Modern Japanese cuisine seems to be the theme over here at Rookie Chef. We’re on a Asian-fusion kick that shows no signs of stopping, which has a lot to do with incredible chefs taking creativity to the next level.

Our most recent excursion would be a trip home to Buffalo, N.Y. and a random happening upon SATO.

According to their website, “SATO considers itself to be a modern Izakaya (think Japanese tapas and shareable plates) which blends traditional Japanese cuisine with contemporary flare. Our menu is presented Izakaya style, which features a la carte plates that are designed for fun and exploring.”

SATO (739 Elmwood Ave, Buffalo)

Starting off the meal, I went with the classic Miso Soup (made with traditional soybean paste soup with tofu, wakame and green onions) — hard to get wrong and so satisfying, like a buffer that tells your stomach, “okay, we’re about to eat some delicious sushi.”

My boyfriend went with an incredible looking ramen dish as his main course — the Spicy Miso Ramen, which included tonkotsu (pork) and torigara (chicken) stock infused with a spicy miso mixture, topped with chashu pork, snap peas, bean sprouts, carrots, green onions and soft boiled egg.

To split (and mostly my main meal) we couldn’t decide between two two incredibly inviting sushi roll options, so we got both. Obviously. Our first pick was the Nagoya Roll with unagi eel, cucumber and tamago egg omelet, with crunch and eel sauce. The egg was a nice addition and paired well with the eel sauce.

Next up was the Vienna roll which included tuna and avocado roll with thinly sliced squid and cherry tomato with basil sauce. The tiny squid added an unique texture to the roll and with the fresh tomato and basil sauce to top it off, there was almost a caprese taste in every bite.

Overall, a fantastic night out to celebrate my birthday with some fresh and fun food with a great twist. We would definitely go back to try out more on the menu — not to mention the green tea ice cream and coconut honey rice pudding that I unfortunately did not have room for.