The secret to Ippuku's success? It's all about the special sauce

You could say Ippuku has gone to the dogs, but really it's the dogs who go to Ippuku. "We know a lot of the dogs around the area," says Joshua Bennett, who runs the eatery with wife Arisa. "We even know the dogs' names before we even know the owners' names."

This isn't the only remarkable thing about Ippuku. It also stands out because of its Japanese-inspired menu. This is courtesy of Arisa, who was born in Osaka and named Ippuku after something her grandmother would say. The phrase is an old-fashioned way of saying "tea break". For Arisa, it evokes memories of eating childhood treats as her grandma drank warm brews.  

Aptly, Ippuku has an excellent Japanese tea selection, "smuggled" into Australia by Arisa's mum, who lives in Japan. The loose-leaf options change, but usually include sencha, hojicha and genmaicha teas. "She'll just send different varieties every six months or so," says Josh.

Ippuku also serves soba cha, a tea rarely seen in cafes. The earthy flavour comes from roasted buckwheat, which has a subtle, savoury taste similar to soba noodles . This soba cha originates from a family-run noodle shop in Japan. Prefer something sweeter? Order the frothy matcha latte, made with tea from Osaka (also sent via Mum Post). 

Ippuku's Japanese roots are celebrated throughout the cafe: you'll see 70-year-old wooden kokeshi dolls from Arisa's grandmother, while a kimono draped across one wall also came from her. "She was a kimono-maker," says Arisa. 

Arisa's heritage influences the menu, too. The chef has been cooking for two decades (with stints at Pilu at Freshwater and Sugaroom). Her pork and chicken katsu sandos (sandwiches) are named after her home town.

She deviates from the traditional style of serving them on ultra-thick, mattress-like slabs of shokupan bread, with the crusts cut off. Instead, hers are more like a Western sandwich, using slices from Enmore's Azuki bakery.

The power move is her sauce, which is like a Japanese version of McDonald's special sauce. "I love ginger, so I put a lot of ginger," she says of the zingy blend of mayonnaise, horseradish, tomato sauce and Tabasco.

The condiment has plenty of appealing kick. Arisa also deploys this secret weapon on her tofu balls, which were inspired by onigiri, but are mashed from rice, shiitake mushrooms, ginger, seaweed and edamame, then shaped and deep-fried. Josh calls them Japanese arancini. 

The tofu balls are available brunch-style, with toast, eggs, avocado, fried kale and over-dressed spinach leaves that are a little too wet – but they're way better in a burger with that gloopy, delicious ginger-blitzed sauce and beer-battered chips.

Arisa's teriyaki chicken, straight off the grill, is also a highlight. As is the vegie gyoza, with its charred edges and shiitake-garlic filling.

All the dumplings, including the classic pork, chicken-cheese-shiso and spiced prawn versions, are made from scratch. Josh says they'll sit around a table and fill the dough and hand-crimp wrappers, hundreds of gyoza at a time.  

Ippuku has also developed a following for its ramen varieties, with Arisa simmering  bones for days to perfect the stock. They're available on Ippuku's COVID-adapted takeaway menu, but even Josh concedes its best when eaten in store. In the meantime, the cafe still has plenty of good choices to help create your own ippuku (tea break) at home. 

The low-down

Ippuko

Main attraction: Japanese-inspired cafe food with a great tea selection.

Must-try dish: The home-made tofu balls with a ginger-laced tribute to McDonald's special sauce is great in a burger with beer-battered chips. 

Insta-worthy dish: The soba cha (or any of the Japanese loose-leaf teas) are typically presented in nicely patterned teaware – and is also worth sampling if you've never had this tea before. In lockdown mode, perhaps the katsu sandos will inspire envy from your Instagram followers.