It was a busy Grand Final weekend for us, with a lot of friends and family in town to watch the game. Trying to keep everyone entertained throughout the week has been fun, as we’ve been able to check out some amazing restaurants.
ATMOSPHERE & SERVICE
Tucked away under Hammer Hall, at the Art Centre, Saké Restaurant offers unobstructed views of the Yarra and city skyline. With restaurants in both Sydney & Brisbane, the team behind Saké must be doing something right with their latest venture in Melbourne.
The interior of the restaurant was designed by design house Luchetti Krelle, creating an open concept kitchen, multi level dining, private dining areas, and a beautiful cherry blossom tree in LED lights to complete the space. Every concept of the restaurant focuses on Japanese style with their own twists. Ample seating is available inside the restaurant with high top tables on the outdoor area overlooking the Yarra.
Tables are kept very simple with no linen, just glasses and white plates. Sprigs of Cherry Blossoms are on each table for just a small pop of colour. The service was probably the only let down of our night. We had to ask our waiter if he had forgotten about our meals as all the tables around us who sat down later were getting their food before us. We also had to constantly ask for refills of our water and wine, which it got to the point where we kept getting up to fill our own wine glasses.
FOOD
Saké offers a range of different dining options from a la carte dining, a bar menu and banquet menus, depending on your group size. The menu features a contemporary fusion of Japanese cuisine, from the mastermind of Rose Ang.
We started the night with the ‘Sea Salt Edamame’, which were very tasty.
Next out was the Curry Chicken Karaage, which were large pieces of fried coated chicken, served with a Japanese curry aioli sauce for dipping. Absolutely amazing that we went back for seconds and ordered a second round!
Next out were the Steamed Prawn Dumplings, served in a portion size of 6 small dumplings, inspired by shumai, filled with prawn and coated with silken rice noddles. The spicy ponzo concoction was amazing and definitely left us wanting more.
The Wagyu 7+ Tartare served with soy egg, fermented chilli, kizami nori & sesame was a must order. I was a bit surprised that this dish didn’t blow me away. Usually I love tartare, however I’m not a fan of anything that taste like seafood or seaweed. If I removed the seaweed, the tartare was beautiful.
The last dish to arrive was a variety of nigiri, which is raw fish served on a bed or rice. Everything was super fresh and bright in colour, offering a beautiful presentation.
Overall the restaurant is beautiful, the food is fantastic and the service was a bit of a let down. I think this is more the type of place you would head to to impress someone, but wouldn’t just come for a casual night out. Although the food was good, I think there are quite a few other Japanese restaurants in the city with lower prices and better quality food.
