Monday, April 11, 2011

Sake Restaurant and Bar - Sydney

In Australia there are, frankly, very few Japanese restaurants I can be bothered with - the food simply doesn't measure up. Understandably, having spent considerable time in Japan during the past 27 years,  I am more than a little fussy.   

Sake Restaurant and Bar  is one of the exceptions to the rule. Under the watchful eye of chef Shaun Presland, who trained in Japan and worked at several high end Japanese eateries internationally before joining Sake, the food is kept true to tradition where it needs to be and the more creative dishes are respectful to their Japanese roots whilst packing an exciting flavour or textural punch. 

I met up with "Shaun-san" in Japan last year where a few of us spent some time with Kozaemon san - the producer of the majority of the restaurant's amazing sake range - eating and drinking and generally getting to know each other. I was stunned by Shaun's knowledge of Japanese food and his language skills - the guy is talented, let me tell you, not only is he a sushi master but he is extremely well versed in formal Kaiseki cuisine. 

On Friday night I sampled some of the dishes from the new winter menu in Sydney. OMG. Oishii!  
Ocean trout tasting plate
Scallops tiradito sashimi with yuzu, chilli paste and coriander
Gyoza
Udon topped with kakiage tempura
The lovely Rupert Sakora - restaurant manager
Tender octopus
King fish double crunch sushi
Marinated and grilled Kingfish with sweet soy
Pan seared Ocean Barramundi with ponzu, buckwheat and tomato
Scampi tempura
S Express sushi


Dessert bento
Mmmm - Molten Chocolate with sesame.

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