Kuza UrbanJapanese Food

On Albany Highway, in the thick of Victoria Park's eating strip, a modern izakaya makes its case for share-plate Japanese with a Western Australian accent. The kitchen leans on the state's larder — Margaret River wagyu, local lobster turned into sashimi — and works it into dishes built for the middle of the table: miso-glazed cod finished on a sizzling tobanyaki plate, plates designed to be passed and picked over rather than kept to oneself. The house shorthand for its food is 'fresh, sexy and bold', and the plating backs the swagger, arriving neat and considered under low, contemporary lighting. Drinks keep step with a roster of craft cocktails and a deep sake selection, and for those who would rather hand over the decisions there is a set menu that walks a table through the kitchen's stronger hands. The room reads urban and polished, tuned for an evening out rather than a quick bite, though it also runs a weekday lunch. It is the sort of neighbourhood izakaya that takes the format seriously without stiffening it — generous, a little theatrical, and firmly of its place. Lunch Tuesday to Saturday; dinner Monday to Saturday.