Moshi Moshi @ Port Melbourne

One weekend found us looking at each other with a blank face after I asked "what's for dinner?". There was nothing I felt like whipping up in the tiny kitchen and I had not come across any exciting food reviews.

We went on to Google Map and started to look at our neighboring suburbs for inspiration before settling on Port Melbourne. The next thing to agree on was the cuisine. After a disappointing meal of cheap and quick Japanese at Samurai last night, we decided to go for some more Japanese.

Two restaurants popped up and the one with the higher rating on Urbanspoon won; Moshi Moshi.

Calling themselves a Japanese Seafood restaurant and said to be owned and run by Japanese, we thought we would be in good hands.


The place is small and cozy with the dim lights giving that extra privacy for couples dining. After looking at the menu and failing to find inspiration in how we would order our dinner, we decided on their Seafood Platter for 2. Easy, just sit down and wait.

The beer seemed a little expensive at $12 for a 500ml bottle but the taste made up for it. The next step is to go to a bottler and get some of these to live in my fridge for a while.

If yo! u are wi lling to fork out $89.50, you will be served a platter that is the size of the table. It looks really generous but if you stop for a moment and bring out the calculator, I reckon it almost works out to be the same if you ordered ala-carte (albeit not all the items). While it looks like fun to be digging into so many items on one plate, I had a few complaints.

I guess we were also somewhat pressured to eat what were the hot items first like the deep fried soft shell crab, the tempura rock fish, the breaded scallops and the calamari even though ideally you want to start off with the lighter sashimi items. I know its called a platter but I couldn't help but think I would have enjoyed this far better if it was split into two courses, a hot and a cold platter. Apart from the hot items, we had wagyu beef nigiri (overcooked), sashimi (too thinly sliced), oysters (really good), bay bug salad (slightly too much mayo dressing), tiger prawns (fresh), sushi rolls (alright) and maybe an item or two more.

I guess in some ways we were disappointed especially with a respectable score on Urbanspoon (learnt my lesson) but I guess our dinner could have been a better experience if we ordered ala-carte instead of being lazy and settling down on a platter.

Not sure I return back to this place.

Address and contact details:

Verdict: 3 stars out of 5 stars. It seems like a real favourite to many but I guess we weren't too impressed or maybe it was a case of high expectations. However if you happen to be in Port Melbourne, this plac! e is sti ll a decent option for a meal.