Niji Restaurant & Bar

Double Bay has been declared dead so many times that going there is like visiting an ancient relly on life support. A bunch of flowers might be in order. Recently, however, the restaurant side of things has recorded a few life-indicating bleeps.

The rebooted Fish Face opened in the 'hood in December, and next up is an offering from Chinta Ria's Simon Goh. Meanwhile, this ambitious Japanese, recently branched out from its sushi bar home base in Kingsford, is yet another healthy bleep.

Niji has gone in with a samurai swagger and a terrific fitout by Vanessa Cullen of Forward Thinking Design. The slow curve of wooden slats overhead resembles the upside down hull of an ancient wooden fishing boat. Wood is also referenced on the handsome sushi bar to the rear, where chefs, heads swathed in samurai-style headbands, stand on guard behind dark wood panels and stools. The fish may be hidden from sight, but their heavy pottery bowls and platters are on display in a glorious palette of earthy browns and greens.

At lunchtime, head chef and co-owner Kohji Matsuda presents precise, pleasing nigiri sushi with a good ratio between fish and rice; remarkable value at $28 for 10 pieces, given the Hokkaido scallop, smoked eel and salmon belly involved. Maki rolls are equally generous; the ''orange maki'', a plump inside-out roll of salmon and avocado dramatically iced with crunchy tobiko roe, is knock-down value at $16. Gyoza come in wagyu, seafood or vegetable versions - best is the wagyu ($16 for four), with a shabu-shabu-like, beefy chew inside elegantly thin, crisp-bottomed skins.

The same menu operates at lunch and dinner, so I divvy it into sushi for lunch, and the more creative options, weighted towards both status and richness, for dinner. Let's run through a few. A big fat, oh-so-rich Hokkaido scallop, split over sushi rice and topped with foie gras parfait ($12 for two) in a classic gilding of the lily. Some very nice cured salmon served in a pool of shiso, coriander, tomato and lemon zest broth ($19) that is difficult to eat without dripping. An ebi tamago that's a bit weird, the prawns battered, fried and skewered, each one impaling a quail egg topped with miso.

Pork belly ($15) is cubed, smoked over mesquite and alder and turned into craving material, each small cube a couple of bites of smoky richness. Wagyu kushiyaki (three for $15) is like your mate's best barbecue steak hot off the robata charcoal grill, deconstructed and pinned to skewers, sweet and juicy from its amayaki (sweet soy) glaze and crunching with Hawaiian red salt. Sweet maki sushi ($15) is like Thai sticky coconut rice rolled in a fine fold of mango and cut into four - light, sweet, and pleasantly tropical.

Be warned, it's loud. The piped music is painful, and the mainly non-Japanese wait staff have the sort of puppy-like eagerness you have when fresh out of training college. A mixed, mainly older crowd gives the place a neighbourhood izakaya air, keeping the bar busy with orders for pisco and sake-influenced cocktails. There's a heap of sake and wines, with 18 by the glass, including the ever-likeable Two Paddocks Picnic Pinot Noir ($16/$68) from Sam Neill's Central Otago vineyard.

I'm not as crazy about the more contemporary night-time offerings as I am about the sushi bar stuff by day, with its built-in clarity and uplifting brightness of flavour, but it's great to see some new life and energy in the Double Bay dining metabolism. The old girl might just pull through after all.

THE LOWDOWN

Best bit: A shot in the arm for Double Bay
Worst bit: The music
Go-to dish: Orange maki (salmon, tobiko and avocado roll) $16

Terry Durack is chief restaurant critic for The Sydney Morning Herald and senior reviewer for the Good Food Guide. This rating is based on the Good Food Guide scoring system.