Sado Island

There was tension amongst the Hedonists as to whether Sado Island constitutes a Stirling Hwy restaurant. Sado Island's address announces it as being on the neighbouring Bay View Tce. However, the Gourmand, showing the use of legal training, determined that as Sado Island had a wall adjoining Stirling Hwy as well as looking out onto the utilitarian vista of Stirling Hwy. Accordingly it was sufficient to review.

In all honesty the hedonists felt like trying this place and we sought any justification we could to fit it into our schedule.

We went on a Wednesday night and arrived to a largely empty restaurant. The set out of Sado Island is quite attractive with a rather good view of the senior chef working on sashimi. Unfortunately, it looked as though Sado Island was having a rather slow night. Very few of the tables were full. Although this is not the fault of the restaurant, it is inescapable that an empty restaurant invariably has a dampening effect upon your initial impression of the restaurant.

Food

We started with a Sashimi tasting plate. The four seafood items were Salmon, Yellowfin Tuna, Snapper and Octopus. These were served with soy sauce, wasabi and sliced daikon radish.

Sashimi is unadulterated food, which relies purely upon the quality of the ingredients. There is no masking of flavours in sashimi, so if the ingredients are not good, the dish will be terrible. Sado Island's sashimi was of a good standard however it was not the best quality seafood that I have tasted. The salmon and the tuna weren't quite at their flavoursome best and the octopus was slightly tough. Yet the seafood was tasty and did have that delicious, slightly salty, flavour of the ocean which indicates good fresh produce.

We were disappointed when it came to selecting our main dishes. Sado Island provides only five options for main course. Out of these five options, the first three were Teriyaki Beef, Teriyaki Chicken and Teriyaki Fish. Although I am far from an expert on Japanese cuisine, I would tenatively venture that there is much more to Japan's food than teriyaki sauce.

We ordered the Mushiyaki Chicken (roasted chicken in a sesame paste sauce) and the Teriyaki Chicken. Both dishes looked good on the plate. As you would expect considering the menu, the teriyaki sauce did have a good flavour, however the sauce hadn't really penetrated into the flavour of the meat, meaning that the dish lacked harmony and depth of flavour.

The Mushiyaki Chicken was well executed with the sesame paste sauce complimenting the chicken well. This is no mean feat as sesame paste has a very strong nutty, toasted flavour which has the ability to destroy the balance of a dish. Too little and there will be no flavour, too much and you will taste nothing but sesame seeds. Sado Island's Mushiyaki Chicken managed to tread this fine line making a flavourful and well balanced dish.

Service

The service provided by the staff is a standout for the restaurant. Although a difficult art, good service depends should be quiet, unassuming but available when you want it. Sado Island's staff managed this very well. Our orders were taken without fuss and all dishes were served promptly.

Highlight: The service. The sashimi was also good.

Lowlight: The atmosphere and slightly unimaginative menu.

Ratings:

Food: 6.5/10

Service: 4.5/5

Value: 3/5

Atmosphere: 2.5/5

Total: 16.5/25

Details: 57b Bay View Tce, Claremont. Ph: 9284 6667. Bookings recommended but not strictly necessary.