Why you should stick Robata on your city hit list, Melbourne

The same people that delivered Melbourne the South American fire-focused restaurants San Telmo, Pastuso, Palermo and Asado have spun an enthusiasm for Japanese food into Robata, a similarly grill-loving restaurant in the handsome ex-Gazi site on the corner of Flinders and Exhibition streets.

The restaurant had a rocky start, opening just as Melbourne tumbled into our last long lockdown, and it's fair to say it has struggled to roar into top gear ever since. That's a shame because the food and drinks are good, the service adept, the prices reasonable and the room engaging, strung with lightboxes designed to evoke Tokyo street scenes and subways.

Over two recent meals – lunch in a booth bathed in gorgeous afternoon light and a weekend dinner set menu in the centre of the busy but not-too-noisy room – I came to appreciate the way Robata rolls.

The name points to the grill focus ("robata" is short for "robatayaki", cooking small bites over a charcoal hotbox), but the menu extends beyond that, including sashimi, sushi and accomplished desserts.

The drinks selection is appealing, too, with a $30 flight of three sakes working as an educative taster, and sake and other Japanese beverages skilfully blended into cocktails. The Kara-garita is a frisky spin on the margarita with charred chillies, tequila and umeshu, a plum liqueur.

Even the sweets doff a hat to Japanese drinks: chocolate mousse is spiked with Nikka whisky and encased in a chocolate shell.

So it's not all skewers, but skewers you will want and the yakitori (chicken on a stick) is a good place to start. Traditional yakitori plucks from all parts of the bird but you won't find gizzards or hearts here.

The tsukune chicken meatball is a juicy ovoid served with cured egg yolk and tare, a sweet soy-based dressing. Swish and break the yolk to make a rich dipping sauce.

The San Telmo Group's other restaurants celebrate hero meats. Robata does offer steaks and pork chops, but the portions are more modest than the half-kilo stonkers you might treat yourself to in the South American joints.

In fact, the way protein is presented here is possibly more aligned with the "less meat but better meat" way many of us are choosing to eat animal these days. Thin slivers of wagyu are torched and draped over seasoned rice; short rib is skewered, soy-glazed and coaxed into glorious succulence over charcoal.

Having morsels rather than mountains can make for deeper appreciation. It's the same with tuna, which is cut into glistening diamonds to scatter over a pretty and satisfying chirashi rice box, or thinly sliced and placed into a DIY handroll with avocado and pickled radish.

This gentle honouring of ingredients combines with a boisterous izakaya penchant for big, brash flavours.

Authenticity isn't exactly the aim: this is a Melbourne restaurant gesturing lovingly towards Japan.

Robata is fun, friendly and flexible, definitely worth adding to your city hit list.