With a kitchen led by Derek Kim, who spent almost a decade at Tetsuya’s, you’d expect nothing less than precise plating and refined flavours at Garaku. But then the reality of eating Kim’s food reveals something more: fiercely seasonal cooking that’s artful and intensely thoughtful, but also full of lightness and whimsy.

Take the first course, presented as a Zen garden of snacks, including a miniature tart of Jerusalem artichoke with crunch and intrigue from vanilla and truffle, or a bowl of pink snapper dressed with ponzu jelly. Buttermilk sauce lightens blood-red raw tuna, WA marron is charred and finished with koji butter, and an optional claypot of scorched rice, octopus and ikura brings heft and comfort.

Service is relaxed and confident, Hiroto Yoshizoe’s pixel-panel artwork reflects the flow of the kitchen, and the wine list is full of pleasant surprises. Refreshing stuff.

Good to know: Prefecture 48 offers many more experiences, from cocktails downstairs to omakase upstairs.

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