Good things come in threes, that’s the philosophy at Yūgen Restaurant. Why have one dining option when you can offer a trio of Modern Asian experiences?

There’s the main restaurant, bar and private dining space, a six-seater omakase, and a golden orb-shaped dining room suspended from the ceiling.

Each space is connected to the other, in what LK Hospitality Group believes is one of Melbourne’s most innovative new dining experiences. 

LK Hospitality’s culinary director, Stephen Nairn, and Yūgen’s head chef, Alex Yu from Sydney’s Sokyo are behind the menu. The share-style dishes are modern takes on old favourites. Instead of the triangular-shaped prawn toast beloved at yum cha, Yūgen serves it up on puffy rounds of Chinese doughnuts with a chilli amazu.

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A smoked eel chawanmushi comes with brown butter and crispy chicken skin.
Abrolhos Island scallops are a mix of acid and sweetness thanks to green nahm jim and coconut. If you’d prefer a more intimate omakase experience, you’re in luck. Head sushi chef, Samuel Chee, has sliced fish at Kisumé and Nobu. Head to the mezzanine level for delicacies such as kobujime, abalone, A5 wagyu and engawa sushi.

The bar is big on specialty sakes but don’t miss the cocktails by mixologist Ryan Kimball which combine the flavours of east and west.  The Ume blends dry vermouth and umeshu to make a house “sweet vermouth”, which is stirred down with a Davidson Plum bitter liqueur and Roku gin to evoke a negroni-esque aperitif with none of the traditional ingredients.

Instead of a Tommy’s Margarita, there’s the Sudachi. A sudachi shrub made with agave and rice vinegar is combined with tequila and a glass painted with a line of high-salinity squid ink “calligraphy” to deliver that classic flavour profile in a new form.

Yūgen translates to ‘a mysterious sense of the beauty of the universe’. And the space itself, Architects EAT, is beautiful. Enter through the ground floor Yūgen Tea Bar, step into a glass-walled lift and descend into an expansive concrete basement with six-metre high ceilings and bespoke installations, including a large-suspended sculpture by artist Jennifer Conroy Smith and Random Spaces. 

You’ll discover a series of smaller, intimate spaces with experiences tailored to each. Whether you want to sip specialty sake as part of a crowd or prefer the personal attention of a sushi chef over an Omakase counter, Yūgen has you covered.

Yūgen
605 Chapel Street, South Yarra 3141
Wed-Sun 12pm-5pm, Fri-Sat also 6pm-10pm
yugendining.com.au

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