Melbourne's Sakedokoro Namara will transport you to Tokyo

At Sakedokoro Namara, there are a few seats that face the window looking out at the trams and wrought iron framings of the buildings along North Melbourne's Victoria Street. It's a pleasant view, an unmistakably Melbourne scene, but I suggest you take a seat at the bar or at a table facing inwards. Because, with your back to the street, the view of this bar and restaurant is straight out of Tokyo.

The small space is dominated by a long bar made from a tree that's been cleaved in half and polished. Rows and rows of sake line the walls, and the back of the room is decorated with colourful sake barrels. The nights I've been there the predominant language spoken in the room by customers and staff was Japanese. It's a scene that's truly transportive.

Sakedokoro Namara opened in late 2021. Owner Akito Kurokawa moved permanently from Japan in 2010, and eventually founded Sakemate, a distributor specialising in bringing a wide range of sakes into the Australian market.

Because of his direct connections to brewers, he was able to source sake in the barrel as well as the bottle, and he decided to open a sake bar with an unusual feature: many of the sakes here are available on tap. (Kurokawa claims that this is the first bar in the world to do this; I couldn't verify that claim.)

The drinks list is long and potentially overwhelming, but the staff here are helpful and friendly and the list provides a thorough description of each sake, along with a chart that shows where the sake falls on an axis of dry/sweet/light/rich.

Almost all of the sakes come as a glass pour, a 240ml carafe or a full bottle, and it's a fantastic place to taste and explore without a huge financial commitment, even if you want to try the really good stuff.

At the back of the list is a short couple of pages of food offerings, all of them tapas-sized nibbles to go along with the drinks. The best way to sample these is with the nine tapas tasting ($72 – tapas are also available individually), which comes in a box of small round dishes presented as a grid. Again, this is so like what you'd get at a bar in Tokyo it made me a little giddy.

Lotus root and kale ($8), dressed in tahini miso, is crunchy and fresh. There are tiny rice-coated pork dumplings ($8), deep-fried fish in sweet vinegar sauce ($9), thin strips of chewy eggplant ($9), and barely seared slices of scallop with nori for wrapping ($9).

Slightly larger plates include perfectly cooked prawns served with a tangy chilli crunch sauce ($18), and stunningly fresh seared bonito sashimi ($28). This, along with a kingfish carpaccio ($26), is as close as Sakedokoro Namara comes to serving sushi most of the time.

But on Tuesday nights there is a sushi option ($35) that must be ordered two days in advance via a note on your online booking. On the night I had it, the sushi included five pieces of nigiri: scallop, kingfish, salmon, eel, and the most tender giant sea clam I've ever had. This isn't life-changing sushi, but it's better than competent.

On Fridays and Saturdays, the bar opens for lunch, serving a variety of rice bowls with toppings like assorted raw fish ($25) or teriyaki chicken ($19). Saturday shoppers at the nearby Queen Victoria Markets would do well to tear themselves from the long line for hot jam doughnuts and come indulge in this instead.

On a recent evening, Kurokawa was celebrating his 50th birthday, and everyone who came in was given a complimentary glass of sparkling sake and a cheers from the owner.

The place had all the bustle and fun of the kind of Tokyo nightlife that exists in the neighbourhoods rather than the glitzy tourist spots, the kind of place you'd only find if a Japanese friend took you there.

How exciting to have such a place here, and be able to walk out the door, jump on a tram and go home.

Vibe Intimate neighbourhood Tokyo bar

Go-to dish Bonito sashimi

Drinks Fantastic sake list, including many on tap; Japanese beers and whiskeys

Cost About $100 for two for a full meal, before drinks