The backlit jars of house umeshu at Gaku suggest there’s more going on than beer-hall snacks and drinks for the masses. Yes, you can nab a tatami seat, order and a highball of spiced pear ume, sweet and sour with a peppery kick, then pair it with slow-cooked beef-tongue ramen in which springy handmade noodles soak up tart yuzu consomme, and there’s a tempting tonkotsu hotpot too.

But the star of the show is kamameshi – a rice dish cooked in an individual iron pot, rarely offered by other Japanese restaurants in Sydney. Here, the seafood version is a treasure hunt of sorts: wait for your sand timer to run out, lift the lid, then unveil a steaming layer of plump prawns and scallops cooked in soy and mirin. With rice paddles, dig for clams in pearls of sweet koshihikari rice, before reaching the crisp grains stuck to the bottom. Your bounty awaits.

Must-order dish: A teapot of umami broth with the seafood kamameshi.

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