Sake Restaurant & Bar, The Rocks

Sake Restaurant & Bar, a modern Japanese restaurant, is lauded by many for its fusion style and trendy atmosphere - not to mention its impressive collection of premium sakes (but I'll leave the analysis of the sake list to the alcohol connoisseurs). My own experience, however, has left me wondering what all the fuss is about.

I came to Sake a bit earlier than my booking for drinks in the bar/ foyer area. Waitstaff was friendly, but when when it was time for us to be seated, we had to follow up on it ourselves. No big deal. We were led into the restaurant and were greeted with a loud chorus of "irasshaimase!"

Dimmed lighting and a multitude of wooden furniture were the usual ingredients for a charming setting, but this romance was quickly negated by the relatively high noise level. We were only a group of 4, yet we had to lean forward to listen to each other.

Such sleekness.

Food

We all had cocktails. The ladies went for the pink blossom, a fruity mixture of choya umeshu (Japanese plum liqueur), passionfruit, chopped strawberries, and cranberry juice. Pretty delish, though the alcohol content was pretty low.

Pink blossom ($18.50)

The Boy tried something more manly - the hattori hanzo. Named after a famous samurai/ ninja, this was a concoction of gin, yuzu sake, jalapeno and salt. I found it to be strangely addictive, but the Boy preferred the pink blossom.

Hattori Hanzo ($18.00)

We were told that the menu is for sharing, so we initially had our hearts set on 5 dishes - 1 entree and 4 mains. I was tempted to order rice for everyone, but decided against it because of the sushi rolls. The waitress advised that we order an additional entree. It still wasn't enough food, which proved my initial gut feeling right in thinking that bowls of rice would have been appropriate.

Dishes are served in batches. The starters come first, followed by the dishes classified as mains on the menu, and then sushi rolls (which are normally the size of a main at similar restaurants). I'm not a fan of this system, because it means that if you come across a sauce you want to save for another dish, it'll either become cold before the other dish arrives, or the waiter will swoop it up before you manage to get a word in.

Steamed wagyu dumplings were the first to arrive, along with the accompanying sour dipping sauce. The menu said it was to be spicy as well, but it was pretty mild. The wagyu filling was simple and would have been too beefy if the ginger hadn't been included. Shell, with her German/ Polish descent, was reminded of her roots and mentioned that they taste like Polish dumplings, or pierogi.

Steamed wagyu dumplings ($19.00)

   
The tonkatsu cups were 4 crunchy medallions of panko-crumbed pork belly, each about the size of a 50 cent coin. The waitress suggested we pick them up in their lettuce cups and eat them in one bite. Loved the crunchiness, but you can't really tell that it's pork belly (it felt like there was more breadcrumb than meat), and there was way too little food for an $18 sharing plate.

Tonkatsu cups ($18.00)

The first main arrived - miso-cream scallops. All 6 scallops were cooked well, tasted great as expected with mushrooms and the cream sauce, but no way is this a main. There are instances where I'd rather trade in "art" for a decent meal, and that was such a time.

Miso-cream scallops ($32.00)

The scampi tempura is more reasonably portioned. There's a lightness when you bite into the batter, and the sweet ponzu sauce is highly enjoyable, contrasting nicely with the bitter sharpness of those little red seeds sprinkled on top - does anyone know what they are? They certainly aren't jalapeno peppers.

Scampi tempura ($36.00)

Alaskan king crab maki was a let down for me. You can barely feel the meat, let alone taste anything - overpowered by the rice. The roll was a decent length, but the diameter/ height was actually quite little - around 4cm. At least it was a stomach filler. With all of Shaun Presland's qualifications, I don't think this roll represented him very well :/

Alaskan king crab maki ($20.00)

The spider maki was a lot tastier - the soft shell crab was crunchy and juicy. I had a more satisfying spider roll the other week at Tatsuya in Artarmon though...

Spider maki ($19.00)

We were about 3/4 full and lined up another couple of mains, which I reckon were actually priced reasonably and what we should have ordered in the first place.

Popcorn shrimp was good - moist, crunchy, tasty. Lots of prawn. The menu says it's spicy but it lies.

Popcorn shrimp ($29.00)

Buta no kakuni - 12 hour braised pork belly with a 64 degree hen's egg that releases liquid gold. Generous amount of radish. Radish was a bit too crisp for my liking- I prefer mine boiled through until soft. A good winter warmer.

Buta no kakuni ($30.00)

We were really really full by then and so we vacated our seats. When I made my online reservation, there was a message warning me that each seating is limited to a maximum of 2 hours. I thought, "Fair enough", and we left with half an hour to spare. Seeing the impressive queue at the entrance for those without a booking, I can now see why they need them.

Conclusion

Granted, nothing particularly adverse happened that night. We weren't on the receiving end of isolated incidents of rude service, nor was anything inedible. Quite simply, it didn't feel like value for money (even taking into account the fine dining premium ). On a per head basis, the damage wasn't so bad ($75pp, including cocktails and 3 bottles of $9 water). The pricing of each individual dish is what draws most of my ire, particularly given the miserly portions and disappointing sushi rolls.

Glass Brasserie, Sydney CBD

My first visit to Glass occurred a couple of years ago, a little before it received a hat in 2011. It left me starry-eyed from the marvellous experience, with charming waitstaff, delicious food and generous portions. By generous, I mean that to have an entree and a main was too much to stomach, as the entree was the size of a small main, and a main was larger than average, distinguishing Glass from  other fine dining restaurants. This meant that my expectations were, unfortunately, pretty high when I decided to revisit more recently. Don't get me wrong, I had a good time, but it just wasn't the same.

Summary:

• Ambience was perfectly romantic - dimmed lighting and neutral hotel-type music to complement the easy flow of chatter.
• Service is attentive - water glasses were kept full and the staff made sure to ask about how we found the food each time our plates were cleared.
• Comprehensive wine list
• Food was good, though portions were on the small side...

The detail:

It was a weeknight, so all diners were sectioned off to one half of the room. The menu contained a nice selection of red meats (lamb, venison, a number of steak dishes) and fish, but SO was appalled to find that there were no chicken mains.

View from our table

Orders were placed and the waiter returned with a dish of olive oil and raisin/ white bread - probably made on the premises as the above photo indicates. That bread is so scrumptious I would buy a whole loaf if I could.

Bread :)

I had two scallops from the tapas menu, which were seared and adorned with lemon curd, leek, crispy bacon and horseradish. That curd was really sweet and didn't mesh as well with the scallops as I thought it would. The scallops were seared indeed, but I think I prefer mine to be cooked a bit more - it didn't offer much resistance when I bit into it. That mix of vegetable topping tasted lovely, however.

Scallops ($8/ piece)

SO had an entree of chorizo, octopus, piquillo (some sort of chilli pepper) and romesco (pepper based sauce). The chorizo was one of the best I've had - pretty much a gourmet sausage which was full of flavour from the herbs. It was a pity it wasn't spicy, though the romesco sauce more than made up for it. The octopus was a little rubbery but overall tender enough. Definitely had food envy here.

Chorizo and octopus ($29.00)

My main was the dry-aged lamb rump with eggplant, spaetzle (some sort of German egg noodle), Tuscan cabbage, and Tasmanian mountain mustard. The Tuscan cabbage was crunchy and crisp (imagine seaweed snacks but more crackly) in contrast with the chewiness of the lamb. Pretty good comfort food!

Lamb rump ($46.00)

SO ordered a steak - Beef City grain-fed Black Angus eye fillet. It was kind of lonely looking, even with the asparagus alongside it. We weren't sure whether it was actually 250g looking at it, but that's probably due to the cut, since eye fillets are typically, tall, round and smaller in diameter. He seemed to enjoy it...

250g eye fillet ($49.00)

We each decided on a glass of fortified wine to sip alongside dessert. The tawny was considerably stronger and heavier than the sweet, light All Saints topaque, which I guess I should have known (though in my defence I'm not accustomed to port/ tawny). The tawny smelt like golden syrup and tasted a little bit like those red dates that the Chinese throw into soup.

Settetsfield DP90 Tawny ($15.00)

All Saints Topaque ($16.00)

For dessert, we shared the toffee souffle with pecan butter ice-cream. The toffee souffle had the texture of a moist pudding. Best eaten with the ice cream rather than separately, as the ice-cream had more flavour.

Souffle ($22.00)

It was thus that our meal was concluded.

The Larder, Otto Ristorante, Woolloomooloo

The Larder is a pop-up extension of Otto Ristorante, situated right next to it at Finger Bay Wharf and open only on week days until the 27th of September. I'd heard of its provision of rustic fare for low prices (low for Otto, in any case) and was looking forward to satisfying my tastebuds with hearty dishes. The food was sadly left wanting.


The waitress explained that the menu is designed for sharing, so we ordered 3 savoury dishes, holding off from any desserts in the event that we'd stuffed ourselves too much - which we did.

The first to arrive was the pork rillette sandwich with dijon mustard and gherkins, served on a wooden board. It looked incredibly inviting but as I bit into it, I was greeted with carbon. Turning over the top layer of bread, I found the entire underside to be burnt. I sent it back to the kitchen and they prepared another half, the waitress explaining to me that the burnt part comes from the bread being toasted on the grill. I  appreciate the grill marks on food as much as the next foodie, but eating pricey burnt toast isn't very pleasurable.

The pork rillette was slightly cold at room temperature, reminding me of a tuna sandwich in both flavour and texture. Overall, it was alright - edible, slightly bland... Not great.

Pork rillette sandwich ($16)

Next came the john dory and chips with tartar sauce, the highlight of the dinner. The fish was light, fresh and cooked to perfection. The batter was crisp with just the right amount of seasoning (which tasted like chicken salt). The herby tartar sauce was refreshing and complemented the fish well. However, the fish was let down by the chips - soft and not particularly appetising.

Fish and chips ($26)

Finally, the chicken skewers with peri peri sauce arrived. Given the price, I'd expected either very tasty chicken or more than 4 skewers. Evidently neither expectation was fulfilled. The chicken was moist but the meat that wasn't covered by the tangy sauce had a strong gassy (as from a gas-stove) flavour.

Chicken skewers ($26)

We decided not to stay for dessert as the sandwich and fish and chips were more than enough to fill our stomachs.

The staff is friendly and the concept of The Larder is packaged very prettily - casual dining with views of the wharf, candles, a cosy ambience, and food presented in pans/ boards/ charming plates. Would I return? Probably not.