Beloved long-running Melbourne Japanese restaurant Izakaya Den to shut its doors citing ‘a perfect storm’ of problems
Restaurant Izakaya Den will close its doors next week after more than 15 years of serving Japanese dishes to Melbourne foodies.
Owner Simon Denton said he and co-owners Miyukia Nakahara and Takashi Omi had struggled to keep the business running since mid-last year.
The trio said multiple issues have affected the business, including customers facing an oversaturation of dining options in the city and increasingly watching their spending as the cost of living remains stubbornly high.
“We were forced into this, the option to continue (keeping the venue open) was not an option,” Mr Denton told the Herald Sun.
“Looking ahead to winter and with everything going on in the city, we were faced with a perfect storm of problems.”
‘There are too many restaurants, we are one of them. The city goes through these cycles, it’s like pruning a tree. You have to prune to let in new growth,” Mr Denton said.
Izakaya Den will close next weekend amid a “perfect storm” of problems for Melbourne’s hospitality scene
The cellar location opened in 2009 and was well regarded by local gourmets
In an email sent this week before it closes its doors this Saturday, the restaurant informed customers that this was the “end of the road” for the basement CBD location that helped bring Izakaya culture to Melbourne when it opened in 2009.
“We are grateful to have been able to bring our vision of a piece of Japan to Melbourne and become part of the fabric of this beautiful city.”
‘We’re going out the way we came in. Maybe a little old and jaded, but still a team, still together, still true to ourselves.”
Other restaurants that have recently closed in Melbourne include Crown’s Rosetta and Gingerboy in the CBD.
Gingerboy’s chef and owner Teage Ezard said a combination of cheap dinners and the rising cost of food and drink for the venue meant customers had more choice about where they spent their limited money.
Similarly, Indian restaurant Raja in Sydney announced it would close its doors on May 4 after just nine months in business, citing the same issues.
The restaurant will close its doors after this Saturday’s meal service, the owners said