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Mino

Grilled Duck Breast with tomato based sauce.
Grilled Duck Breast with tomato based sauce.Fiona Morris

Japanese

I always prefer eating out locally; it creates a comforting illusion of village living and it makes getting home so much more affordable after a few glasses of wine - or sake, as the case may be. So crossing the bridge for a meal is not taken lightly. But, encouraged by friends' rave reviews of this long-standing Mosman restaurant, we take the plunge and head north.

The door opens to an unpretentious room; it is a warm, comfortable space, with soft-yellow walls and perfect lighting, accentuated by flickering tea lights. There are wooden tables and chairs - with padded seats - and a hanging wooden grid on the ceiling.

We are here for the house speciality, the six-course set menu or kaiseki, a food experience that embodies Japanese culture and is traditionally served at tea ceremonies. In essence a tasting menu, each course is made up of several small dishes that balance flavour, texture and appearance.

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One of the joys of kaiseki is it speeds up ordering when dining with a group. There are two kaiseki menus: mino (regular) or goshu (seasonal), with a choice of mains and dessert flavours. Many of the kaiseki dishes are available a la carte in larger servings.

The restaurant is full at 7pm but our friendly waitress seats us quickly, takes orders and delivers the sake, along with a basket of sake cups for us to make a selection.

Then the parade of lacquered trays begins. The opening salvo is an aperitif or amuse - a shot glass of plum wine, surprisingly delicious, and not at all cloyingly sweet, offset by a mouthful of tart pickled mackerel.

An appetiser follows on a green-glazed plate with a bonsai serving of octopus and cuttlefish salad sitting in a puddle of sweet miso. Just enough to whet the appetite, it gives a false sense of what lies ahead.

The waitress delivers a third tray, a knockout presentation of three pieces of plump sashimi - tuna, salmon and kingfish - plus two pieces of sushi with a stripe of addictive Japanese mayo and a fresh Pacific oyster raised on a pedestal and bathed in a bright vinaigrette. All four diners agree the kingfish sashimi is a knockout.

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When tray No.4 arrives, I start to worry. There are five entrees in individual pottery bowls and plates, all presented like edible art. Included is a strip of grilled ocean perch with a dash of citrusy ponzu sauce, a zucchini flower stuffed with minced prawn and lotus root, and a piece of crunchy deep-fried soft-shell crab beside a tiny mound of green-tea salt.

As the tray is cleared away, I notice the growing pile of small dishes waiting to be hand washed at the far end of the room. Exquisite ceramic plates are not dishwasher friendly.

My main is a piece of Atlantic salmon, grilled to succulent pinkness, with a sweet walnut teriyaki sauce and salad. Others choose the light-as-feather assorted tempura and a spicy miso hotpot of mixed seafoods.

No one thinks there could possibly be room for dessert. Of course, we are wrong. Tray No.6 bears a small dish of ice-cream or sorbet chosen from a range of knockout flavours (blood orange is the table favourite), alongside slices of kiwi fruit and rockmelon. There is also a pot of green-tea panna cotta - comforting and addictive - and a square of soft, dark chocolate dusted with a nutty soybean powder.

Definitely worth crossing the bridge for.

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Menu Japanese, specialising in kaiseki, but also a la carte.

Value Very good. Entrees, $14; mains, $24; dessert, $8, six-course kaiseki, $59.

Recommended dishes Kingfish sashimi, grilled salmon with walnut dressing; blood-orange sorbet.

MINO
521 Military Road, Mosman, 9960 3351
Lunch, Sat and Sun, noon-2.15pm; dinner, Tues-Sun, 6pm-11pm
Fully licensed, BYO wine only

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