With a goal to not only satisfy but inspire diners, Bistro Sakana’s Dine Out menu for 2014 does just that.

@jminter and @billyforce recommended we try out Bistro Sakana for dinner. Jay had been there before for lunch and had nothing but good things to say about the food. Bistro Sakana has a reputation for freshness and innovation – I couldn’t wait to try out what they had to offer.

The dine out menu goes for $38 and consists of three courses. All the menu items can be found on their regular menu, which I liked.

We started with the Wild Sockeye Salmon Miso Chowder

This was a very hearty miso broth filled with big chunks of wild sockeye salmon. The broth had a nice creamy texture and it complemented the flavour of the salmon beautifully. I’d go back just for the chowder. It was that good.

Our entree came plated on one dish. The presentation was beautiful. Truly prepared to engage the senses.

Our food was so pretty, it was almost a shame to eat it.

The entree is a sample platter of some of Bistro Sakana most popular dishes:

Wild Sockeye Jalapeño Aburi “Hakozushi” and Toro Red Chilli Aburi “Hakozushi”

The toro sushi came topped with red chilli and key lime slices. Together with the smokey quality the Aburi process gave the tuna, this sushi was simply sublime. The albacore tuna is marinated in Junmai sake and miso. The details on this particular piece blew my mind.

My favourite Aburi sushi is salmon. This particular piece was made out of wild sockeye salmon layered with rice, flame torched and topped with jalapeño slices. Simple. Delicious.

The menu at Bistro Sakana has French influences, such as my next dish – the Caprese Roll

Fresh tomato, scallop sashimi, bocconcini mozzarella cheese and a house-made shiso-basil pesto – all rolled up with rice in a seaweed shell, lightly sauté and served with a rim of aged balsamic reduction and extra virgin olive oil.

All the flavours blended together in this dish, with the rice giving the scallop and cheese a nice texture.

Next we have the Crunchy Filo Scallop and Prawn

Tell me that doesn’t look lovely?

The scallop and prawn is wrapped in fine filo dough and lightly fried, leaving the seafood perfectly sealed and moist. The sauce was a misu hollandaise. This was such a refreshing change from your tempura-fried seafood. Unique and delicious.

The Ahi Tuna Tartare

Now THAT’S how you make tuna tartare. This delectable tart  had layers of rice, home-made guacamole, mango and tuna, topped with Japanese radish. We used the nori crips to make nice little wraps of the concoction, and each bite was finer than the rest.

A few things I notice that I think are worth mentioning: Chef himself inspected each dish that came out of the kitchen. I thought that was such a nice touch. Also our service was phenomenal. Friendly and not overbearing.

We complimented our dinner with both of Bistro Sakana’s signature cocktails: the Geisha Girl and the Salty Samurai

The geisha girl was a very sweet cocktail, while the salty samurai had more a more tart taste with grapefruit, ginger and vodka.

For dessert, we had the Oka San’s Rich Chocolate Brownies 

Together with vanilla gelato and dark chocolate sauce, this was a great way to end our meal.

I was very impressed by the items on this Dine Out menu. For $38 you can’t beat the price and the quality of the food. This is a restaurant I intent to come back to.

Follow them on Twitter @BistroSakana