it's a relief to enter this unassuming fourth-floor bar, which has such a laid-back groove it makes you forget you're in Lan Kwai Fong.

if you're a sake fan, you will appreciate the 100-plus varieties offered by the bar's founder, Ayuchi Momose, a sake sommelier and instructor. The food menu features about 30 izakaya-style creations that are good to share and stoke up a thirst. The jolly chef has an obvious pride in his food.

the only dish we didn't finish was the grilled rib-eye with Japanese citrus (HK$85), which was tough. Prices are similar for many of the dishes but sizes vary so you may end up hungry if you don't order the more substantial items.

when we ordered the popular sake-stewed pork belly (HK$55) at about 7pm we were warned that we wouldn't receive it until 8.30pm. Ideally, the cook explained, the meat is stewed for two days, so it is luxury in a mouthful. Ours, which had no discernible taste of sake, was cooked in just eight hours because he had run out of pork the night before. Still, it was juicy and a memorable indulgence. The mentaiko (HK$60) was extravagant in a different way. Salty and spicy, with a texture that beat other versions of cod roe we've had, it was a delicate, delicious thirst enhancer. More robust was the saba misoni (HK$70), an intensely flavoured dish of mackerel simmered in miso that is Japanese comfort food in a bowl.

Four sake sets are available, each affording three varieties of sake from a single brewery: the Shichida set (HK$126) includes a junmai daiginjo (the highest grade of the three), a junmai ginjo and a junmai.