That table are clearly flustered by a one-year-old on another table eating a plate of Japanese bolognese with his pincers, dropping the slippery udon-style noodles on the floor as a source of amusement. But never mind them. Somehow, the waiters continue to serve the rogue baby-toting table with grace and stamina, bringing out the excellent yuzu, Aperol, orange and shaved ice cocktails with haste to the parents in need of a drink.

But back to the Japanese bolognese. The chilli-spiked noodles with minced pork is Japanese home-style cooking taken up a notch. The dish is rich and savoury and deservedly famous to those in the know. This place feed’s Sydney’s appetite for the izakaya, offering a version more polished than Japan’s own, but with the same varied menu spanning a good beer list – there’s Orion lager, Young Henry’s cider, Kirin Ichiban – agedashi tofu, tooth-polishing crunchy chicken karaage and lamb cutlets with a sweet koji glaze.

It’s inventive Japanese but without straying too far from the original, successful equation of rich umami flavours and spanking fresh produce. Fish collars are sticky and delicious with their teriyaki lick, and the charcoal chicken with sesame yoghurt is reminiscent of both a Tokyo izakaya and an Aussie barbecue. It’s hard to go past the beef tartare with smoked cream cheese and horseradish, and the calamari with wasabi mayo – both clever tilts on Australian classics (tartare is so hot right now), but with umami-led, Kewpie-mayo studded, slightly sweet Japanese-ness.

The room is another by Sydney interior design favourite George Livissianis, who has stripped back the space even more than The Apollo across the road, painting most things white and punching the top of a few walls with circular holes. The effect is fun, with a Japanese game parlour minimalism and Instagram-convenient concrete table tops. #feedme

Must eat dish: Japanese bolognese
Instagram: @chochosansydney