Eight years after opening two-hatted Ishizuka, one of Melbourne’s first kaiseki restaurants, restaurateur Melanie Zhang is launching another original dining concept. Oden, opening on Bourke Street later this year, is named after the Japanese dish it will serve, a hearty one-pot meal of fish cakes, daikon, eggs and more, simmered in broth.

“Melbourne is perfect for oden because it’s cold,” says Zhang. “A warm, slow-cooked soup is very suitable.”

Just as Ishizuka kicked off a kaiseki craze, Zhang is hoping oden will seep into the Melbourne dining-scape. “I enjoy introducing a cuisine and increasing people’s understanding about food,” she says.

In comparison to kaiseki’s multi-course seasonal progression, oden is a humble meal, often served in homes or dispensed from convenience stores. Oden will offer an elegant restaurant version to 38 diners at a time, with 21 seats around a kitchen counter and design details in beaten copper. The restaurant is in an ex-real estate office on Bourke Street in the city, upstairs from Ishizuka’s subterranean city den.

The broth of the dish is everything. Oden’s base is a chicken dashi seasoned with salt rather than soy sauce. Kombu (kelp) from Hokkaido and shaved katsuoboshi (dried bonito) from Kagoshima are used to build umami, along with gently simmered chicken bones. Customers can select their own inclusions.

“Oden is also [a] very drink-friendly [dish], which is perfectly matched with Melbourne people’s dining habits,” says Zhang. She’s worked with cocktail expert Nick Tesar (co-owner of Marionette Liqueur) on a special menu of highballs, the simple mixed drinks of spirit plus soda that are popular in Japan.

Zhang grew up in Tianjin, China, and completed a master’s degree in finance in Melbourne. After a couple of years in a suit, and a few months living and eating in Tokyo, she decided to throw herself into hospitality.

“You could say it’s random to do Japanese cuisine but I love Japanese food and I like to do things that challenge me,” she says.

Restaurants are challenging at the best of times and it’s not always easy to fill Ishizuka’s 16 seats with people willing to stump up for a $315 dining experience. Oden will be more accessible, with dishes starting around $30.

“It’s casual,” says Zhang. “I am trying to create a place that as soon as you step in, you feel calm and enjoy the comfort.”

Her two daughters – aged six and three months – are an inspiration. “I want to show my daughters that women don’t have to compromise,” says Zhang. “We can balance life and work, we can be powerful, we can be leaders.”

She hopes to encourage other women in hospitality, too. “Some people say it’s a man’s industry but I think I bring a woman’s unique strengths: we are open to new ideas, we pay extreme attention to details,” she says.

Her female head chef at Oden is Saki Yamamoto, with executive chef Katsuji Yoshino overseeing both venues.

Oden will open in early spring.

Ground Level, 137 Bourke Street, Melbourne, theoden.com.au