Shimbashi Japanese Soba & Sake Bar @CBD

As a lot of hidden food treasure at Melbourne CBD, it is located at a side street.
Yet it is close to Bourke Street and the popular wedding photo location and excursion kiddies sitting spot: The Parliament House of Victoria, and of course, Parliament Station. (See my map at the bottom)
Ever since accidentally discovered this place, when taking a short cut to Parliament Station, had always wanted to try it for its specaility of Soba, the traditional japanese buckwheat noodle. 

Grounding the buckwheat

There's a growing number of Japanese restaurant and Japanese style cooking/cuisine at Melbourne, but handmade and with the stone-ground machine in store, Shimbashi not only is an authentic japanese restaurant but also possibly the only soba specialist at Melbourne.

Once sat down, I ordered a can of iced green tea to cool the "sweating me" down a bit, while they have given me a small complimentary salad as a starter. Being a 30 degrees day, I have ordered the chilled soba, Seiro, a popular way to eat soba espeically on a summer day, although you can still order in it in soup. Nonetheless, other than the specialising soba, there are all sort of Japanese dishes, from sushi to sashimi to beef tataki (which i ordered as entree and ate and forgot to take a photo...well yes it was really good and yes i was really hungry) and other japanese tapas, so don't worry if you are not a fan of soba or noodles.

I have ordered the Tempura Seiro,which consist of a plate of Tempura (Prawn & Veggies including my favorite sweet potatoes), soba noodle and its dipping sauce, with some wasabi & spring onions as extra seasoning if needed.

A light,sweet soy based dipping sauce to dip a chopstickful (if it is a word) of soba and then just slurp it. It is a light and refreshing noodle dish as it is chilled, just have to be careful of the sauce not going onto your shirt, if you do occasionally slurp the noodle a bit too hard/fast like i do.






Shimbashi is also a sake bar, as stated on their door sign along with "soba", so assumingly they are as proud and specialised in that as well. A variety of cocktail, beer and sake listed on the wall. The cocktail they offered is named after different bands and pop group.

Along with the menus, the wall is full of old posters and japanese style deco, with the wooden/bamboo furniture and fixtures it has successfully set it mood to create a izakaya,japanese taverns, sort of atmosphere. It was further enhanced with the number of japanese diners at the restaurant, which also is a good indicator of the taste and
authenticness for the eatery.

Shimbashi is a great cultural and dinning experience that you don't find everywhere at Melbourne. It would be great for a few friends to catch up, enjoy some japanese food and a few drinks. But probably best to book a table due to the size of the restarunt.

And they open for lunch at 11:30am till 2:30pm, which is great for a early lunch (like i did) and re-open at 6 for dinner.

street view from Bourke Street

Liverpool Street

Shimbashi Japanese Soba & Sake Bar 

Location 
17 Liverpool Street
Melbourne Vic 3000
Phone
9654 6727

The Bourke Street Tram stop is actually closer to Spring street
or maybe Liverpool Street should be further down...