• 12 of Melbourne's best private dining rooms for group bookings

Lively Japanese diner Tokyo Tina is gearing up for Melbourne's reopening, adding a 28-person private dining room that features karaoke, a 6.5 metre timber burl table and interiors inspired by a vintage Japanese train carriage.

"It's Tokyo Tina on steroids," says co-owner and creative director Simon Blacher.

With a separate identity and entrance to Tokyo Tina, Blacher and his team hope that Tokyo Private will be a destination in its own right.

Exclusive items like umeboshi-glazed duck and soy-marinated devilled eggs with spanner crab and avocado mousse join familiar Tina dishes. There's also castella cake, an ultra-light honey sponge cake, that comes with whisky creme and soy caramel. Those taking festivities up a notch can add caviar bumps and sake, or platters of oysters, sashimi and scallops.

Japanese beer and whisky sit alongside local names, while the wine list is an approachable line-up of mostly Australian riesling, pinot grigio and familiar reds. Negronis featuring shochu, martinis made with sake and a yuzu, mint and gin cocktail are all offered on arrival.

The new venue occupies what was previously the office of Tokyo Tina's owners, Commune Group, with the conversion into a 1970s-inspired dining room taking two years from planning through to final build. The fit-out features fabric-draped walls, minimalist aluminum blinds, splashes of burgundy and wooden ceiling beams to create a cosy, enveloping atmosphere.

But Tokyo Private's most appealing feature might be the unlimited dining times, a true luxury in these times. We're predicting the summer of the long lunch.

Minimum booking size is 14 people, with maximum capacity of 28. Reserve via tokyotina@communegroup.com.au or 03 9525 2774.

66A Chapel Street, Windsor, tokyotina.com.au