Restaurant review: Edo Tori, in the Melbourne Building on Northbourne Avenue, has a zesty Japanese menu

Walking into the Melbourne Building location, we're met with a smile, and the choice to sit anywhere we like. As space, it's an interesting one - the seating area is almost shaped like a reversed letter 'h' - but it works. The decor is fun, but not overdone. A massive mural, playing on The Great Wave artwork by Hokusai dominates the first area, while the other has playful paper umbrellas hanging from the ceiling. Combining this with neon lights - including one that says "Save water, drink beer" - the space feels fresh and modern, without being overly busy visually.

The wine menu has a nice mix of local and other Australian wines, so we kick things off with a rosé from the Canberra district's Lerida Estate. As for the food, we opt for the Feed Me Menu ($59) - the smaller of two set menus. Although smaller is a relative term here - even just looking at the menu it's easy to see that it has plenty to offer.

First up (and one of my favourite ways to start a meal) is the oysters with a daidai mignonette. And it's the use of daidai that makes the oysters something to sing about, with the orange varietal adding a citrus zestiness to the oyster. The Hiramasa sashimi continued this great start, with the kingfish paired with yuzukosho, coconut, dried onion, ponzu and coriander. There's a great layering of flavours, with the sweetness of the coconut taking the forefront before the spice of the yuzukosho - a Japanese condiment made out of fresh chillis - finishes up.

The ceviche nori taco follows, with salmon, kingfish, tuna, avocado salsa, sesame oil sauce and coriander filling the "taco" shell. I wouldn't necessarily call it a taco - presentation-wise, although lovely, it's more of a small nori bowl. But that's just being picky on a name. Flavour-wise, it's fresh and lets the mix of fish shine.

The waiter then brings out the chef's selection of nigiri. There are a few types of nigiri on the main menu and today's selection is the Aburi salmon - seared and paired with truffle - and the Hiramasa - topped with yuzu mayo and a slice of green chilli. The salmon was lovely, and this time of year seems like the perfect time to try truffle with your sushi since we're just coming out of season now. But it was the Hiramasa that was a favourite of the two, with the fresh green chilli giving not only a spice factor but a nice crunch.

The pan-fried pork gyoza comes out next. The presentation is a little odd. There are only two of us - which means one gyoza each - but it's on a plate designed for more dumplings, and they're still swimming in a relatively large amount of ponzu sauce. I can imagine that if there were more dumplings on the plate then this wouldn't be an issue, but when it's just two diners you end up with the sauce overpowering the dumpling.

The yakitori heads out, offering up three different parts of the chicken - the thigh, wing and skin. Both the thigh and wing are delicious - perfectly cooked and tender. But the skin! There should be more dishes dedicated to just chicken skin because it can be the best part of the bird and here it's cooked perfectly crispy.

The two vegetable dishes as part of the Feed Me menu are the chargrilled eggplant, with miso, fried shallots, spring onion and sesame, and the charred broccolini with yuzu mayo. The broccolini almost feels like a healthy bar snack - in a good way and it probably has a lot to do with the dipping sauce. It's well seasoned and it's got a slight crunch to it.

The miso eggplant is a favourite though. I feel like up until recently eggplant has been the forgotten vegetable in the grocery stores, and perhaps, just as the Brussels sprout had a resurgence this may be the beginning of the eggplant's revival. Either way, this miso eggplant has a great balance of sweet and savoury, with the miso glaze becoming sticky on top. It's absolutely irresistible.

Deciding we weren't quite done yet, we order one of each of the desserts on the menu to share - the Matcha cheesecake and the custard taiyaki ($12 each), both of which are served with black sesame ice cream. These are desserts for people who don't have a massive sweet tooth, with neither overly sweet, and quite small in size. The Matcha cheesecake is one for fans of the green tea powder, albeit, it was a little more solid than I like cheesecakes to be. But the taiyaki was a favourite over the two, however, with the fish-shaped pancake - which is filled with custard - offering a sweetness to the dish that when paired with the ice cream, gave an overall balance.

Overall though, Edo Tori is one to try if you haven't already. It's a perfect way to make Mondays - or any day, really - a little more appealing.

Address: 43 Northbourne Avenue, Canberra

Phone: 5119 2494

Website: edotori.com.au

Hours: Lunch and dinner, Monday to Sunday.

Chef: William Xiang

Noise: Not a problem

Dietary: Plenty of options

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