Saké Restaurant & Bar Hamer Hall

I used to visit years ago, and with a touch of nostalgia, a group followed me back after wandering around NGVI - all in need of a post art libation.

Table of 6,4x decided to get some tasty treats. My mother and I just being being thirsty, ordered a Sprite for her and I got a small 4 Pines.

Not wanting to be difficult one guest paid and we went about splitting the bill ourselves.
To my surprise the 2 drinks (1 for Mum and 1 for me) came to 36 dollars!
It turns out the post mix Sprite was $8 (there is no pricing on the menu), and there was $30 of "service fees" and "transaction fees" across the bill for 6 people.

It's a real shame, I remebered everything about here being devine. Sadly, now my recollections will probably be more likely the time Mum had the most expensive glass of lemonade available in Melbourne.

The "take no Hana" menu was wonderful, absolutely faultless. With the great friendly service, this has to be on the list of go to restaurants in Melbourne!

Visited Saké for the very first time and my first experience was great! Atmosphere was nice and definitely in the mood for the crowd it takes, food was small proportion as what you would expect on a fancy resto however it all tasted amazing! Service was nice, all very friendly. We just ordered through a number of dishes and didn’t pick the set menu. Overall, would recommend if you want something fancy!

Excellent dinner experience. We ordered the set dinner Take No Hana. The entrees were slightly bland, however all the following dishes were amazing. The miso salmon was very well balanced and the sauce complemented the fish very well. The short ribs were cooked well, with a smokey flavour. The dessert we had was a chocolate moose with seasame ice cream which was an excellent end to the meal.

The service was good, however due to the busy restaurant the edamame we ordered never came.

High-end Japanese restaurant along the Yarra River. They have a classic Japanese food menu and an extensive sake list. The food was reasonably tasty but did not live up to the price tag.

Miso soup - Intensely flavoured, in a good way! A little pricey but a great starter.

Pork gyoza - The best dish we had. The gyozas were dropping with flavour and were extremely tender!

Duck - Rather tough, and lacking in flavour. Would not order again.

Excellent food! We had their “take no hana”menu. Salmon was cooked perfectly. Beef was juicy and tender. Really clever cooking. Highly recommended.

Dined here last night and left feeling underwhelmed and robbed. Nice food, but poor service for the price point. Also be aware that you will be charged for still water ($11) and a service fee (on a weekday) ($14). Regret we didn’t go to Nobu.

Sake is an amazing restaurant and serve amazing Japanese courses. Great service and very friendly

As someone who’s Japanese, this place was a joke. Too expensive for simple
Dishes you could just make at home. My partner had allergies and stated that in the booking but when we walked in, they didn’t understand what a shellfish allergy was despite it being on the menu (not on online menu, as we wouldn’t have booked it if there were so little option). They fry all seafood and meat in the same vats. Water is also not free, which was not mentioned at all. Overall just overpriced food for people who don’t care for authenticity but just the experience of sitting and eating next to a river.

Very good restaurant. The fish is fresh and very good.
The cooking is just right and the fish melts in your mouth.
Come and discover it.

What an amazing experience. We came here to have some dinner before the lightscapes at the Botanical gardens. The food was delicious and came out very quickly. We had some sashimi, agedashi tofu, sushi rolls, braised beef ribs and the duck. The highlight of the meal was dessert with the dragon egg. It was refreshing and light and probably could be shared amongst two people. To finish at the end we had the sake flight which came with some tasting notes and was fun trying to smell and taste all the different aromas and flavours.

Incredible dining experience. As someone who suffers from coeliac disease, eating out can be stressful because I just have to trust that the kitchen takes this dietary requirement seriously. The team at Sake went above and beyond to ensure that there was no cross-contamination, more so than any other restaurant I’ve dined at. The food truly is exquisite and the service is friendly and efficient. Very impressed!

ORDERED:
? ​ Merimbula Oyster: bold mineral zing on the palate, rich, creamy finish with a umami after taste ($5.50)
​ Small Sashimi Moriawase: 10 pieces of raw fish, featuring salmon, tuna and kingfish ($33.00)
Nigiri Moriawase: 8 pieces ($29.00)
Grass fed beef tataki: with sansho, shiitake, wakame, shisho dressing ($26.00)

Roughly ~$50pp

REVIEW:
Really enjoyed our brief time here. We were still from lunch, and we also tried to order dishes that weren't on the set menu (we're coming back!).

Loved the oyster and how creamy it was. It went too fast.which made me wish I had another serving of it! The vinaigrette is gentle and a perfect complement to the creaminess of the oyster to add some 'zing'.
The sashimi and nigiri itself was fresh, and my friend said it was better than when we went to Komeyui.where we paid double the price.

-1 because a wobbly table ain't it.

Service was friendly and the views of the Yarra was great at night. Turns out there's some sort basic laser show going on?
Looking forward to going back to Sake and trying their set menu!

I can see why this place gets great reviews and gets booked out. I came for dinner after a show at Hamer Hall. I had a reservation but ended up having to wait another 40 minutes to be seated. I wasn’t keen on sitting right near the entrance with an open wide door with cold winter air blowing right in, so had to wait to be seated elsewhere.
I wanted to have the set menu but it wasn’t possible dining for one. Ended up having something similar to the set menu but at a greater price which was a shame. The king fish, the miso glazed or king salmon and dragon egg dessert were great. The theatre of the dragon egg melting was cool.
The staff were friendly.
I would’ve given this place 5 stars if I didn’t have to wait the extra 40 minutes.

We are soooo getting the corona from here, the table beside us cough every 2 sec I swear! The whole time I was trying to hold my breath even though I know it’s a futile attempt. I’ve been here multiple time love their toothfish hence I’m here:) but I didn’t wait for dessert this time. Good food and service from the actual restaurant is incredible. Everything is on the saltier side for me but that’s personal preference. Overall, I will be back next time:)

Immaculate! Cocktails and food was chefs kiss! Staff are also so lovely. Would definitely to back

Pretty good Japanese, just heavily overpriced because of the location. If portions were slightly bigger there would be nothing to say

Amateur hour I wouldn’t bother due to the poorly manured waiter who bluntly stated “we aren’t taking walk-ins” rather than a polite hello there we are terribly sorry

Great Japanese fine dining restaurant! ‘Take no Hana’ menu was awesome! Will definitely visit the restaurant again sometime soon.

Most unpleasant experience where despite having plenty of tables and single seats inside, a rude manager tried to convince seating outside under a sun in a 30+ degrees and be a first to perhaps attract more business. When questioned why so, she pointed at a crowd walking past and saying there are groups of people wanting to get in. Take your business elsewhere as I did and didn’t regret for there are many better choices close by.