For many the mere suggestion of food on a stick seared over high heat is enough to trigger the licking of lips. Wrap it in pork belly and add all the energy of your favourite boozer and you’re having a raucously good time.

Goryon-San, on busy Reservoir Street in Surry Hills, offers just that. It’s known as a kakurega type of izakaya, a place to hide out, though the patrons here can be heard from the next block. Hiding in plain sight, perhaps. An outpost of the original in Japan, this izakaya offers the kushiyaki-style of things grilled on sticks from Hakata. Where yakitori traditionally focuses on chicken and all it’s glorious giblets, breasts, butts and more, kushiyaki applies the same technique to all manner of protein and produce.

Chef Akihito Marui (formerly of Haberfield’s Yakitori Jin) puts on a fuss-free feast that’s best enjoyed in groups with a commitment to downing a few strong cordials. From craft beers and quirky cocktails to sake, umeshi and shochu, the drinks list is impressive and, in true izakaya style, this is a place to drink as well as eat topnotch snacks.

Seats at the counter overlooking the chefs twirling their sticks are the pick. Limber up your taste buds with edamame in a sweet garlic and chilli soy sauce, then dive into yasaimaki – vegetables wrapped in pork belly. Lettuce swaddled in a thin sheet of pork and seared till crisp is the winner.

Sukiyaki of enoki and kale wrapped in wagyu with a slow-poached egg for dipping is a must, while, for yakitori lovers, there’s the gamut of chicken, too.

Don’t make the mistake of sticking to a serious series of skewers, though. Perhaps the best dish sees light pork gyoza wading in a tonkatsu broth with cabbage, sesame and shallot. It might not seem as alluring as something on a stick, but, like Goryon-San, it’s a damn good time.