Shimbashi Soba & Sake Bar - Collingwood

Shimbashi Soba & Sake Bar in Collingwood offers a Japanese menu built around freshly made soba, with sushi, donburi and sake also part of the experience. The restaurant describes its soba as made daily using a “San-tate” approach, referring to noodles served in their best, just-made condition. Diners can choose from traditional and gluten-free soba, alongside cooked-to-order Japanese dishes and hand-crafted sushi.

The venue’s menu is entirely gluten-free, dairy-free and nut-free, according to its website. Recipes have been reworked with allergen-friendly ingredients so that familiar Japanese offerings such as karaage, tempura, Japanese curry and bento can be enjoyed by people with coeliac disease, gluten intolerance or other dietary preferences. That makes the Collingwood restaurant a practical option for groups with varied requirements, as well as anyone looking for Japanese food without those common allergens.

Shimbashi’s story reaches back to 1988, when soba master Yoshinori Shibazaki opened the first Shimbashi Restaurant in Sydney. The business says it works with Shiratori Flour Mills of Japan and uses premium buckwheat grown in Tasmania without chemical fertilisers or pesticides. According to the venue, Shimbashi is the only restaurant in Melbourne to receive this particular buckwheat supply. Along with the food, the menu includes sake freshly brewed in Japan, adding a drinks focus to the soba offering.

There are several Shimbashi locations across Melbourne, including Collingwood, Carlton North and Northcote. For diners seeking inclusive Japanese food, the Collingwood venue’s all-allergen-free menu is its clearest point of difference. It has a 4.4 rating from 629 Google reviews, providing a useful indication of its reception among local diners.