Ha-Lu

Barely thirty seats sit behind a quiet shopfront near the corner of Oxford Street and Scarborough Beach Road, which is part of the appeal, a room that rewards booking ahead and settling in. The format is Japanese by way of tapas: small, precisely plated dishes built for sharing, ordered in waves rather than courses. Regulars return for the house-made tofu, so silky it barely holds its shape, and for gyoza that tend to be named the standout of any table. Beyond those, the kitchen moves easily across scallop nanban, sashimi, slow-cooked duck and wagyu striploin, each dish arriving with the restraint and finish of somewhere far larger and far louder. The setting is deliberately minimal, neutral tones, banquette seating, nothing to compete with what is on the plate. It has held a devoted following in this pocket of Mount Hawthorn for years, quietly collecting awards without ever trading on them. Prices land around fifty to sixty dollars a head before drinks, which for cooking of this care reads as fair rather than cheap. The overall effect is of a neighbourhood izakaya operating at a level its size would never lead you to expect.