Maedaya

Returning from a holiday in Japan, I was excited to try an authentic Japanese restaurant and see how it compared to true Japanese food. The food at Maedaya definitely delivered! It was outstanding. I enjoyed the whole experience especially being able to pick my food off an iPad ordering system which is common in the sushi train restaurants I ate at while in Japan. Overall best food and dining experience I have had in a long time! Thank you :)

Maedaya is a bit of Fun Dining.
There are outside seating, inside seating and also some booth style seating.
What’s fun about Maedaya is the self ordering iPad system as well as the interesting menu.
There is a big sake collection and cocktail options.
The danger about these iPad ordering system is that you tend to keep going and it’s very difficult to stop yourself from ordering more food while you wait. It’s very easy to go overboard.
If you are a regular to Maedaya and have registered your birthday, you get a birthday treat in the form of a sushi cake!!! I can’t report what it taste like though as I’ve only witnessed other diners’
Check out Maedaya when you are keen for a sushi/​Japanese fun meal!

I love this place! I come here regularly with a friend of mine and the food is sensational. You order using iPads — great sushi, grilled seafood and meats, I lick my chops just perusing the menu! And then we eat… and eat! It’s the best.

Have never, ever been disappointed here and we have been many times! The awesome iPad ordering system is the best way to do tapas and every single item is mouthwatering (double any order from the grill) weekly beer specials and an expansive sake range coupled with a modern twist on traditional Japanese deserts make this a favorite haunt, like being back in Kyoto!

fantastic food, fast service. I had the salmon pram and scallop dish and it rocked my world

AWESOME — friendly and fun, food is good and beers and sake huge in range.
Good for couples and terrific for groups. The tablet ordering system is fantastic so you can order what you want when you want. Love love love it.

Stopped in for sake and a pork bun. I highly rate their green tea. All the food looked amazing. All Japanese staff. Lively atmosphere. Electronic ordering. I want to try everything now. My husband had some amazing fried avocado ball. Sushi looked very fresh.
This place has style.

Just excellent, and a great fun night out. It can be dangerous though, as you’re handed an ipad and with a push of a button another beer or dish just magically appears minutes later. Too many favourite dishes to name, but special shout-​out to the pork-​covered asparagus thing. That was particularly excellent.
Great sake list, as others have mentioned. Beer is decently priced too. Get in early though as it can get real busy on weekends.

Over prices and average food, have had much better for less and amazing for not much more. Best part was the ipad menu system.

Wonderful service, beautiful food and even a free cocktail for my birthday! And not terribly expensive for the quality, either. A lovely evening.

Until the day before going here I had never heard of Maedaya. I’m glad I have now though, because this place is well worth a look.
Located on Bridge Road Richmond, Maedaya is a Japanese grill restaurant where you order your meal courtesy of your own tablet provided by staff. You also have the pleasure of watching your food being cooked in front of you.
My dining partner and I decided the best way to go was to order a selection of dishes to try, which as it turned out was a good idea. Our choices included: a grill selection for the bargain price of $ 15 which included and array of various meat skewers, gyozas, chilli and garlic edamame (which were awesome and the standout for me), grilled veg and rice (coming in at $ 1 a bowl).
We both really enjoyed our meal and left feeling really content. The place was packed when we went, but service was good and the sake excellent with a huge selection. I really liked the way you can buy a bottle and leave it at the restaurant safely locked away in a see through box ready for next time, a la Sake establishments in Japan.
Food is good and reasonably priced. Our meal came in at $ 52 including drinks, which for all we ordered was well worth it. If you haven’t been here already, I recommend you go.

Sake, Sake, Sake!
I’ve been going to Maedaya for a number of years and it continues to be my favorite Japanese in Melbourne.
Maedaya is just about great for any occasion, date night, birthday, family dinner the Maedaya team can fit you in. Ordering is made fun and easy through the use of the iPad system and allows you to see and track what you’ve ordered.
Plenty to choose from on the menu from you’re typical sushi, items from the grill, hot-​pots and far too many others to name.
The big draw card for me is Maedaya’s Sake collection, this will put any other Japanese restaurant to shame just on the sheer volume. If you’re new to Sake this is a great starting point to learn and sample a little of whats available.
If you haven’t already give it a try.

What can I say about this awesome little Japanese house that has not already been said? Not much except agree that this place is awesome.
There is an amazing range of Saki on offer and even more if you ask Toshi for a special bottle. Regulars may even keep a bottle of shochu in a lock box on the wall. (Mine rotates about every 2 months)
I have come to love the cucumber as a fresh entrée, and can’t go past the Sukiyaki Set. Well balanced flavours, with a sweetness that only the Japanese can get away with on meat.
There are so many mains to choose from, and too many to comment on.
Karage Chicken, this is always on the table when I eat here, and is like a Japanese version of KFC, with Japanese mayo.
Even the fried cheese is delicious. I have heard rumours Toshi is opening a breakfast place on Bridge Road, and I am so looking forward to this. If it is anything as good as Maedeya, then I shall be frequenting there also.

My husband and I have been keeping an eye out for an authentic izakaya in Melbourne to call home. On this night we wanted to go out for dinner but were keen to try something new to us and not in our immediate area so I jumped on Unilocal and in no time found Maedya and some pretty high reviews.
We made our way to the restaurant and found parking across the street easily enough (extra bonus, no meter fees during the time we went! score!). We stepped inside and were greeted with the Japanese «Irasshaimase!». That always makes us feel good. The host asked us how many and when we told him two he turned around and shouted in Japanese that he needed a table for two. This made us feel even better. It was starting to look like an authentic izakaya!
We were seated immediately and right next to the door but that was okay because about 10 minutes after we sat down a constant stream of people started arriving and the wait ranged from 20 – 40 minutes, depending on the group size.
Maedaya uses an iPad ordering system. The friendly staff explain it to you clearly and are more than willing to help if you get confused. Some might say this is a bit impersonal, but it’s really great for being able to read descriptions and see pictures of the menu items and order as you please, not feeling pressure to make decisions when a waiter arrives and also not having to call for or wait on the waiter on a really busy night. I think it’s a pretty rad system.
There is an extensive alcohol menu with different Japanese beer, sake and other spirits. My husband got an old favorite, umeshu, which arrived in a beautiful tumbler along with the plum. I had an umeshu cocktail which was very easy to drink for me and I’m not a spirits person.
Since we were right next to the door we ended up having a chat to the host/​owner in between customer arrivals. Turns out, he was from our hometown Kobe and even knew of our little backwater neighborhood and found great humor in the fact that we lived in such a random, out of the way place. We were sold and the food hadn’t even come out yet!
We ordered some skewers that came in a variety of flavors that were moist and delicious. We also got chili edamame which was already taken out of the pods, the chili was mild but it was yummy. We ordered a crunchy sushi roll which is very similar to a westernised take on sushi very popular in California sushi places recently. It was really, really yummy but because of the size it’s difficult to get the entire piece of sushi into your mouth and biting it in half makes it all fall apart. Knife and fork sushi, who knew?
The «main» dish we selected as a miso grilled chicken. Perfectly BBQ’ed meat on sizzling onions and bell peppers (capsicum). Beautiful textures and flavors. By the end of it we were full and ready to burst, but I couldn’t help myself from looking through the dessert menu. I noticed that they have my favorite Japanese dessert, too — taiyaki! It’s a little fish-​shaped pancake-​like pasty filled with adzuki/​red bean paste or ice cream or custard or practically anything else. Sadly, we had to save desserts for the next time.
Luckily, my birthday is around the corner and they take reservations! This is definitely our #1 Japanese spot now.

Maedaya is my absolute favourite! They have this super cool ipad ordering system which takes away the hassle of trying to flag down a waiter when busy and allows me to just order food, food and more food. This place has become a regular of the misses and mine as we can roll out having spent $ 50. The deep fried camembert cheese is what dreams are made of and the goyza’s are delicious and very cheap.
The staff are always friendly, happy and smiling regardless of how busy they are and will somehow always find a table for us when it looks like there is not an inch of room left. I recommend Maedaya to anyone who wants a good cheap meal along bridge road.

If you think that Japanese food is about something more than sushi then this is the place for you.
Friendly atmosphere, intimate dining and an excellent menu that is regularly updated.
The sake is excellent and if you need advice ask the staff.
Well worth the effort.

As much as I prefer the contact of wait staff when I order there is a novelty and some advantages of the iPad menu and ordering system. Worth a go.
I’m a big fan of the mix on this menu with sashimi, off the grill and classic Japanese favorites. Absolutely delicious and easy to over order, which really isn’t a problem as far as I see it. The drinks list is one you want to work through for obviously sake but also beer and cocktails. I indulged in the beer list as you’ll see with my pics cos I got too excited and forgot to take any photos of the food.

A friend recommend and took me too this place. Maedaya, a Japanese styled restaurant. Buzzing with people and the décor looked amazing. Was very welcoming to walk into.
As we enterted we were advised that kitchen closed in 10 mins. Lucky i came with the regulars, so we proceeded to our table and handed an iPad to place our order (such a great system, as this stays at your table, you order as you like and food and drinks just come). The food came out REALLY quick. which always worries me, but the taste was amazing. The food was spot on and very well done.
We felt a little rushed just due to the lateness of our arrivals, but definietly will be returning here for a longer experience to busken in the ambieance and re enjoy them great japenase flavours.
Well done guys, highly reccommend.

A very quick and fun place to go.
When you walk in you get seated and you order via IPAD! The order is quickly dispatched and you can see the status of your order on the ipad.
They have charcoal grill which is rare to see in melbourne. We got the tasting platter for the charcoal grill and it was def worth it.
Other items we ordered included the agadashi takoyaki which is takoyaki (octopus balls in soup).
Cocktails are also interesting however I found them to be a bit pricey.

after a stinking hot day in Melbourne, popped into Maedaya for a beer and some tapas.
So. update time. everything is still brilliant — food tasty and fresh, service great — nothing has changed*. Still Recommended.
* well, I lie, they DID install a door between their two street frontages but as far as foodage and drinkage and servage goes, all is still great :)