushi train places I’ve eaten. For me, that’s good so I don’t stuff myself with rice galore. It’s also smart on their part because it allows the customer to eat more plates (=more $$).
This is a great little place, but I must also admit a bit steep in price compared to other places. Dishes are $ 0.50 or more than others.

Fantastic sushi train with heaps of options. The fish is fresh, and if you don’t like what you see, you can always order a la carte.
The bento boxes are also great with a good variety of items in each box.
My personal favourite is the yuzu drink (yuzu is a Japanese citrus fruit — delicious!) — try it with some soda.
The restaurant is small, but if you can’t get a seat, you can always opt to take away. Get in there early during lunchtimes, because it is a popular spot! Also great if you’re a solo diner, as you can entertain yourself by watching all the exciting dishes coming around on the train.

Sushi trains are few and far between in Melbourne. Good ones especially so. I’d heard a lot about Sakura Kaiten, had spoken about it almost non stop for weeks and even had dreams of sashimi and rice moving past me at high speed. When I couldn’t take it any longer, I demanded my favourite +1 take me for dinner.
It certainly wasn’t a relaxing zen-​like experience. We were seated right near the door at the end of the train. There were people everywhere, frantic staff and loads of noise. Plates piled up around me, I had to sit with my elbows tucked in tightly to my waist and I was fearful of taking an eye out every time I raised my chopsticks. Yup, it was busy.
Fortunately the parade of dishes that whizzes past were excellent. There was a great selection of sashimi, nigiri, sushi, fried bits and pieces (duck spring rolls!), dumplings and gyoza and even desserts. We stuck mostly to the sashimi — the tuna and the «special» of kingfish with jalapeño a highlight.
Staff were nice enough, but there wasn’t enough of them meaning we waited a long time to receive our first (and only) drink order. If they’d been faster we would have easily had a couple more. Pickled ginger took two requests and a painfully long time to receive and then getting charged 50 cents for what is a typical garnish was a bit of a sting.
I have mixed feelings about my experience. I’d go back if I really wanted a variety of Japanese dishes in a hurry, but I think I’d rather spend a little more (we came out at $ 80 for two people) and enjoy better service and a more relaxed atmosphere.

Sushi trains are fun. Nothing like eyeballing your food as it glides toward you. Unfortunately these places are not designed for gluttons and once your plates start piling high, so does your bill! Not necessarily the best value.
I would definitely recommend this place as a great spot for lunch in the CBD. There’s a good variety of options and unless you’re starving, you’ll leave with a more modest tab.

I am living proof that a human being can thrive on a diet of almost nothing but sushi. But I had yet to board the sushi train.
How does this thing work? In my case, you sit down and your primal self is instantly is bedazzled by all the beautiful food — and then panics as you watch them slowly escape. Like a cat watching a tail of string, instinct takes over, and next thing you know you find yourself surrounded by empty plates, feeling like you are about to explode, and wondering if you should just grab another plate and see if they will let you sleep here, or if you have the strength to stand and the self control to walk out the door. I just barely made it out of there, but only after I had tried:
The fried banana: *****
The salmon & cream cheese roll: *****
The fried teriyaki & salmon nigiri: ***
The soft shelled crab wrap: * :(
The doughnuts: * ‚(
The apple juice: I think it’s minute maid? **
Also, the people across the way seemed to be delighted with what looked like sesame ice cream, and it disappeared well before their serving of green tea ice cream. Might want to give it a go …

Disclaimer: I’ve only been here for lunch, but that’s been about ten times.
I love this place. It’s not only the best sushi train I’ve been to in town, it’s the best sushi I’ve had in town (EDIT: now the second best, after Kenzan). The dishes are just inventive enough to be interesting but still very traditional. The fish (and train sushi) is very fresh and much higher quality than nearby Japanese restaurants.
They had these duck spring rolly things once that were out of this world, so keep your eyes open for them. Outside of that, I mainly stick to the simple fish-​heavy nigiri and sashimi.
The only potential issue I could see with this place is that it’s expensive by lunch sushi or train sushi standards. I spend an average of $ 25 for lunch, which is high for a CBD lunch. But this place is top-​shelf so I would be comparing it more with the comparable likes of somewhere like Cumulus or Chin Chin rather than, say, Sushi Sushi.
It tends to get pretty packed around peak lunch times, and so sometimes they’ll try to seat you along the wall. That’s fine if you’re hungry and willing to do some sushi hunting or order a la carte, but IMO it’s worth the wait to sit right at the train and get the food just as it’s been made.

Sakura Kaiten! Long name, small place, huge range, and dare I say, I think if not the best it’s definitely one of the top sushi train joint in Melbourne.
” we shall never eat at another sushi train again” was dining companion’s remark. Wow, big claim. He’s no connoisseur, but he knows his sushi train.
Staff are friendly and attentive, sashimi are fresh and each dish are just how you want it, creative, fresh, tasty, not too heavy or oily, succulent.
We’ll be back :)

This sushi train is brilliant. Small, sweet, unassuming and brilliant.
The sushi is super fresh, and I love the mix. Classic sushi train plates are staggered between more interesting ones, plus a few wild cards. Sitting around the sushi bar is fun in itself, ‘cos you never know whats going to present itself before your hungry eyes.
A great find!

What a delight. Fresh and wonderful sushi train. The soft shell crab came by and we lunged for it. Fabulous.
The place is small & busy, but we stuffed our faces — 2 of us for $ 34. If I lived in Melbourne I’d be a regular.