It's a little bit fancy!

Recently I had a spontaneous girls night out with Natalie (and her lovely friend from work). It's great being spontaneous...I think you end up sometimes at better places than when you plan weeks in advance.

Anyway being the guru of all things Japanese Natalie suggested a place she had recently found. I've been to a lot of Japanese restaurants.

Mostly, they're pretty much the same. Tasty, but nothing fancy. So I was delighted with Sake.

It's a gem of a restaurant tucked away in the Rocks next to the Argyle. It's very stylish and fitted out with the classy end of Japanese design. There is a main area with lots of tables but also plenty of private rooms for those who feel like hiding away from the plebs.

I was a bit nervous when we were seated next to a table full of kids but they were remarkably well behaved - perhaps the classy ambiance was rubbing off on them. The menu is packed full of amazing sounding dishes. We started with the spicy miso chips with diced tuna and salmon sashimi, coriander and kogichun miso, which came displayed like a work of art, as well as the salt and pepper tofu and nasu miso (grilled eggplant). Yum! Really it was a shame to eat any of the food as it looked so good, but then it was also very very tasty.

Ok so I didn't take any of these photos but look how nice!! Cathy you have to go here.

For mains we had some zucchini kushiyaki skewers with teriyaki sauce, popcorn shrimp (which was pretty much how it sounds, small pieces of fried up prawns that looked just like popcorn!), the tuna tataki - seared tuna with garlic chips, snowpea sprouts and dressing, and spicy salmon salad. And also miso soup.

Waddling out afterwards I regretted ordering so much food but it was all so delightful it was definitely worth it.

We decided to top off the night by visiting the Blu Bar at the Shangri-la, to see the views from the 36th floor. Noice. Such a classy bunch.

After that Natalie & co headed off to the Ivy while I pulled the old my shoes hurt-and I have to drive home-and I had French this morning really early-and there's stacks of bogans in the Ivy and headed on home.

Verdict: What a great night!! Thanks Natalie for spontaneous inspiration. Definitely one to visit again.