Fresh off the plane with a tummy filled with only a Qantas savoury muffin I was grateful that the car-park gods had granted us a space. While there are lots of sights to take in around The Rocks in Sydney I’d have time for that for later when I knew I would be making my way very slowly back to the car clutching my belly full of deliciousness. Right now we had to move at a brisk pace to get out of the frosty wind and also because I was starving in anticipation of the meal ahead.

Sake is Shaun Presland’s baby. You might remember him as the charming sushi ninja from season 2 of Master Chef Australia. Actually I’m pretty sure you would remember him from that moment you seductively whispered “feed me” to your television. Your partner probably then said “what did you say?” after which you told him to shut up, all the while with your eyes glued to the screen.

Before I start showing you the food we ate, the food which I wouldn’t stop talking about for all through our time in Sydney and for days after we got back, the food that I keep dreaming about, and the food that I plan to eat and make everyone I know eat once they open their Brisbane restaurant in the next month or so (YES! You heard me!)… actually I’ll just show you the food now.

Starters:

Sashimi tacos – Two petite tacos, one tuna and one salmon, topped with a chilled tomato salsa accompanied by two Kozaemon Junmai ‘sake shots’. This was one of the highlights of our meal and I believe I had these when I was at Nobu in Melbourne too (Shaun Presland was previously at Nobu). I had to share this with my husband, but I really wish

I hadn’t.

Seaweed Salad – 5 different kinds of seaweed with bonito infused vinaigrette. I loved the different colours and textures of the seaweed.

Salt & Pepper Tofu – Fried with a crispy coating with some chilli and spring onion, this is one of my favourite ways of eating tofu.

Chicken Wing Gyoza – Chicken wings stuffed with a gyoza filling of garlic chive pork mince, which are then fried and served with a dipping sauce. My two favourite foods, dumplings and chicken wings, combined into one glorious dish.

Wagyu new style – thin slices of wagyu beef lightly seared with hot oil and finished with ginger, chives and yuzu soy. Beautiful flavours and wagyu that melts in your mouth.

Kushi Katsu – wait for it.. fried panko crumbed…. PORK BELLY! I highly recommend that you eat this because it’s the best thing that anyone has ever katsu’d.

Mains:

Popcorn Shrimp – bite sized pieces of prawn cooked in a tempura batter and mixed with a spicy creamy sauce. These were incredibly moorish and even Issy, who has an allergy to prawns, kept eating them.

Miso-cream scallops – pan-seared scallops with baby corn, asparagus, shiitake mushrooms and yuzu miso-cream. I loved the miso-cream sauce and are a perfect match for the beautifully cooked scallops. I was also pleasantly surprised that the baby corn actually tasted like young fresh corn.

Miso-butterfish – grilled with pickled radish. My husband and I have been in love with miso-grilled fish ever since we had the miso black cod at Nobu and Sake certainly does not disappointed with their version. The flesh is tender and the miso marinade just works so well with the fish.

Sushi Maki & Sashimi:
Just to save time and repeating myself, all of the sushi and sashimi we ate were fantastic and I would happily order all of them again.

Kingfish Jalapeno – Thin slices of Hiramasa Kingfish in yuzu soy topped with thin jalapeno slices and coriander. The jalapeno doesn’t really add spice to the dish but gives a contrasting crisp texture to the silky slices of kingfish and cuts through the flavour of the yuzu.

Nixon – grilled eel, cream cheese, cucumber and tempura crunch with avocado slices on top.

S Express – Tempura scallops, spicy mayonnaise, cucumber, seared salmon on top with witlof and sweet sauce. For us the witlof tasted really bitter so we just ate the sushi maki.

Dessert:

Just because I can’t say no to dessert and I love cooked banana we ordered the banana harumaki – banana shiso and caramel spring rolls with raspberry apple dipping sauce.  I think in hindsight I should have chosen something else. I liked this dessert but we had just had some beautiful fresh tasting sushi and sashimi and it seemed a shame to end it with something fried. Next time I’ll have the green tea cheese cake with vanilla fruit jelly… Mmm.

Here’s my Bang On! cocktail – Shochu, apple & rhubarb syrup, watermelon & vanilla sugar.

And so that is all the food that I ate with my husband and Issy (yes only three people ate all that food).

I am eagerly awaiting the opening of Sake’s Brisbane restaurant and I have been telling anyone who cares to listen about it. Maybe I will see you there, I’ll be the one not sharing my sashimi tacos.