Last month, Waikiki noodle house Yabusoba closed after 10 years. The news hit me like a "Dear John" letter. An instant attraction flared the first time I set foot in the Japanese restaurant. Shortly afterward, the bombshell dropped that the place wasn't renegotiating the end of its lease.

My loss wasn't just over noodles. I missed Yabusoba's whole package: delicious food, waitresses who made you feel like you were in good hands and an easygoing, attractive setting.

My grief was short-lived. Two weeks ago, after a four-month delay, Hakkei has finally opened. The Japanese oden house's traditional washoku cuisine has sparked a new infatuation.

The restaurant is a spinoff of an onsen-ryokan (hot-spring inn) in the town of Yubara in Japan's Okayama prefecture. Known for its kaiseki cuisine and the use of seasonal ingredients from surrounding farms, the inn's executive chef is cooking star Seiya Masahara. He defeated Masaharu Morimoto in a smashing 4-0 victory using anglerfish on an episode of "Iron Chef." Masahara oversees both kitchens (he was in town until last Monday), and has trained 27-year-old protege Koji Kuwa to take charge.

For all its illustrious culinary provenance, Hakkei is small and low-key, in the space that was Hatsune-ya, tucked in the corner of a concrete business building that feels desolate at night.

The sparse, modern-rustic interior, done up in folk-art quaintness (lots of bunnies — the owner was born in the Year of the Rabbit), seats a cozy 27. Most tables were filled with Japanese during a recent dinner there.

Isamu Noguchi-esque handmade-paper lanterns resembling upside-down, pleated skirts hover over dark-chocolate-colored wood tables and benches. Thoughtfully matched eclectic, handcrafted pottery dinnerware reveals an attention to detail that is also reflected in Hakkei's clean-tasting, uncomplicated food.

In the open kitchen I could see Masahara, exuding quiet intensity, working alongside a patiently eager Kuwa.

Gracious manager Masao Kawamura says the restaurant's goal is to maintain the same quality as the inn, using local produce, meats and seafood. But instead of kaiseki, the Honolulu site specializes in oden, the traditional cold-weather hot-pot dish savored at street stands in Japan.

Set meals are the easiest way to sample the restaurant's fare. They include small side dishes (be sure to ask what they are to avoid duplication if you try a la carte items), oden and a choice of udon or zousui (rice porridge).

For the oden course, you can choose from about a dozen long-simmered items — daikon (radish), konnyaku (gelatinous cake made from a tuber called devil's tongue), stuffed cabbage, assorted meatballs made from chicken, shrimp or squid — to go in your hot pot of excellent deep, hearty dashi made from konbu (dried kelp), shoyu, dried bonito and mackerel.

I went with chewy goboten (deep-fried fish paste and burdock root) and soft, melting gyuusuji (beef tendon). As wisps of steam swirled above the gleaming pot bubbling away over a portable gas burner on my table, I felt like one of those happy diners on an episode of "Soko Ga Shiritai" on KIKU TV.

Oden is definitely better when shared by two or more, but everyone at your table must agree on the picks since combos aren't an option.

The udon-or-zousui course allows you to enjoy the broth, which has developed full flavor during the course of the meal.

My table chose zousui. The restaurant uses Tamaki Gold rice and cooks it in a ceramic kamado pot, which creates a crisp bottom layer called okoge. After adding rice and a drizzle of beaten egg, the broth transformed into a nice, thick soup.

The menu includes an a la carte selection of nimono (stewed dishes) such as buta kakuni ($9.50), and Hakkei's version is exceptional — morsels of pork simmered in a shoyu-based sauce were light and buttery. The dish will scream to those who appreciate the fat hunk in a laulau.

Nankin manju ($7.60 a la carte), part of our set meal, was simmered kabocha pumpkin encased in tiny arare balls and deep-fried. Every bite resulted in an explosion of textures. Ebi no kakiage ($9.50 a la carte), also part of the set meal, was a delicately sweet nest of tempura-fried sweet potato and carrot threads with corn and shrimp.

A dainty dessert ended the symphony of dishes on a high note. Shiratama mochi balls capped off with a smidgen of azuki-bean paste and fresh pineapple was exquisitely simple.

Ratings reflect the reviewer's reaction to food, service and ambience in relation to price. Menu listings and prices are subject to change. Reviewer makes every effort to remain anonymous. The Advertiser pays for meals.

Reach Helen Wu at hwu@honoluluadvertiser.com.