The answer to 2018's date night

IN our circle of friends, my boyfriend and I are commonly referred to as the foodie pair.

Uber Eats delicious 100

Regularly, we receive text briefs from best friends looking for lengthy wine lists, boozy brunch spots or the ultimate dish to sink their teeth into this summer. And to be honest, we kinda love it (especially at trivia nights and dinner parties, where we get to share plates and stories with friends and family).

With the self-proclaimed title, however, comes the pressure of extravagant date nights at exxy restaurant after long days at work, leaving with full tummies, empty bank accounts and the loosening of a few buttons to make the fine-dining experience a little more comfortable. You know, because eating foie gras in frumpy track pants is frowned upon).

So what’s a food-loving pair to do when they (a) want fine food, (b) want to BYO and (c) want to do all this while eating in aforementioned frumpy track pants while watching Stranger Things on the couch?

The night before our epic road trip from Sydney to Melbourne, we found the answer to our phones. Packing two weeks of our lives into the boot of my boyfriend’s car, we wanted to celebrate the start of the silly season with a delicious dinner for two. As much as we wanted to head out, we had too much to do before our 6am start, so instead, jumped on UberEats – the answer to 2018’s date night.

The brief was simple – we wanted something healthy, not at all messy and a little special to celebrate the end of work / start of two weeks chasing sunsets.

Trawling through the vast selection of burgers, bolognaise and burritos, my finger lands on Sake – contemporary Japanese cuisine with a unique spin on their culinary creations. Sounds yum, but can you order sushi and sashimi through a food delivery service? I push the thought aside and launch the menu, stomachs rumbling as run through Nori crisps, Sashimi moriawase and Nasu dengaku.

After salivating all over myself (and my screen), my stomach decides – tonight I’ll be eating all of the above from Sake and I’ll be sharing it while wearing gym tights with my incredible boyfriend.

With our UberEats order now in the hands of the skilful Sake chefs, we use the next 28 minutes to (over) pack our bags before (over) packing our bowls with Japanese goodness.

The delivery driver laughs at our uncontained excitement over the paper bags upon bags of delicious treats we’re about to demolish.

Like kids before Christmas, we pull out all our favourites for consumption. The steamed dumplings arrive warm and fluffy, paired with power-packed shumai and chilli ponzu.

The Ginger garlic chicken sprinkled with charred spring onions, boast the best balance of bold flavours and both sweet and savoury notes. My favourite, the Soft shell crab sushi, was the freshest I’d ever tasted, making this romantic night in an easy and inexpensive one (saving on transport, parking and wine).

Now all that’s left to do is toss our dirty dishes in the bin, throw our trash down the chute and get back to shouting at demogorgons on the couch with a glass of red.

Originally published as The answer to 2018's date night