Oden

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Oden – a Japanese hotpot of fish cakes, daikon and tofu – traditionally simmers in a soy and bonito broth, often for hours at a time. This Melbourne diner of the same name, by the team behind two-hatted kaiseki restaurant Ishizuka, offers two lighter broths.

There’s a clear, savoury soup made from Great Ocean Road duck bones, kelp and bonito; and a 12-hour chicken, dashi, kelp and bonito blend. Both are seasoned only with salt, not soy sauce. The shift is an attempt to refresh the 600-year-old dish for a new audience, following the path of new-wave oden shops in Japan.

Diners are encouraged to build a bowl from two or three elements – perhaps translucent shirataki noodles, house-made prawn balls flecked with edamame and tobiko (flying fish roe), and abalone. Those who want guidance can order a signature bowl: one features daikon crowned with a slice of foie gras; another has a rolled eel omelette that nods to Yoshino’s grandparents’ eel restaurant in Tokyo.

There are grilled skewers too – wagyu, ocean trout with roe, chicken yakitori – but the focus remains firmly on the pot. Dessert is a single choice: a petite pudding (or purin, as it’s known in Japan) quivering in a pool of dark caramel. The drinks list, developed with Nick Tesar (co-owner of Marionette Liqueur), centres on crisp, unfussy highballs made with local and Japanese spirits – designed to complement rather than overshadow the broth. There’s also a sake range curated by sommelier Marie Chiba, who oversees the list at Ishizuka, and a concise offering of Victorian wines.

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