Izakaya Den is a bolder, Melbourne interpretation of a traditional Japanese izakaya, a place for meeting, drinking and sampling great food. Many of the great things about Japan are in play throughout the sleek long cement and wood tunnel that has been turned into Melbourne’s latest place to be.
Stairs descend from street level towards Chiodo, an up market yet low-key clothing shop in the basement of the Hero building (converted from a B-grade office building into retail spaces and boutique apartments in 1999 by Nonda Katsalidis). Halfway down, a landing leads to the even more discrete izakaya entrance.
Up to a thousand people each week manage to find it, returning life to this once unused site. Satisfying local appetites for places-to-be that are cool and secretive Izakaya Den contributes to the fabric (and economy) of the cultural scene thriving in Melbourne’s laneways, basements and rooftops.
Its success is as much a result of the owners’ research into izakaya culture as the designer’s ability to convey their desires into built form. Denton Corker Marshall knows Melbourne, playing a vital role in establishing laneway culture. With the owners of Izakaya Den they have introduced elements of mystery and delight to the underground streetscape.

The corridor opens into a long, high-ceilinged industrial space, windowless, with a wide black wood bar running down one side. The concrete-bunker bare bones of the space, with its exposed pipes and ducts, are mixed with the clean wooden lines of heavy bar stools surrounding the elevated tables along one wall and the

double-seater benches at the bar. Near the entrance, black leather couches and small stone-topped tables add yet more texture to the room. It feels both modern and traditional.

Izakaya Den is the brain child of owner Simon Denton (Verge restaurant) and local dining scene identities Miyuki Nakahara and Takashi OmiIt (a sake sommelier). Simon’s father, John Denton, was the design architect, with project management by Japanese architect Kei Kitayama.

Architecturally, the program is broken into three layers: a cooking/preparation/bar wall along the north side is separated by a full length hardwood bar with fixed seating along it. The bar was blackened by burning similar to the method used in Japan. Across an aisle are high black tables with wooden bar seats for groups of four; from this slightly elevated perch diners can see over the bar seating to the chefs in action. A large communal stone table at the far end seats 18 people and behind it a grand mirror extends the linearity of the space. The mirror conceals a washing and stores area. All furniture is based on a simple orthogonal design.

There’s a large mural inside the entrance, created by one of Australia’s leading graphic designers Garry Emery (emerystudio). Garry has combined a reproduction of a wood block by the celebrated Japanese artist Hokusai (Mt Fuji in Deep Snow) with a contemporary manga comic image. Manga images also appear as backdrops to the specials menu projected on a wall above the elevated seating; the drinks menu is on a parchment rolled into in a crimson ribbon.