Overlooking the Atlantic in Jacksonville Beach, Sakana is one of the latest restaurants to appear on the local scene. The Asian-fusion concept opened in July with Chef Scott Ostrander (formerly of ‘town) cooking up some pretty great eats. I had the pleasure of joining a few other local bloggers last week to get a taste of their offerings.

The meal started out with a selection from their impressive sake menu.

And several sushi rolls including the green buddah, black widow, valentine & j.ho.

You guys know I’m a sushi wimp. We discussed that when Stephanie dragged me kicking & screaming to how do you roll. But green buddah? Was freaking delicious & not scary at all. I really loved the edamame hummus & tempura sweet potato in it.

Now I know sake isn’t everyone’s cup of tea – it’s like scotch… you must have a taste for it. That’s why there’s the Sake tini.

Sake infused with cranberry & plum juices, this drink goes down easily – a little too easily. I personally thought it tasted like spiked Kool-Aid. Win.

After sushi, we moved on to the tuna & salmon ceviche, shrimp shui mai, sichuan lamb ribs & tuna nachos.

The shrimp shui mai were very savory & I liked them a lot. The lamb ribs were tender, but the spicy slaw was kind of lacking.

The star of the show was easily the edamame dumplings.

I could eat a plate (or 5) of these, then drink the amazingly buttery sauce. Had I not been surrounded by people with cameras, I would’ve licked my plate. I try to limit evidence of my hungry hungry hippo-ness.

Then there was pork belly.

I know this may be hard to believe, but I’d never had pork belly before *gasp*. I know. Shocking. Needless to say, it tasted as good as it looks & the bok choy was a nice, not-so-ordinary accompaniment.

Sakana isn’t lacking in the dessert department, that’s for sure.

Green tea creme brulee & chai coconut rice pudding? Yes, please. Both were absolutely delicious. The creme brulee’s green tea flavor wasn’t overwhelming (in a good way), but the rice pudding definitely could have been a little creamier. That didn’t stop me from eating almost an entire serving of it though. It was still pretty good.

Verdict? I liked it & I’ll definitely eat there again… you know, if I ever leave Riverside & venture out to the beaches.