LOCATION Discreetly located on the ground floor of an office building on Park Street in South Melbourne.
PROFILED BY DE GROOTS MEDIA There is no sign on the door to advise when you have found this tiny, hidden restaurant, but summon some faith as you push it open and you will be rewarded. Upon entering, a small welcoming foyer leads onto a bright space set up with two oil burners and 12 seats in close proximity. You have arrived at the temple of tempura.
The original owners of Tempura Hajime may have returned to Japan, but new chef and owner Shigeo Yoshihara continues to offer the same simple, intimate and exquisite dining experience. This is a dedicated tempura house, with a set menu of tempura only or tempura and sushi. All the food is incredibly fresh and beautifully presented. Seating only 12 patrons at a time means everyone has a front-row seat as these delicious morsels are veiled with the light batter, cooked and delivered directly to the plate. Diners are given a selection of dipping sauces and then the frying commences, with the chef keeping a careful eye on proceedings to gauge when to start on the next item and advising which sauce is best suited to each fried morsel.
Selections might include perfectly cooked, tender asparagus; scallops filled with sea urchin roe; or eggplant with minced chicken, freshwater eel and yellow fin tuna. For extra texture, the menu also includes tangy ponzu-dressed salad with seaweed to refresh the taste buds, and a dessert of yoghurt panna cotta with Cointreau grapes for a subtle and elegant finish. Offering precise, refined Japanese cooking with fresh and delicate flavours, Tempura Hajime is an intimate and rewarding dining experience.
Angela Costanzo