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Akachochin

Dani Valent
Dani Valent

Akachochin.
Akachochin.Craig Sillitoe

Japanese$$

South Wharf is still a work in progress but it's Melbourne's most promising new precinct and Akachochin is among its alluring draws. One delightful thing about this modern Japanese restaurant is how charged and charming the waiters are: no matter how pleased I was with the setting, the sake and the pretty, well-executed dishes, I got the feeling that they were even more thrilled. Not that there's any happy dancing. The aesthetic is careful and contemporary.

Akachochin, owned by revivified restaurant tsar Paul Mathis, calls itself an izakaya but it's an ambitious upscaling of the ''casual drinking, eating and sharing place'' the style suggests. It makes a good fist of its warehouse shell. Look up and it's all insulation and piping; keep eyes level and it's a sparse eating arena, with gleaming marble tables and sushi counter, modernist timber chairs and tea candles echoed by hanging drop lights.

The menu offers a huge choice, which is only a problem because everything sounds good. Chef Kengo Hiromatsu (Nobu, Taxi) includes regional dishes and his own, in a repertoire with integrity and purity.

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From the sashimi menu, I ate the day's special, alfonsino, a rich, sweet white-fleshed fish with just-smoked skin that was in rapturous contrast with the delicate meat. A duck appetiser comprised tender grilled, then simmered, breast flavoured with soy, mirin and ginger, and robust cubes of confit leg.

A balanced, fresh salad of plump, firm prawns and shredded daikon had zing in every bite, thanks to a creamy mayonnaise, wasabi and yuzu dressing.

An outstanding quail dish featured juicy master stock-simmered and fried breast and a ridiculously loveable potato croquette stuffed with quail mince. I usually enjoy munching on small birds but I haven't had such a clever, fun quail plate for a long time.

I'm contractually bound to eat the weirdest dish on a menu so I dutifully ordered the eggplant, oysters and grilled cheese. It was a successful textural mash-up mediated by miso and helped by heat.

Desserts sounded interesting but a sweet-potato creme brulee failed the sugar-crack test and was less silky than I'd like. The only other jarring note was trying to get into the place: Akachochin is entered via sister business Sharing House. Don't follow the deceitful arrows on Akachochin's riverside windows; head for the landward lane. Once inside, all is harmonious and happy.

AKACHOCHIN
33 Dukes Walk, South Wharf, 9245 9900
Licensed AE MC V eftpos
Daily noon to 4pm; 6pm to late
Small $7-$18; larger $12-$20; dessert $4-$14

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Dani ValentDani Valent is a food writer and restaurant reviewer.

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