Machi

Machi is a Japanese restaurant and bar on Inkerman Street in St Kilda, with a menu that brings together traditional Japanese influences and an international kitchen team. The restaurant describes its food as something to share, making it a natural option for groups who want to order across the menu rather than settle on one dish each. Its name refers to a small town or community in Japanese, and the venue positions itself as a welcoming local dining spot in St Kilda, Melbourne.

The signature menu is the clearest introduction to Machi’s style. Uni risotto combines creamy rice with sea urchin, snow crab and mentaiko, while the toothfish truffle rice pairs toothfish with truffle butter and vegetable dashi rice. The smoked dry-aged miso duck is aged for 10 to 14 days before being smoked, then served with spiced mushrooms and plum chutney. Other substantial options include grilled king fish head with pipis and vegetables, bone marrow with kimchi rice and wagyu beef, and grilled oysters over confit pipi rice.

There is also a distinctly Japanese rice-bowl thread running through the menu. The hitsumabushi eel don features grilled eel over shiitake mushroom rice, with ocha provided for making ochazuke. The wagyu foie gras rice combines M6-7 wagyu scotch steak, grilled foie gras, an onsen egg and mushroom butter rice. These dishes, along with the listed sashimi, nigiri, sushi and other seafood preparations, give diners room to choose between polished rice dishes, raw seafood and richer grilled plates.

Machi suits diners looking for a more considered Japanese meal in St Kilda, particularly groups interested in sharing the restaurant’s signature dishes. The menu’s range also gives a table flexibility, from sashimi and lighter seafood preparations through to duck, wagyu and bone marrow. Reservations are available, with bookings generally allocated 90 minutes unless timing allows otherwise, so it is worth checking the venue’s full reservation details when planning a visit.