Yakitori Alley - Japan (Yurakucho)

Posted by Unknown in Japan (Kanto Prefecture), Japanese

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There's nothing much to say in this place except that you need to go to this place and experience it yourself. Though the foods are only a simple meat in skewer, however the taste and atmosphere completely overcome the simplicity.

It's located in an alley below JR train line, it's a popular place for Japanese people to catch up after work and as you can see on the picture that there are couple of tourist as well.

The atmosphere is really encouraging you to relax and enjoy your foods with friends/family. The foods were light and almost like a snack to be enjoyed with a glass of beer. You can't have enough with one skewer, especially the Tsukune(picture: below left) it's a grill mince chicken.

Yakitori Alley
Japan

Tetsuya's

Posted by Unknown in $160+, Japanese, Sydney: CBD

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Here come the big one... by big I mean big in taste, experience and price as well. This will be a long story as we had 13 courses on offer during our visit to Tetsuya's and each has it's own uniqueness. 

We booked the restaurant since December 2009(6 months prior to the actual dinner) and received confirmation that we gonna dine in a private dining room.

As you all know it's a 'No Choice for Paying Customer' policy in Tetsuya's. We're greeted by Adam our head waiter for our room and he explained that the whole menu for the night.

 

We start off with Avocado Soup with Potato Ice Cream & Tonburi (picture: top left), it's a chill avocado soup which was quite refreshing and the potato ice cream to be honest it's not my cup of tea (because I believe white ice cream should taste vanilla).

Moving on to Pacific Oysters with Rice Vinegar & Ginger (picture: top right), the quality of the oysters were top notch and fresh. On my opinion the sauce really lift the freshness and leave a fresh feeling on your mouth.

 

Third course was Sashimi of Kingfish with Blackbean & Orange (picture: top), I'm a fan of Japanese sashimi dish and the quality of the fish didn't disappoint me at all and the sauce was outstanding it has a sharp flavor which you can't get in normal sushi shop. It work really well with the recommended white wine to go with the dish.

 

Continuing with the next fish course, it's a scampi three ways Scampi in Tea with Lemon Infused Oil, Scampi with Capsicum and Scampi with Frozen Egg Yolk Wrapped in Pancetta (picture: top left). Adam recommended to start from Scampi in Tea with Lemon Infused Oil and move clockwise. You pulled the scampi from the oil (note: don't drink the tea), though you can't really taste the oil so much it help to increase the flavor of the next 2 scampi as both of them were quite dry and... flavorless (maybe).

The next fish course was Tetsuya signature dish Confit Petuna Ocean Trout with Konbu, Celery & Apple (picture: main picture). Petuna's trout are from the Pacific Salmon family of trout, also known as rainbow or steelhead trout, or even salmon trout. It was cooked in low temperature oil (Confit), the fish was full of flavor, tender and garnish did work well with the fish. The only complaint I can think: portion size is too small for a great dish like this. If there's a fish and chips shop sell this dish, I can have it everyday without any problem.

Last fish course of the night was Grilled Fillet of Barramundi with Braised Wood Ear & Chestnut Mushrooms (picture: top right), the chestnut mushroom texture was similar to risotto with no crunch. If it's served before the signature dish, it might have a better impression on me since the signature dish was the height of the fish course.

 

Moving on to the meat course, first is Braised Ox Tail with Sea Cucumber & Yuzu (picture: top left). I would say out of the three meat courses on that night the ox tail was the most satisfying in term of flavor, again the problem was the size. It was too small for me and the amount of meat on the plate was to little compare to the sea cucumber.

Next was Twice-Cooked De-Boned Spatchcock with Foie Gras (picture: top right). First time ate a game bird and I would say it's good the meat had a good texture, it's not hard and had a good flavor. Foie Gras was alright, it did work well with the spatchcock.

Last meat course was Seared Veal Fillet with Sea Urchin and Wasabi Butter (picture: below), about this dish I had my reservation to it. I didn't like the sauce at all, it might be the Sea Urchin or it could be the wasabi butter, whatever it was I personally think that this shouldn't be served at all.

Dessert should be a finishing touch after any great meal, however the three desserts 'Banana Ice Cream with Pineapple Sorbet' (picutre: below left), 'Cannellini Beans with Mascarpone & Soy Caramel (picture: below right)', 'Chocolate Pave with Cream Cheese Ice Cream & Cinnamon Twigs (picture: none)' were so-so and didn't have the wow factor that you want from a pudding.

 

Banana Ice Cream with Pineapple Sorbet probably the one I would say reasonable. While Cannellini Beans with Mascarpone & Soy Caramel was ok... it feels like a condense milk mix with a mascarpone and the chocolate pave taste too salty as they put too much rock salt in the pave. 

After I finished the dessert, I didn't feel like I want a second helping. So we decided to order Coffee which they provided Macaroons as complementary.

 

As for the summary, the experience was good, we enjoyed the service and ambiance was superb. 

Adam and the waiter/waitress understand about the food that were served to us. They're always checking our room to see if we need anything which I said is good, however it's too often which sometimes it stopped us from talking.

The fish courses were the highlights of the dinner while the rest left me with a mix feeling, feels like I didn't understand what the chef tried to achieve from meat and dessert courses as the flavor and ingredients mix a bit unique for me.

Tetsuya's

529 Kent Street, SYDNEY

Hako

Posted by Unknown in $30-$70, Japanese, Melbourne

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Another story from Melbourne CBD, this time is Hako. My sister saw this restaurant from another food blog called Melbourne gastronome (use google to found it) and she heard that they have a unique Ebi Tempura.

Went into the restaurant I was impressed by their interior and atmosphere, it's a simple yet elegant style(picture above) and it's not a squeeze type of restaurant.

As we are not sure what to order, we asked the waitress what is recommended in this restaurant and she recommended a blue swimmer crab meat and tobiko with shiso leaf wrap. So we order that and boy it's sure full of flavour. You need to wrap the whole crab in leaf and have a one full bite burst of fresh flavour.

Then come the Ebi Tempura, I'm not sure what the wrap made from since it's not a normal batter more like a thinly slice pastry. One thing for sure, you can taste the freshness of the prawn.

For main courses are Teriyaki Chicken and Fish Special. Though some people may said it's only a teriyaki chicken, I believe that this dish taste much better than the food court hot bar teriyaki chicken. What really nice about it that I can taste a good flavour of well cooked chicken and just enough acidity from the sauce. 

As for the fish dish,  it was a fish of the day thing so I'm not sure with the fish type. The sauce was very light soy and there's a hint of sake. It's quite a clean dish without any taste of fishiness. The only complain about this dish, which is come from me personally, there's too much bone in the fish.

Overall it's good experience with the restaurant and food.

Hako

310 Flinders Lane, Melbourne

Nobu

Posted by Unknown in $30-$70, Japanese, Melbourne

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Let's change our pace a little bit. This time it will be Nobu.

Some of you might be familiar with the name 'Nobu'. It's no surprise, because the international flagship restaurant based in Manhattan is famous for celebrity hang-out.

Being famous for it's Japanese fusion, I have big expectation that the food will be outstanding and I wasn't wrong. It's something different from your normal Japanese dish.

My sister and I started with 'beef fillet tataki, onion ponzu and garlic chips' and 'saute mushroom salad'

The beef taste very light and easy to be have as a starter and the mushroom salad is very refreshing just perfect before you have the main course.

As for our mains, we ordered 'assorted tempura' and 'black cod with miso'. The tempura was light and crunchy as the batter is very light. For the black cod, you can taste the miso in the fish and it's break apart in your chop stick.

Nobu

Crown Entertainment Complex, Ground floor
8 Whiteman St, Southbank

Melbourne

Sushi Tengoku

Posted by Unknown in $10-$30, Japanese, Sydney: Kensington

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If I were a food writer, I would put this place as a hidden gem restaurant. It's hidden in a small place between a laundry service and electronic shop in Kensington. It is a family run restaurant, though the only downfall about this place will be it's service. It could be slow at a time and you need to pre-order some of the dishes before hand.

But don't be fooled by it's appearance and review from other people in the net, the quality of the fish are very fresh and you can't get it in any sushi shop. I would dare to say that the sushi and sashimi are much better compare to 'Sake Restaurant & Bar' (this is my personal preference). If you see the price for each sushi or sashimi, it could be overwhelming for some people (i.e. $3.00 for a piece salmon nigiri, but see the picture below it will justify the price).

I could spend more time in writing about the food, but why wasting more time there's only 1 word to say about the food. Great! One advice before I close this post: If you want to come here, make a booking to avoid disappointment.

What we order:

Top (from left to right) - Salmon Maki, Ebi Tempura, Baked Scallop
Middle (from left to right) - Chawan Mushi, Mix Sashimi
Bottom (from left to right) - Salmon Nigiri, Salmon Aburi

Sushi Tengoku

121 Anzac Parade, Kensington

Sake Restaurant & Bar

Posted by Unknown in $30-$70, Japanese, Sydney: The Rocks

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When the first time I heard about this restaurant, I was tempted by it's sake selections. 50 different types of sake and couple of Japanese Beer which imported straight from Japan.

I decided to go to this restaurant with my friend AK and his wife WB. I should explain that AK is an expert in Japanese culture and alcohol among us. When we arrived in the restaurant we were greeted by "Irrashaimase" from the waiter/waitress with an english accents, which we founded it's very funny(no offense guys).

When you went through the entry door, you can see all of the sakes that they have which are stored in a special area and you were welcomed by the modern Japanese interior design.

Chilled 'Salmon Tartare with Chives, Wasabi & Soy' (AUD $15.00) was our starter, I remember the chillness of salmon and soy mix really well which I could say taste must better than a normal salmon sashimi and soy. By saying that I notice that the soy taste a bit richer than normal soy in a sushi takeaway shop.

'Butter-soy salmon grilled, crispy skinned New Zealand salmon with butter soy & lemon' (AUD $29.00). The salmon taste wonderful, I could taste the miso run through salmon meat. Though if you did not eat it with it's sauce the salmon taste so-so.

Sake Restaurant & Bar

Argyle Percinct,

12 Argyle Street, The Rocks