Aya is the restaurant equivalent to bonsai. Within a single narrow shopfront it tries to create the complete Japanese experience: there's a tiny fish pond in the window, irregular slate tiles on the floor, paper wall lanterns, a sushi bar and even a teppanyaki grill squeezed down the back. If it seems a little Japanese Interior Decoration 101, Aya's surrounds still manage to convey an air of understated luxury, evidenced by etched-glass partitions between the tables, granting a little privacy in a room where you would think it impossible. There's even a tatami room if you need extra privacy.

Like the space, the menu offers everything we've come to expect from an Australian Japanese restaurant – sushi, tempura, sukiyaki, teppanyaki. The emphasis is on comfort and comfort food, exemplified by a simple and warming broth brimming with soba noodles, served in a beautiful stoneware bowl. But there are hints of exuberance in things like grilled eel, hapuka baked in foil with citrus sauce, deep-fried river shrimp, and a sushi-sashimi platter that includes a luxurious pair of scallops alongside the familiar salmon and kingfish. A classy local indeed.

Source: The Age Good Food Guide 2006