Japanese fusion cafes have swept Melbourne, but this suburban sushi spot goes back to basics
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What does one of Australia's top sushi chefs do when they start thinking about retirement? Apparently, they open a Japanese cafe in the suburbs, serving incredible food at extremely reasonable prices. The only problem is, Dani Liem's offering is so good that he's not getting pensioned off any time soon.
Orianna opened in April, south of Hughesdale station in a sleepy little strip. The 22-seat cafe is in a modern shop with apartments above. If I lived here, I'd be running a tab, coming in the morning for well-made espresso and rice balls, mid-morning for matcha strawberry cake, and back at lunch (and two nights a week), alternating between Japanese comfort food and sushi.
Liem was born in Indonesia, but he's cooked Japanese food for 25 years, including a period training in Tokyo in the early noughts. More recently, he was in charge of the omakase and kaiseki (seasonal set menu) offerings at South Melbourne's hatted Komeyui.
He's still consulting at new city restaurant Sushi Sho, too, where dinner costs $268. The chef's selection at Orianna is just $38. Granted, it's not as lavish, and the nine pieces of seafood-on-rice are presented all at once on a platter, rather than bite-by-bite as with traditional omakase, but the careful sourcing and the skill behind each mouthful is on par. It's outstanding.
You might get kingfish that has been wrapped in kombu for a day to infuse it with umami, beautifully cut and topped with lightly cooked, salted spring onion. Simultaneously delicate and intense, it's draped over perfectly seasoned rice, every grain plump and distinct.
Salmon is brushed with nikiri, a bonito-infused soy sauce that adds dimension. Prawn is daubed with buttered soy that's then torched, boosting seafood sweetness with smoky wonder. Scallop is expertly cut, fanned out and paired with a little foie gras. The combination of shellfish and liver dates to the chef's time at Komeyui. I remember eating a steamed oyster there in 2022. It was daubed in foie gras butter, demure and luxurious in a mouthful: there's the same finesse here.
Nigiri (fish on rice) and sashimi (sliced fish) are available by the piece as well, and you can grab-and-go onigiri (filled rice balls). There are handrolls for breakfast or lunch on the go, plus sushi platters for the home or office.
The comfort food items on the one-page menu are Liem's little pushback to the Japanese fusion cafes that have swept Melbourne. Fusion is fine, but what about old school? In this, he thinks back to early work experiences at key restaurant Izakaya Chuji, which was Victoria's first izakaya (casual Japanese bar) when it opened in 1989, running all the way through to the tough days of the pandemic.
Orianna's chicken katsu curry is nostalgia in a bowl, the crumbs crisp and golden, the cutlet juicy and springy, the butter-laden mustardy gravy seeping into glistening rice. Surely a dish with 'blanket' in the name is as comforting as it gets: the 'wagyu blanket' is shaved slices of marbled Australian wagyu, lightly cooked, draped over mounds of seasoned rice, and topped with salmon roe cured in sake. It's quirky and surprising – not to mention mind-boggling value at $15 – the meat lightly seasoned with bonito stock and soy, and dissolving in the mouth.
Liem's wife, Sintia, is a pastry chef: her chiffon cake melts into creamy air and her chocolate cake is a warm, gooey delight, filled with salted caramel and perfect with coffee or matcha. A liquor license is on the way.
Orianna comes from the Latin for 'golden sunlight' or 'dawn'. Liem chose the name because it suggests rebirth, 'something new happening to me', he said. I love the idea of this pseudo-retirement as a beginning, as well as a gesture towards slowing down. Such good sushi, in a casual cafe setting, at super-keen prices, is certainly something new for Melbourne.
Three more new sushi spots to try
Sushi Takezo
The space that was kaiseki restaurant Matsu's first home is now a six-seat sushi restaurant from Takeshi Murakami, previously head sushi chef at The Langham. He's using connections with seafood suppliers to source premium fish for omakase banquets, served with sake or French wine.
157A Barkly Street, Footscray, sushitakezo.com.au
Kaiten Sushi Train
There are two speeds of food delivery at this Chaddy spot. The slow train trundles on its loop with better-than-average sushi dishes: spy and try. There's also a fast train that hurtles down an elevated track to deliver food you've ordered from a touch screen. That might be premium sushi, rice dishes or fried chicken.
Chadstone Shopping Centre, 1341 Dandenong Road, Chadstone, kaitensushi.com.au
Doma Eatery
New in the east, this daytime cafe has a serious approach to coffee and a Japanese fusion menu – think soy butter spaghetti and a fried chicken burger with teriyaki sauce – as well as a couple of sushi handrolls. The crumbed prawn roll is smooshed with paprika aioli and tempura batter scraps for extra texture.
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