Komeyui

OH, TO be a vegetable at Komeyui, a restaurant where minimalism and brilliance harmoniously combine, and each piece of produce is treated with the philosophy that ''the more you add, the more you take away''.

My notes were riddled with superlatives: ''flawless sashimi'', ''no mistakes'', ''Berkshire pork hotpot outstanding'' and ''am all about the sake brulee''.

Hokkaido-born Motomu Kumano was the sushi chef at Kenzan for almost six years and, before that, he worked in Osaka restaurants. With partner Queenie, Komeyui is his vision, each classical Japanese dish as beautiful as the warm, blond-timbered room, the fresh flowers and the imported crockery. Queenie believes Komeyui is the only restaurant in Australia with a hagama, a traditional cast-iron rice cooker used about 900 years ago, said to retain rice's flavour and perfectly cook each grain.

The second hagama they use for steaming items such as dumplings and the chawanmushi, a precious little pot of smoked egg custard, with scallop, shiitake, pumpkin seed and rice cake hidden in each spoonful.

Fleshy cuts of sashimi - kingfish, salmon, scallop and king dory - are prepared at the counter and turned into a platter of art with daikon and wasabi. From the shichirin, an earthen charcoal brazier, come two perfectly seared pieces of crisp-skinned black cod, the fish marinated for three days in sweet miso, mirin and sake, the flesh succulent, moist and juicy.

Care is taken not to overcook the tempura main, a plate of soft eggplant, shiitake, springy asparagus, zucchini, broccoli, sweet potato and three juicy king prawns, each piece coated in a puffy, crisp light batter.

Exceptionally satisfying is the Berkshire pork hotpot, the bone-packed broth brewed for two days. A gas burner is brought to the table and the miso curry bubbles and thickens in its cast-iron pot. Scoop some into your bowl, hot and soupy and laden with sheared sweet pork, shimeji mushroom, cabbage and carrot, and use it as a dipping sauce for the al dente ramen noodles, kept separate to maintain texture.

And that sake brulee? Crack its caramelised top and scoff the hot, fluffy sake-laced custard underneath.

Confident, knowledgeable service guides you through the matched menu of high-end sakes right through to the plum wines - this one made from brown sugar, this one from green tea, this one from the oldest brewery in Osaka. It was a cold night when I visited Komeyui, a harbinger of the winter that is about to seep into this city. I felt a bit depressed and like eating soup by the heater. Komeyui restored my faith and reminded me how lucky we are to have such quality restaurants at our doorstep.

You may also like …

■Kenzan

Benchmark Japanese for 30 years and still among the best in town. For a more low-key version, try Kenzan GPO.

Collins Place, 45 Collins Street, city, 9654 8933.

■Hako

Izakaya-style restaurant with premium lunchtime bento.

310 Flinders Lane, city, 9620 1881.

 nrousseau@theage.com.au