Hako

Score: 15/20

There are two Hakos, tucked away in Flinders Lane, south of Elizabeth Street. Each has its place, and I like them both, but don't confuse them.

Needless to say, the pair have much in common. A cool new warehouse-style space, for one, with impossibly high matte-black ceilings and scuffed black floorboards, old window frames, lots of stark white plaster punctuated by simple Japanese furnishings and sculptural flower arrangements. It's a simple-yet-edgy contemporary fit-out by day or night, that reflects the owners' style and references Japan only subtly.

And both Hakos have the same couple running them; chef Masahiro Horie in the kitchen, his wife Ji-ah organising the floor, a slightly more challenging role now they have 60 or so seats to fill (as opposed to their 20-seater in Degraves Street, the premises from which was born Hako's cult following.)

Both have Japanese food; some of it quite traditional, some quite progressive, most very good. But Hako for lunch is a different place to the restaurant you'll find at dinner.

Wander in and start gazing at that specials list on the wall and you're in for a disappointment; they only come out at night, as does an expanded menu. And like many progressive Japanese restaurants, the specials list is definitely where the action is.

Where most city restaurants run the same menu night or day, Hako's is specifically targeted at time-poor CBD progressives rather than the long-lunch corporate trade. Bento boxes, set-price combinations and cheaper, smaller mains are all features of Hako's lunch menu and it reflects the restaurant's roots back in Degraves, when the place started as a simple lunch spot, only expanding into more adventurous a la carte dining at night as time progressed. Until earlier this year, when they shut up shop and moved altogether.

While mood - and food - is different by night, what doesn't change at lunch is the quality and cooking ethos; lunch here is terrific value, the produce nicely handled.

The Hako Lunch Set is a $28 six-pack of varying components that would leave most very satisfied.

The day we ate, it was a classically red and black bento box of six compartments preceded by miso soup, studded with tofu and shreds of spring onion. Quite traditional.

Chawan mushi, the steamed savoury custard made with dashi (stock) revealed shrimp, chicken and shiitake slices; correct and satisfying.

A tempura prawn sat alongside similarly battered slices of sweet potato and zucchini, accompanied by a pot of soy broth. While the next compartment contained sashimi and shredded daikon: yellowfin tuna, Atlantic salmon and white fillet that I'm guessing was kingfish, all with a decent knob of wasabi for blending with the soy provided. Again, quality stuff.

The same fish get a run with the next batch - three pieces of nigirisushi which, to my palate, had too much wasabi on the rice. The sushi is fine here, without being outstanding; it's not like being at a counter and having each item made for you.

Delicious little pork meatballs in a sweet/savoury miso-based sauce were next, garnished with long strands of spring onion; the gravy dark and quite special. And finally, there is a little ceviche-style presentation of white fish that was fried and then pickled in citrus juices with shredded vegetables and sesame seeds on top. It's a clean finish to the meal if you end it there.

But no meal here - or at any Japanese restaurant worth its wasabi - is complete without eel. Hako's unagidon (eel on rice, $19.80) is so much better than it sounds, the salty/sweet/dark miso-glazed fillets having been char-grilled to a shiny finish with virtually no fat, simply a sweet subcutaneous layer of savoury gelatin that is pure heaven. There are no desserts, for now, anyway.

That's lunch, and for what it's trying to do, the place is a cracker. It always was. Lunch once and you'll find a way to go back after hours.

For more eel, perhaps: the teriyaki-marinated strips of grilled eel, if it's on, served with ultra-creamy scrambled egg that make for a bewitching appetiser ($12).

Or tako karage ($12.80) a typical Horie entree combining fried crusty octopus marinated in mirin, soy, sake, ginger and garlic, ingredients used a lot here for marination. Served on Japanese stoneware, the crunchy octopus bits arrive with a micro-salad of leaves with a sesame and citrus dressing. You must order carefully to ensure not too many of your dishes fall into this (admittedly highly appealing) formula of fried something with citrussy salad.

A dressing of sesame oil, soy, lime and lemon, garlic mirin and ginger accompanies the delicious Atlantic salmon "carpaccio" ($16.80); Horie pushes the boat out a little further with black and white sesame seeds, radish and beetroot shoots, and a "Japanese tartare sauce" (mayo with lemon and rice wine vinegar). Again, it's a superb starter (from the specials list).

You'd almost certainly come back for the novelty of just-marinated raw tuna served with radish, cucumber, tobiko (flying fish roe) and a bizarre, slippery/starchy sidebar of Japanese mountain potato (tororo) blended with fish stock ($14). It's consistency is that of a sauce made with egg white; quite bizarre.

And if you were really fortunate, you'd find up there on the specials list, the char-grilled kingfish collar ($15), that part of the fish behind the gill much prized by the Japanese, served simply with salt and lemon. It is sublime. Ditto the tempura prawns in kataifi pastry ($13.80). And the white miso swordfish with shiso and coriander ($15.80).

Tonkatsu pork fillet ($28) with a citrus and shiso dressing is less remarkable, and if you're offered cabbage rolls ($12.80) filled with minced chicken and miso, well let's leave the cabbage to the Koreans, shall we? It's a rare aberration; Horie cooks with passion and it shows.

By night, Hako has a youthful vibe and energetic, exciting food that makes up for occasionally naive service.

Two restaurants (sort of); one positive addition to city dining.

Score: 1-9: Unacceptable. 10-11: Just OK, some shortcomings. 12: Fair. 13: Getting there. 14: Recommended. 15: Good . 16: Really good. 17: Truly excellent. 18: Outstanding. 19-20: Approaching perfection, Victoria's best.