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
