Wabi SabiSalon

Up a level on Smith Street, one of the strip's longer-running Japanese rooms unfolds as a warren of carved timber, textile hangings and low nostalgic light — a Showa-era mood closer to a back-lane Tokyo teahouse than a Collingwood dining room. The most coveted corner is a secluded, shoes-off space arranged around a small garden, where the ritual of leaving your shoes at the threshold sets a slower pace for the meal. Beyond it there are balcony and courtyard tables and a scatter of seats facing the street. The cooking is modern Japanese with a sure hand on the raw: sashimi that changes with the day, a well-regarded sashimi teishoku, and neat, imaginative sushi, rounded out by wagyu and a considered sake list. At lunch it doubles as a reliable counter for takeaway sushi, some of the better value going in the area. The whole thing has a lived-in, faintly bohemian character — decorative, atmospheric, unbothered by trend — that has held a loyal local following over the years. It suits a long, low-lit dinner as readily as a quick midday plate. Open daily but for a Wednesday close, across lunch and dinner.