Sono Japanese Restaurant: Portside

Larger than its Brisbane City Sister, Sono Japanese Restaurant: Portside seats 200 people and features contemporary styling with river views. If you are keen to try Teppanyaki or dinner in the seated dining area I would recommend booking ahead as the restaurant is full even on a Sunday evening. Thus Miss Amy and I ended up at the Sushi bar with the lonely business men.

I started off this Japanese cuisine adventure with Miso soup. I love the robust flavour of miso, punctured with rings of finely diced, sheets of wakame and cubes of tofu. Wakame is an edible seaweed and native to the coasts of China, Korea and Japan. It has recently appeared off the coasts of New Zealand and the United States of America and efforts are underway to eradicate the plant as it holds the dubious honour of placing in the top 100 most invasive species in the world. I would merely suggest eating more of it as it's delicious.

Miss Amy ordered the gorgeous Zenzaru soba. It's a cold buckwheat noodle that comes with dipping sauce and a serving of tempura pawns and vegetables. As you can see it looks amazing.

When then went to share a large sashimi combination platter and it came magnificently presented in a wooden boat. There was a selection of beautifully fresh tuna, salmon, kingfish, scallops to delight the ardent seafood lover. Sono is worth making time for and its strength is in the atmosphere and fresh produce.

Rating: 4 out of 5.
Address: 39 Hercules Street, Hamilton, Brisbane, QLD 4007.

Open: Lunch from 12:00pm Tuesday - Sunday. Dinner from 6:00pm Tuesday to Sunday.
Phone: (07) 3268 6655.
Price: Sushi from $6. Entrees from $9. Mains: $19 - $55. Desserts from $8.