First look: A surprising ingredient takes centre stage at this new Japanese restaurant
It's surfaced sporadically, mostly at pop-ups run by homesick expats or at casual stalls like Now-Oden in the CBD. But Melbourne has never had a restaurant devoted to the dish until now.
Oden, from the team behind two-hatted kaiseki restaurant Ishizuka, officially opens on Bourke Street on September 5. Owner Melanie Zhang says the goal is to create a relaxed counterpart to her first restaurant and introduce a dish unfamiliar to many Australians, much as she did with the kaiseki fine-dining format when she opened Ishizuka eight years ago.
'I feel like Melbourne is ready for the next challenge,' she says.

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