Those out there with toddlers will know that if you give them a plate of various delicious items to choose from, they’ll eat more than when they’re served just one kind of food. When choice and variety is presented, the meal becomes exploratory, a treasure hunt or tasty game, each bite different from the last. For me (and many), this preference extends well into adulthood – and there’s no better place to indulge in a treasure-box-style lunch than in Japan with its bento. But closer to home, in a nondescript corner of St Peters, there’s a local bento full of oceanic delights that has me in something of a lunchtime chokehold.

Taking notes from the high-quality bento, onigiri and groceries found in konbini – convenience stores – in Japan, the light-filled Domo 39 space is tucked just behind the St Peters train station entrance.

Opened by the team behind a few exceptional Japanese cafes – Kurumac in Marrickville, Cool Mac in Kirribilli and Poketto in Chippendale – together with Mapo Gelato (which supplies the goods for the in-house soft serve machine), the walls exhibit specialty Japanese tea, sweets, noodles and loaves of shokupan. There are a few bento to choose from – feel free to reach for the Wagyu, pork katsu, fried chicken or vegetarian numbers, they’re all excellent. But to truly level up you’re going to want the sakana.

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It’s a seafood odyssey, piled high with aromatic rice and a dazzling array of ingredients grilled, fried and pickled. According to co-owner Eugene Leung, it’s the most popular too. It’s not hard to suss why: it’s a glorious visual feast. Plated upon a bed of fluffy koshihikari rice is a fat, glistening fillet of grilled salmon seasoned with the slightly sweet Japanese hakata salt. It sits proud next to a little piece of eel glazed with the sweet umami of teriyaki and roasted sesame.

There’s more. Beyond that, a hefty chunk of whiting is shrouded in a crumb that shatters; a blob of chunky, creamy, oniony tartare, glossy with Kewpie mayo; and a slice of glistening and essential lemon alongside. Two rolls of tamagoyaki (rolled omelette) are tucked into the mix too – perfectly custardy yet bouncy, seasoned with chef Jun Okamatsu’s mum’s kombu and bonito dashi, which is made fresh each day. A baton of tempura fish cake will next catch your chopsticks, its crisp and light batter laced with seaweed for heightened ocean flavour.

“The perfect bento is full-looking with lots of choices,” Leung tells me. “That makes it look appetising. The rice quality [is important], as well as how it’s cooked to get the right texture.”

But the final jewel in Domo 39’s Sakana bento? It’s the pickle corner, bringing that essential balance of texture, dancing between salty and sweet. Pierce a slice of kappa zuke (soy cucumber) when you crunch down on your crumbed whiting, or a slice of highlighter-yellow shiba zuke, a salty, sour radish that cuts through anything in its path.

I’ve tried to resist Domo 39’s siren call, but why bother? It’s a hyper-fixation that’s impossible to tire of, each piece perfect in its own way, all tying into the balance of crunch, glaze, richness and zing. A treasure box and edible adventure – toddler or not.

Sophie McComas-Williams is a Sydney-based writer and editor (and former editor of Broadsheet Sydney). She is the co-director of Sydney-based, food-forward creative agency Buffet Digital, and she was on Substack five years before everyone else: co-producing Highly Enthused – a podcast-turned-newsletter covering all things cool – with Sophie Roberts. Find her on Instagram or fortnightly in your inbox via the newsletter.