The counter
Eight seats, one length of hinoki.
There are no tables at Hakobi. Everyone sits at the counter, everyone starts together, and the room stays quiet enough to hear the knife.
The chef
Shaped at the counter.
Rice is kept at body temperature and shaped to order, a metre from where you sit. Each piece is meant to be eaten as soon as it is set down.
A low window runs along the room, onto a small garden at night.
Your evening
How the night goes.
- Arrive
Come ten minutes before your seating. The passage is the only way in.
- Sit
Your place is set with a lacquer tray, a warm towel and chopsticks.
- Eat
Small dishes, then nigiri one piece at a time, then soup. The longer menu adds five more courses.
- Stay
The early seating ends before the late one begins, so there is time for tea.
A few notes.
- Please skip strong fragrance. It reaches the fish before you do.
- Tell us about allergies when you reserve, so the chef can plan around them.
- Seatings start on time, for all eight guests.