Cocoro - Melbourne

We love the Japanese pottery on display at this restaurant. I now realise that the old owners are no longer there. The sushi was poorly sliced, they were large pieces that could not be shared. The sushi was poorly cut and the fish was not of a high quality. This food is below industry standard, and we will never return, unless we wish to purchase some Japanese pottery. The service given was excellent, but 80bucks for a very ordinary first course does not ring my bells. Next time I will go there for a cup of tea if I want to buy to Japanese pottery in the future, but never lunch or dinner.

We live close by this restaurant, and we go about once a week. Because the food is so delicious, well priced, and there are so many healthy options, it's become one of our favourites for those nights when we want to eat healthily, but don't feel like cooking. The food is simple, flavoursome, well executed, and quite authentically Japanese, with a few modern twists here and there. The sashimi platter (including salmon aburi my favourite! , is always high quality, and is served with simple accompaniments. The salad antipasto plate is terrific the burdock salad is completely delicious and creamy, with a really unusual texture. The wafu chicken is also great. Other favourites are the fried eggplant with beef and radish, which just melts in your mouth; the plum butter scallops; and the grilled chicken duo. They also do a lovely selection of green teas, including genmaicha, sencha and matcha, and we have enjoyed trying them all. If you're feeling indulgent, they also offer a variety of simple, inexpensive desserts that are generously portioned and quite unique their green tea latte with honey is amazing, as is the parfait. I also really enjoy looking at all the japanese ceramics and pottery they have in the restaurant, it makes for a lovely atmosphere. The service is always very polite and efficient. We have never been disappointed when we've been to Cocoro. I highly recommend it.

I think this restaurant is a case of old hands versus new hands... When the previous owners of this restaurant were still there (a Japanese husband and Australian wife), I used to go there several times, at least 1-3 times a month. All because of their delicious foods (especially their delicious sashimi, buttery goodness squid, wasabi potato salad, burdock salad and their Japanese fried chicken), fantastic service, great attention to details, and awesome owners. Now, ever since the owners changed... it has been a steady declined... I have only been back twice in a 6 months bracket, partially I kept wishing that it would have stay the same but after 2 tries... it's just not that good anymore. The attention to details is no longer there, the plating of foods has became sloppy. Whilst the flavour is sort of the same but personally it's a matter of different hands has different flavours to it and also the portion has somewhat became smaller but still charging the same amount of money or even some are more expensive. It was quite a disappointment... Decreased in quality and quantity but charging the same or more of dollars, just does not makes sense. It's not the same anymore... and it's not even for the better either.

Firstly, the sashimi here is fantastic. Melt in your mouth fresh and comes in generous servings. We had the Assorted Sashimi Selection for $27, and it came with 15 pieces. For mains we had the salmon in ponzo and swordfish in soy and mirin (both $20 each). Both came with mixed leaf salad and gobo (burdock root) salad. We also had a serve of rice with it. Both mains were overcooked the salmon more so. The salmon dish was extremely generous two very large pieces of fish however, there was no real flavour in the sauce. The swordfish was OK, but again, no real delicacy in flavours. The service was very good, and the place itself is very nice and simple. Handmade pottery lines the shelves on one side of the place, and they play jazz music. It feels like a very refined sort of place, tucked away in the otherwise grubby Smith Street. While I was not overly impressed with the flavours of the mains, I would definately come back here to have the sashimi and perhaps try some of the entrees and appetisers. They also had some interesting desserts that looked interesting.

We love the Japanese pottery on display at this restaurant.I now realise that the old owners are no longer there.The sushi was poorly sliced, they were large pieces that could not be shared. The sushi was poorly cut and the fish was not of a high quality. This food is below industry standard, and we will never return, unless we wish to purchase some Japanese pottery.The service given was excellent, but 80bucks for a very ordinary first course does not ring my bells. Next time I will go there for a cup of tea if I want to buy to Japanese pottery in the future, but never lunch or dinner.