Yugen Dining

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 earned it a win in the globally renowned Restaurant & Bar Design Awards.

Head below ground to find its more ambitious sibling, Yugen Dining, reachable through a dramatic glass-walled elevator. The basement restaurant, designed by Eat Architects, features textural stone walls, six-metre-high ceilings, glowing gold accents and a statement chandelier made up of hundreds of glass pendants.

Grab a seat downstairs to try the à la carte menu, or book the six-seat Omakase Bar on the mezzanine, for an elaborate and more intimate set menu experience helmed by head sushi chef Samuel Chee (ex-Kisume, Nobu).

Chee's main menu is mostly high-end Japanese but includes innovative tangents inspired by other parts of Asia, such as prawn mousse spread atop youtiao (Chinese doughnut), Korean-style fried chicken and wood grilled flounder with anchovy sambal.

Big hits include delicate sashimi, savoury chawanmushi custard with smoked Victorian eel; pork neck slathered in ginger, spring onion and fermented chilli and barbequed on the restaurant’s custom charcoal grill; and a 9+ marble-score Wagyu (i.e. top of the line) striploin marinated in shio koji (a deeply savoury ferment) cooked the same way. Finish with sweets like coconut mochi with strawberry and shiso sauce.

Drinking is a similarly high-end experience. The expansive list includes back vintages of titanic Australian wines from the Barossa, Yarra Valley, Margaret River and beyond, an impressive collection of sakes organised by style (including 20 by the glass), and several dozen whiskies and other spirits.