Sokyo at the Star, Pyrmont

Dinners with the girls are something I used to take for granted. Just like eating with both hands and dinner conversation which didn't consist entirely of me answering the question "mummy, what are we doing tomorrow?" over and over and over and overrrrr again. Don't get me wrong, dinner as a family is one (of the many, according to the CG) things I won't budge on - it's something I remember doing growing up, and it's the one point in the day when the whole family sits and shares together which I love. But I'm not gonna lie, damn those dinners with just the girls are nice these days.

With Petite Folle in town, we headed out to Sokyo at the Star for scintillating conversation, lots of wine and fine food. And because a Japanese restaurant is exactly where you'd take a pregnant woman who can't consume alcohol or raw seafood (sorry Ev!)

In a nutshell: very pricey but very good food, surprisingly hotel-ish decor and excellent service.

Both the kingfish ceviche and tuna tataki were fresh and melt in the mouth. The tataki was probably one of the prettiest dishes I've seen.

Red snapper tempura was the pick of the (all delicious and perfectly battered) tempuras we tried.

Miso cod seems to always appear as a chefs recommendation or restaurant specialty in higher end Japanese restaurants, and I was a bit lukewarm about ordering it here. But I'm so glad we did - it was probably my favourite dish, with the zesty freshness of the pickled cucumber a perfect accompaniment.

I've got to be honest and say the robata was pretty average. It was cooked well, it was just not that interesting or flavourful compared to the other dishes we enjoyed.

The dessert sampler looked pretty disjointed and a little 70s inspired, so we were pleasantly surprised and impressed with the taste of it all - particularly the mochi wrappers encasing strawberry ice cream.

You know you're good friends when you not only don't mind waiting for photos of food to be taken, but more than one of you is actually taking them...

Overall, a fab meal over which we could share our latest triumphs, anguish, laughs and tears. Truth is, you really know you're good friends when you can be absolutely, brutally honest with each other. When you can listen to each others woes, look each other in the eye and give each other a reality check. Sometimes it can be so honest it hurts, or makes you question yourself - but that's what real friends do. They want the best for you, so trust them when they ask you to be honest with yourself.

Luckily for me, I have some really good friends.