Kobo is a one-man show for an audience of eight

Whatever you do, don't be late. A 10-minute hold-up, and the heads of six diners and one chef will turn to you as one as you walk in the door. Oops, sorr-ee.

Dinner doesn't begin until all eight diners are seated at the smoke-grey counter, when Korean-born chef Jacob Lee introduces the concept.

Yes, it's conceptual, a mash-up of Japanese omakase (small dishes prepared by the chef, face-to-face with diner), and Korean hanjeongsik, a formal spread of many small dishes.

Lee tells us (in both Korean and English) that the food at Kobo is inspired by his own experiences in Korea and Australia, and that the menu is themed and will change every few weeks.

This one is inspired by the Tasmania of Korea, Jeju, a volcanic island located off the southern province of Jeolla, where Lee and his brother, head chef Yangyu Lee, were raised.

A quick online search reveals that Jeju is renowned for its sour green mandarin, hairtail fish, sea urchin, black pig pork and abalone, famously harvested by the legendary free-diving "sea women". Sure enough, these are the recurring ingredients that run through the 15 (I may have lost count) courses.

After a welcome drink of carrot juice with green mandarin, the chef prepares a delicate raw course of sliced swordfish, cured between sheets of kombu and marinated in green mandarin. Simple and refreshing.

Next, a tiny tart is magicked out of the small kitchen, the crisp shell holding a squish of marinated tofu topped with pencil stubs of carrot and a crunch of green tea and almond praline.

Then a little furl of hairtail (aka ribbonfish) deep-fried in a wrap of crisp black gamtae seaweed that's like eating fish and chips by the sea, and bingddeok, a thin buckwheat pancake rolled around Japanese mushrooms.

It's a disconcerting but rewarding experience, to strap yourself in without knowing quite what's coming next.

More small dishes arrive, the most memorable being yukhoe (wagyu beef tartare) and truffled mashed potato entrapped in toasty seaweed and topped with fresh sea urchin for a total umami blast.

A tranche of blue mackerel in toasty brown butter is dreamy. But slathering kombu butter on jeungpyeon, bouncy steamed rice cakes as if they were bread rolls? That feels … forced. A little weird.

Some sort of plateau is reached with a perfect swirl of Jeju-style ramen noodles in a light pork broth flavoured with fragrant shallot oil, crowned with slices of kurobuta pork belly from the famous black Berkshire pig. Love this, especially with a glass of Le Domaine d'Henri Chablis Saint Pierre ($42).

A super-astringent persimmon vinegar and mandarin sorbet is next. Pre-dessert? No, palate cleanser for the main course of dombegogi, a Jeju-style bo ssam.

Eight wooden trays line up before us as Lee arranges bowls of rice, pickled perilla leaf, mel-jeot anchovy sauce and a rather beautiful kimchi on each one. Together, these banchan (side dishes) support the sliced kurobuta pork, cooked in three different ways, helping to mask its dryness.

As diners gather in the laneway for the second sitting, a sunny yellow mandarin sorbet arrives in a block of dark, heavy granite.

A glass of Granite Hills 1971 Block Riesling ($25) accompanies an elegant presentation of truffled jersey milk ice-cream and chestnut and rice wine cream.

Lee, also executive chef of the Bae Dining Group's Marble restaurant at Barangaroo, is a shy but charismatic chef/host, and at this baby-steps stage some things run smoothly while others are shambolic.

At one point, we all wait for the sorbet to set, as the chef paces up and down. A request for wine initiates a search through cupboards, a quick polish of glasses, and precise pouring into a newly bought jigger.

But it all serves to make you feel part of the dining experience and allows you to immerse yourself and share the process, performance and pressure of our first high-end Korean; a rare privilege.

Vibe A culinary one-man show with an audience of eight

Cost $185-a-head plus drinks

Go-to dish Kurobuta noodles with shallot oil

Drinks A selection of sake, Japanese whiskey, Korean wines and soju, plus four wines