Since chef-owner Keita Abe opened the 25-seat Chaco Bar in 2014, the Japanese-born chef has teleported punters straight to his homeland with steaming bowls of fatty chashu ramen and endless yakitori. Tables are mostly communal and stools are low, but the Suntory on tap is ice-cold and the vibe is high.

Edamame here shows the simple starter at its best: crunchy clusters of beans still on the stalk, blistered from the fire and dusted with sea salt. Juicy gyoza, delivered with a friendly warning on a scorching cast iron pan, sizzle with as much energy as the restaurant.

The sake list is generous in scope and tasting notes (Floral! Cloudy! With a hint of wood or watermelon!). And while you might need more than one plum wine to push you in the direction of the tender chicken hearts, each one delicately pressed with aonori seaweed; or to the skewers of spiralled chicken skin, gently grilled to reveal notes of smoke, fat and caramel with every bite,

many dishes lean European with ingredients and technique. Fat asparagus is glossed with anchovy-spiked butter, while rice is more likely to come atop a rich bone marrow curry, say, or sauced with egg yolk, reggiano and a rain of fresh black truffle. If ramen is your thing, the chicken chashu with chilli and coriander, and a salty broth with prawn and John Dory wontons cure all.

The only trouble is, you never know when the ramen menu switches to yakitori and back again, so confusing are the operating hours. Fret no more ­­– soon Chaco will serve ramen exclusively, as Abe opens a yakitori bar in the former Jimmy Liks site. Good news all round.