PROFILED BY DE GROOTS MEDIAMany of Melbournes alleyways are festooned with cafes and eateries these days, but Caledonia Lane is not one of these. Instead, the lane that is home to Millsbucks also plays host to a motley collection of back doors, tradesmans entrances and a few dodgy looking rag trade outlets. But in a way it is a relief to be back in among the grit and grime of the real city rather than the neo-boho madness that has subsumed lane-life elsewhere in the CBD. It does, however, make finding this diminutive diner a tad difficult, although this doesnt seem to stop the place doing a roaring lunch-time trade.
Remember Dr Who Tardis? Well this place works on a similar principle, except it is as small on the inside as it is on the outside. Step down from street level into a room about the size of an old-fashioned conversation pit dominated by two limed-white communal tables sitting beneath some pretty interesting Manga-inspired art works. Grab a seat and check out the pictorial menu on the front of the bar. There is the usual selection of Japanese-in-a-bowl: teriyaki beef and chicken, miso, a great unagi don with rich, salty-sweet slabs of smoked eel, and a recent addition: teriyaki burgers to eat in or go. There are only about six or seven things to choose from, but what they lack in variety they make up for in quality: how many other similar sized outfits use scotch fillet in their beef teriyaki? The prices suit the size of the place, with nothing over $7.50, but they belie the size of the serves, which are more than ample.
John Weldon