Cocotte Dining

How Japanese-born chef Shunichi Tanabe and his team produce such exquisite food in this tiny, open kitchen is a mystery. How he manages to combine Japanese and European cuisines, both promoting such different culinary aesthetics so seamlessly is another. In a cluster of suburban shops far from the glitter strip, Cocotte has an invitingly eclectic decor of mismatched Japanese furniture arranged around a pocket-sized courtyard. Settle in and start with a selection of tapas dishes such as bacalhau (Portuguese salt cod and potato balls) or mussels steamed in sake with salty, smoky chunks of chorizo, garnished with coriander - a perfect example of Tanabe's contemporary fusion. Bouillabaisse, served in a signature cocotte (French cooking dish) is generous with seafood, while a main of tender oxtail and beef cheeks, braised for five hours in red wine and miso, could be eaten with a spoon. Desserts show the same sure hand, with Japanese and Asian flavours accenting classic French sweets. Sounds improbable, yet it works.