Yugen Tea Bar, in South Yarra’s Capitol Grand building, is unlike any other tea experience in Melbourne. It’s by an ex-Vue de Monde tea sommelier (it’s a thing), and the strikingly angular fit-out just earned it a win in the globally renowned Restaurant & Bar Design Awards.

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg for the Yugen brand on Chapel Street.

Something monumental has been brewing in the space beneath it and, come October, the team will unveil its new subterranean modern-Asian restaurant, Yugen Dining.

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You’ll enter via the tea bar and descend into the former Q Bar through a glass-walled elevator. But the site will bear no resemblance to its former self. The six-metre-high concrete-clad basement has been transformed by Architects EAT into a three-part dining and drinking destination. That includes a six-seat omakase experience on the mezzanine level – and an orb-like space that juts out over the main dining room.

It’s set to be the south side’s most extravagant new place to dine.

Broadsheet Access experienced Yugen before it opened to the public. Want to come to our next Editors' Preview Night?Find out more.

Leading the kitchen is Alex Yu, who worked under one of Sydney’s greatest Japanese chefs, Chase Kojima, at Sokyo. His menu will feature dramatically presented sushi and sashimi, as well as an intricate take on prawn toast and a steaming Wagyu beef hotpot filled with mushrooms.

Behind the project is LK Hospitality – a group led by culinary director Stephen Nairn – which also runs Capitol Grand’s Omnia.

Yugen Dining is slated to open at 605 Chapel Street, South Yarra in October.

@yugendining