By Aubrey Buckingham
Updated: 2007-10-19 10:08

It is a foolish man that says something or another does not need more publicity. Disneyland, for instance, is practically branded on the minds of almost every living person on this planet; yet to say it doesn't need to sell itself any more would be plain foolish.

Local restaurant Sasha's is the sort of place that would appear not to need any more publicity. After all, the former residence of Soong Mei-ling is a firmly establish city institution. With a good selection of liquor behind the bar and a decent snack menu, it is not hard to see why punters are happy to visit the Hengshan Road stalwart when in need of a stiff drink and a good feed.

According to Executive Chef Julian Robertshaw, even cabbies are familiar with the place.

"When you tell them the address, most of them know it's Sasha's," said the Australian.

Oddly enough, this familiarity can work against the sublime villa that marks the land on this infamous bar street. With next-door sister property Zapatas often lowering the tone of the expat community (especially when free margarita's are involved), the general consensus is that a visit to Sasha's suggests just a few pints in the garden with the kids running about, or a quick meal on a Sunday afternoon.

To say that the venue offers more than meets the eye would be a gross understatement. After the debacle with some sub-par marketing and public relations, the crew have taken a hard look at their operations and found a niche in the mid-priced market that it fills very nicely indeed.

The newly-launched Prime takes all that was good about the fine-dining second floor section and adds top-notch Australian meat to the mix. While General Manager Alan Duffy maintains the space is not a steakhouse per se, the imported Stockyard Beef and other quality products from Fineline Foods means it goes toe to toe with other such concepts in town and comes out standing.

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