Sono
Cuisine: Japanese

level 1, Building 7
Portside Wharf
39 Hercules Street
Hamilton, Brisbane

Ph: 07 3268 6655

Not only is Froggy my breakfast companion but she is my my partner in crime for skipping night lectures and eating at Sono instead. When we started out we frequented the City Sono restaurant at the bottom of the Queen Street Mall. Our must-order dish was the Japanese potato salad. We suspect they would prepare it as soon as they saw us walk in the door as it would reach our table just as we barely finished ordering. I guess that is a testament to how much we used to go there.

Sometime ago they spent a lot of money fitting out a new premises at the Hamilton Portside Wharf complex. This new establishment has several private dinning rooms and a wonderful view of the river. The other night we were up to our old tricks again, this time with hubby-to-be.

The menu had changed since the last time we were there (over 6 months ago). But it didn’t take us long to start reading out dishes that caught our eye. Even though there were only three of us we ordered pretty much everything that took our fancy and it ended up being 8 dishes. We didn’t order rice (good decision) and managed to eat everything. We started to struggle a bit at the end and skipped dessert but its difficult to let any morsel of Sono food go to waste.

Soft Shell Crab with Shiso Salsa
Crisp deep fried soft shell crab with a rice vinegar sauce and shiso leaf salsa.  The vinegar sauce was very tart and there was a lot of it for just three pieces of crab. Still the crab was delicious and crispy.

Portobello Mushroom and Tofu, served with seasonal vegetables, enoki, shiitake and oyster mushrooms in teriyaki sauce. This dish was really nice but it felt like it could use something else. I think some melted cheese on top would have been perfect.

Wagyu Beef Stew
Slow cooked wagyu beef with garlic, miso and soy sauce.
Hubby-to-be and I ate this about a year ago at the City Sono. It was just a seasonal special and we felt it was a shame we might never be able to eat it again. But its a year later and we were very excited to see it at Portside. The wagyu was so tender it just falls apart effortlessly. The first time we ate it we had trouble picking it up because each time we put a fork in the beef just broke apart. We almost licked the bowl clean this time the sauce was so tasty. We will be back next year for more of the same.

Kani Cream Croquettes
Deep fried crab and cream croquettes. We always get these and there is a fight for the last one every time. We’ve learnt to be diplomatic and cut the things in half. It saves the tears.

Moreton Bay Bug Ume Cream Yaki
Grilled Moreton Bay Bug with a plum flavoured white sauce. Make sure the pieces of bug are drenched in sauce when you eat it. The meat is tender and the sauce is a little bit sweet. Just try and stop yourself from licking the shell clean.

And here are the dishes we ordered from the March Special Menu:

Pan Fried Duck Breast with Mustard Miso Sauce by Chef Hiroshi Tanno
This was served on a bed of asparagus. It was quite nice though I would have preferred more tender duck pieces.

Beef omelette Tempura in a Seafood Broth by Chef Isamu Kudo
Slow cooked egg omelette filled with beef then deep fried in tempura batter, served in a seafood broth. This was really tender and juicy.

Shrimp Cocktail with Miso Mayonnaise by Chef Kohei Nakazawa
Cooked tiger prawn cutlets dressed with Miso Mayonnaise sauce, accompanied with witlof salad
The prawns were exceptionally fresh and the crisp witlof salad was the perfect partner.

So our old friend Sono has new surprises to distract us from our old favourites that have disappeared off the menu. It seems to have worked though I do miss the clams, baked scallops and of course the potato salad. I’ve heard rumours that sometimes if you ask for things no longer on the menu they may be able to prepare it for you. Fingers crossed!