Akachochin: 33 South Wharf Promenade, South Wharf, 9245 9900
My score: 4/5
South Wharf is still a work in progress but it’s Melbourne most promising new precinct and Akachochin is among its alluring draws. One delightful thing about this modern Japanese restaurant is how charged and charming the waiters are: no matter how pleased I was with the setting, the sake and the pretty, well-executed dishes, I got the feeling that they were even more thrilled. Not that there’s any happy dancing. The aesthetic is careful and contemporary.
Akachochin, owned by revivified restaurant tsar Paul Mathis, calls itself an izakaya but it’s an ambitious upscaling of the ‘casual drinking, eating and sharing place’ that the style suggests. It makes a good fist of its warehouse shell. Look up and it’s all insulation and piping. Keep eyes level and it’s a sparse eating arena with gleaming marble tables and sushi counter, modernist timber chairs and tea candles echoed by hanging drop lights.
The menu offers huge choice, which is only a problem because everything sounds good. Chef Kengo Hiromatsu (Nobu, Taxi) includes regional dishes and his own inventions in a repertoire spilling with integrity and purity. From the sashimi menu, I ate the day’s special, alfonsino, a rich, sweet white-fleshed fish with just-smoked skin that was rapturous contrast to the delicate meat. A duck appetiser comprised tender grilled then simmered breast slices flavoured with soy, mirin and ginger, and robust cubes of pressed confit leg. A balanced, fresh salad of plump, firm prawns and shredded daikon had zing in every bite thanks to a creamy mayonnaise, wasabi and yuzu dressing. An outstanding quail dish featured juicy masterstock-simmered and fried breast and a ridiculously lovable potato croquette stuffed with quail mince. I usually enjoy munching on small birds but I haven’t had such a clever, fun quail plate for a long time.
I’m contractually bound to eat the weirdest dish on a menu so I dutifully ordered the eggplant, oysters and grilled cheese. It was a successful textural mash-up of the sloppy and gooey, mediated by miso, helped by heat. Desserts sounded interesting but a sweet potato crème brulée failed the sugar-crack test and was less silky than I’d like. The only other jarring note was trying to get into the place: Akachochin is entered via sister business Sharing House. Don’t follow the deceitful arrows on Akachochin’s riverside windows, head for the landward lane to find the door. Once inside, all is harmonious and happy.
More Japanese:
Namanama, Ground Floor, 31 Spring Street, Melbourne, 9639 9500
Where once was Verge, there is now a modern cafe with housemade udon noodles, nori rolls made to order and proper coffee. Ask about the clever bento box takeaway (and take back) service.
Hanabishi, 187 King Street, Melbourne, 9670 1167
Gluten free and vegetarian menus are available at this city stayer, which is a reliable option for above-average lunch sets or peaceful dinners.
Momoco Sushi, 255 Glen Huntly Road, Elsternwick, 9532 8088
A petite rolls bar has slowly expanded into a proper restaurant with good, cheap teriyaki and noodle dishes. Also in Hawthorn and Heidelberg.
First published in The Age, August 12, 2012
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