Sakana Sushi Bar - Mooloolaba - Pebbles + Pomegranate Seeds

I love Sakana.

It happens to be one of my favourite foodie treating locations. I am not too concerned whether or not I am treating for lunch or dinner, just as long as I am treating myself frequently.

Sakana is located at the end of the Mooloolaba Spit. Stitched onto the side of Fish, and recently claiming a little more space to allow for the Yakiniku tables that now fills it.

I could eat sashimi until I burst… but, you see, that is the thing with sashimi, you always just eat ‘so much’, so you are never really in danger of bursting.

What I like most about Japanese, is that I can just graze, and everything is so fresh, the flavours are so clean… aaah, even now I can’t wait for my next sushi/sashimi fix.

Sakana’s menu is made up of several elements; sushi and sashimi, with the special addition of some Japanese favourites such as edamame, soft shell crab and tempura.

But then evenings (by special booking), you can also have the choice of the Yakiniku tables, which is even more of a treat. Yakiniku is essentially a Japanese BBQ for want of a better explanation.

You select an assortment of seafood, meat and vegetables and grill them over a specialised Yakiniku grill. While the first time that I did this, my friends took a moment or two to get over the fact that we had gone out for dinner and we were actually cooking ourselves, once they got into it, it became almost impossible to wrangle the tongs back off them.

You can’t quite go past the seafood in the way of scallops, prawns and bugs as part of the grilling selection, I highly recommend to go out on a limb and try the beef tongue… it was incredible. At $39.90 per person it is extremely good value too.

Having said all of that, mostly when I visit, I have a standard sequence of ordering that I only very occasionally sway from. It generally goes like this:

Edamame – just salted if I am feeling social, and garlic and chilli if I don’t care.

Then I will wither have a Sakana Set or the Sashimi Set, the latter being my favourite. It is an assortment of kingfish, tuna, salmon and scallop sashimi, served with fresh daikon, pickled ginger and wasabi and some sushi.

The Sakana Set varies in that it is an assortment of sushi and a smaller selection of sashimi.

If there is room (which there usually is), I sometimes succumb to the soft-shell crab, especially if I am sharing the sets.

And if you are a dessert fiend like me, leave room for the sesame seed or green tea ice cream.

Sakana also has a great wine and beverage list and if you feel like treating yourself to something a little bit naughty, then you had better ask for the Sake List. While with time I plan to adopt a favourite, at the moment, I am still going through an experimentation period, which may well never end.

I love Sakana, I know it was my opening line, but I really do, and I can’t wait to go back for more.