Wynne Ma

A few friends from my uni days and I went to the movies to see “The Hobbit”. Afterwards, we were trying to pick a place for dinner. That’s when JT recommended Shimbashi.

Address: 17 Liverpool St Melbourne, VIC 3000 
Website: http://www.sobasogood.com.au/

Opening hours

Lunch Monday - Friday: 11.30am - 2.00pm
Dinner Monday - Saturday: 6.00pm - 10.00pm

What we ordered:

• Agesoba; deep fried soba noodle
• Salmon Sashimi Salad; salmon sashimi & green salad with shimbashi dressing, topped with wasabi mayo
• Tamagoyaki; Japanese style sweet omelette
• Agedashi Tofu; deep fried tofu in soy based broth
• Gyu Tataki Salad; sliced beef sashimi & salad with sesame sauce
• Chicken Soba; warm soup noodle with dumpling & chicken fillet
• Sansai Soba; warm soup noodle with mushroom & wild vegetables
• Seiro; Chilled plain Noodle with dipping sauce
• Kamo Seiro; duck meat served in a hot broth with cold soba noodles on the side

The experience:

Located in Liverpool Street, Shimbashi wasn’t hard to find at all. The place was rather small and quaint so it was perfect for catching up with our small group of friends.

We were seated almost immediately and complimentary agesoba was also placed on our table. The agesoba (deep fried soba noodles) reminded me of my primary school days when kids would bring packet noodles eat raw. It’s crispy and crunchy texture was addictive. Since we were quite hungry we placed our orders and enjoyed our drinks with agesoba while we waited for our meals to be prepared. I had ordered a few dishes to share with JT; tamagoyaki, salmon sashimi salad, and seiro.

To drink, I had ordered the Princess Princess; which was a mixture of umeshu, grapefruit and lychee. It a nice combination, with the fruity blend of grapefruit and lychee really complimented the plum wine.

The tamagoyaki was cooked perfectly it was soft and fluffy - almost like a cake. It wasn’t quite the same, but it still brought back some fond tamogoyaki memories from when JT and I went to Japan in 2012.

The salmon sashimi salad we ordered was refreshing, well balanced and was full of flavour. JT and I finished this dish in no time at all.

Shimbashi makes it well-known throughout their restaurant; from looking at their posters and the menu, you’d learn that the soba noodles at Shimbashi are homemade with buckwheat is sourced from Tasmania. Since there was so much hype about the soba, we had see what all the fuss was about - that is why we ordered a seiro. It was great! I really enjoyed the texture of the cold soba, it wasn’t hard or dry at all. When we finished the cold soba, a waitress came along with a cup of stock and instructed us to mix it with the remaining dipping sauce and to drink as a soup, which was pretty interesting and not bad at all.

As one of the few places in Melbourne offering handmade soba noodles, Shimbashi is definitely worth a visit. You’ll find the staff helpful and the food will leave you satisfied.