“Traditional techniques are combined with playful imaginative touches to create tastes and textures both approachable and memorable.”

Follow Ocha

At Ocha we focus on the important things in life – family, friends and the domestic theatre of great food. For more than 16 years we have been tempting Melburnians with contemporary Japanese flavours meticulously prepared from the freshest ingredients. Our menu encourages shared dining whereby traditional techniques are combined with playful imaginative touches to create tastes and textures both approachable and memorable. Our dining room is an understated affair – pared back and relaxed to let the food (and our gorgeous staff) – shine.

All you have to do to become a part of the convivial Ocha experience is make a booking.

Welcome to the Ocha family. Itadakimasu.

Here to serve you… Joining owners Michelle Rogerson and Yasu Yoshida, the Ocha team is a small, tight-knit bunch, dedicated to attentive service but equally ready to share a story and a smile.

From humble beginnings… Back in the mists of time – 1994 – a small restaurant opened in Kew with the express aim of bringing superbly crafted Japanese food to an Australian audience. Here, in a tiny converted butcher’s shop that barely seated 30 people, Ocha was born. The toilets were outside and elbows were kept tucked in, but this unassuming little star was on the rise. It wasn’t long before this suburban restaurant captured the hearts and taste buds of the locals (and interlopers from all over Melbourne!) and quickly built a fiercely loyal customer base.

Fast-forward to 2010 and Michelle and Yasu reluctantly decided it really was time for a few more seats and Ocha relocated down the road to the refurbished Bee Hive complex in Hawthorn. Now all grown up (and boasting amenities) the new dining space maintains the familiar friendly feel of the original with just a little more leg room.