Showing posts with label omakase. Show all posts
Showing posts with label omakase. Show all posts

Solo Sushi Ya (Newmarket)

Posted on Sunday, November 16, 2014 by
Location: Newmarket, Canada
Address: 291 Davis Drive
Type of Meal: Dinner
In preparation for an upcoming trip to Japan, my husband and I are expanding our palettes by ordering omakase style (left up to the chef to choose).  Having heard about this Newmarket establishment, we made the 35 minute drive up North to put our taste buds in the hands of Chef Jyo Gao.

The omakase menu ($58) presents six courses (the first course consisting of three dishes) and offers a variety of cooking methods (raw, steamed and braised).  It’s heavily seafood focused with the only taste of beef for the night being presented in the first course.  To start we were offered a trio of small dishes.  Starting from the left:
  • The first dish was a piece of simply prepared sweet squash, its softness contrasted well with the natto (fermented soybeans) that accompanied it.  The beans had an interesting chewy texture and were somewhat sticky from the glaze on top.  Although it’s sweet, there’s an indescribable depth to the flavour (unfortunately, hard to define you just have to try it). On top were little crispy specks similar to sesame seeds without the nuttiness.
  • In the middle, were pieces of tuna marinated with shoyu & sesame oil and combined with bits of spring onion & spicy chili.  The tuna itself was soft and delicious, with this dish filled with such good flavours that it could easily be featured in a larger portion as an appetizer.
  • Lastly, was the sole meat dish of the evening - made from some sort of soft root vegetable wrapped with pieces of dried beef.  The meat is the taste and texture of fruit glazed jerky which is an interesting combination.  Packed with flavour and fairly heavy tasting it’s definitely something to be eaten in moderation.
Next came a sashimi platter, which I’m still warming up to having only recently starting to develop a taste for it thanks to JaBistro.  The salmon, the safest of the fishes, is still my favourite and was tender and fairly delicate in flavour.  A piece of white tuna that’s lightly seared so that it just began changing colour had a nice black pepper taste.  Unfortunately, my piece wasn’t fully thawed so the middle slices had ice crystals which was gross (not a problem for my husband so likely on account of my thicker piece).  Regrettably, I haven’t mastered the art of eating sashimi in the right order so when I finally got to the other white fish (behind the shrimp head) it was rather flavourless so not very memorable.  However, in my case, I’d rather things not taste too strongly so I still enjoyed it.

This meal was my first taste of raw non-fish based seafood where I tried scallop and shrimp. Having a quarter of the scallop, I expected it to be revolting but surprisingly wasn't that bad.  Having placed it beside of a slice of lemon, the scallop took on some of the citrus flavour.  At first, I was afraid it’d be rubbery but is actually very tender – however, it doesn’t lend itself to chewing as the texture quickly turned gummy in my mouth.  Overall, the scallop wasn't horrible and I could stand eating again if it were perhaps in thinner slices.

On the other hand, the raw shrimp was absolutely disgusting.  Since it was whole (thankfully the head disconnected) and there was no fork or knife in sight, I had to bit into the shrimp meat.  Instantly, my mouth was flood with an extremely seafood/fishy taste combined with a mushy/sticky texture.  Side note, I’m actually cringing while writing this as I remember how bad it was.  Unfortunately, since I was sitting right beside the chef, I couldn't exactly spit it out so I quickly swallowed it whole and washed it down with a glass of hot green tea.  This is seriously something I don’t think I can ever acquire the taste for; no amount of sweet soy sauce or strong wasabi can ever mask that horrible taste.

Luckily, the next thing to arrive was a piping hot chawan mushi, a steamed egg custard, that helped get rid of the queasy feeling in my stomach.  Served in the cooking vessel, a cute lidded tea cup, the egg was filled with chunks of salmon, scallops, seaweed and large enoki mushrooms.  The broth was a condensed seafood consume which was very well flavoured and filled my mouth with a wonderful umami essence. 

For the fourth course, a miso mackerel arrives on a large plate in a light sauce. The fish having been braised was richly flavoured taking on the beany essence of the miso paste and a slight sweetness. Topping the mackerel were anchovy fillets (brings a brininess to the dish but I could have done without), paper thin slices of daikon and a piece of lettuce.  I rather enjoyed the daikon’s simple freshness and would have liked more of that in lieu of the anchovy.
The best dish of the night was the fifth course - four unassuming looking pieces of nigiri sushi.  The fish topping them (tuna, snapper, salmon and grilled eel) were of course fresh and cut to a suitable thickness that you could easily pop into your mouth and bite through. But, what made the dish extraordinary was the rice! The hand pressed pieces were lightly warmed and had such an amazing texture – the plump soft kernels of vinegary rice had a creamy feeling to it yet was still hard enough to pick up with chopsticks. 

In the Tokyo episode of Anthony Bourdain's Parts Unknown, chef Naomichi Yasuda notes the most important ingredient in his sushi is rice.  Sure, when I heard this comment it implicitly made sense to me since every piece of sushi contains it.  But, it wasn't until we had Solo Sushi Ya’s incredible rice that it really made sense.  Honestly, if the rice is this good, it could be topped with a thinly sliced cucumber and I’d be just as happy.

Last but not least was dessert - a bowl of cold gelatin topped with a berry coulis and more of those crispy white bits that started off the meal.  Normally, I don't have high hopes for Asian desserts because, let’s be honest, they're never that good.  But, it wasn't that bad; the gelatin had a light coffee taste and an interesting texture (lighter than Jello but still firmer than custard). 

Despite the 6-course meal, dishes came out like clockwork with the new one arriving as soon as finished ones were whisked away. In the end, we were done in a little over an hour, though I’ll admit we are quicker eaters.  Solo Sushi Ya is an intimate restaurant seating about 30 people so to be safe make reservations.  We appreciated Chef Gao’s friendliness and willingness to answer any questions we had.  Overall, the experience was great and we’d love to return to have some maki rolls, more nigiri and perhaps some noodles.

 Overall mark - 8 out of 10


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 ____________________________
Gastro World's Grading System
  • Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
  • 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
  • 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
  • 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
  • 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
  • 10 - absolute perfection!


CLOSED: Yuzu No Hana (Toronto)

Posted on Sunday, November 16, 2014 by
Location: Toronto Canada
Address: 236 Adelaide Street West
Type of Meal: Dinner
Our visit to Yuzu No Hana was to further develop our taste buds in preparation for a future visit to Japan.  We ordered to omakase menu to allow the chef to determine what is freshest and his best dishes in hopes of trying something we might have never ordered. Yuzu’s nine-course menu costs $80 a person and requires at least one-day notice for the restaurant to adequately prep the ingredients.  If you’re allergic or truly detest something don’t worry, they do ask for these ahead of time and will adjust the menu accordingly.


The first course was an shooter made with a raw oyster and quail egg, flavoured with ponzu (a citrusy vinaigrette) and garnished with uni (sea urchin), tobiko (fish roe) and green onions. Downing it in one shot, the oyster was a tad briny for my taste. But when the tastes from the other ingredients, most notably the green onion, kicked in it really wasn’t too bad.  The raw quail egg also needs some getting used to when the sliminess hits your tongue and raw yolk mixes into everything.  Overall, these textures are not my favourite but the other guests at my table thoroughly enjoyed it.


 


 A platter of appetizers arrived next and had a beautiful autumn spirit to the decor.  Starting from the egg at the bottom right and going clockwise:
 
  • A steamed duck egg arrived with a portion of uni on top. Rather than eat the it separately, I mixed it into the custardy egg so that it added a thicker creamier texture to everything with just a hint of brininess. Expecting the uni to be very fishy, as I’ve heard like some Japanese ingredients it’s an acquired taste, I was pleasantly surprised that it was pretty light and resembles tomalley (the greenish substance found in lobster) but thicker and slightly calmer tasting.
  • An emptied persimmon (a fruit popular amongst Asian countries) was filled with a cold boiled shrimp and piece of whitefish covered with a puffed rice coating.  Perhaps it’s because I tried this after the egg, but found both things bland.  Nonetheless, I enjoyed the crispy whitefish, just wished it was salted a bit.  Perhaps, since it was served in a persimmon, a slice of the actual fruit could have been provided to add a hint of sweetness. 
  • The small unassuming piece of lightly battered lotus root tempura was one of my favourite parts of the platter.  Each hole in the lotus root was filled with tobiko so that the crunchiness was also mixed was some salty bursts of flavour.
  • Yuzu dressed up the typical cold and sweet seaweed salad with shredded crab meat (real), pickled baby cucumber slices and a deskinned cherry tomato. Thankfully, the delicate crab meat was left on top, rather than mixed into the salad, so that I could actually enjoy the natural sweetness of the crab. The seaweed was the darker variety and seems more natural than the spearmint green ones that other restaurants sometimes serve. 
  • Lastly, adorning the plate, threaded on a pine needle were ginnan (ginkgo seeds/nuts).  You may also know it as ginkgo biloba, a drug that supposedly helps with memory enhancement or the yellowish seeds found in congee or Chinese dessert broths.  Personally, they’re not something I enjoy as they have a slightly bitter taste.

 


 When the teapot first arrived and was placed in front of us, we were intrigued.  Inside was a Japanese soup called dobin mushi (translates to teapot steamed) commonly served in the colder months.  We were advised that unlike most soups, this is not boiled but rather infused and steeped to allow the ingredients let off their flavours.  On the side is a small cup and you enjoy the soup by pouring out small portions of it into the cup and drinking it (much like tea). 
The broth is a clear golden colour with a rich earthy seafood taste from the ingredients (matsutake mushroom, shrimp, whitefish and gingko nut).  The server suggested drinking all the broth first and then opening up the lid and eating the ingredients.  We of course obliged but really the star is the soup as the shrimp becomes powdery and matsutake mushrooms lack flavour.  Only the piece of whitefish was delectable and still had a tender flakey texture.


 


Next, a beautifully presented plate of sashimi arrived.  During our visit it was made up of fluke, yellow tail, horse mackerel and salmon with caviar.  The fluke was a delicate tasting white fish with each slice adorned with a small piece of gold leaf (in the picture just barely visible from behind the large leaf); I quite like the lightness of the fish and the relatively non-fleshy texture.  On the leaf were two thicker slices of yellowtail which has a unique harder consistency akin to a cross between fish and conch.  The horse mackerel, beside the salmon rose, was decent and I’m glad this was thinner as it’s a stronger tasting fish that may be overpowering if the slices were larger. 


 


Following is one of my favourite Japanese dishes – roasted miso glazed gindara (a.k.a. black cod or sablefish). The plump fish was marinated for two days in miso and merin then slow roasted until the meat flakes apart yet retains its juicy tenderness.  Due to the marinating process, the fish was so well flavoured that the flavours permeated the meat rather than being slathered on through a sauce.  Yuzu’s gindara is one of the best I’ve eaten and may have just overtook my top spot (previously held by Blowfish).   A bright fuchsia green onion, coloured from pickling, sits on top adding décor and also acting as a palette cleanser.


 


A slice of panko crusted rack of lamb arrived next which is atypical of Japanese cuisine.  I thoroughly enjoyed the way the lamb’s thin layer of fat mixed into the panko crumbs to form a robust crust. It’s just a shame that the lamb was so overdone that the meat was starting to get tough and slightly dry from a lack of juices.  A chanterelle mushroom and braised mini daikon accompanied the meat (daikon needed some salt) with several edible flowers tossed on top to finish.


 


The last savoury course was five pieces of nigri sushi. My favourite piece was the tempura salt-water eel (first piece on the left) which was plump and tender with slivers of creamy avocado, the most modern of five.  Salmon was presented two ways – one a leaner cut of king salmon while the other a fattier belly lightly blow torched and topped with pickled onion.  Being a big fan of the heated fattier fishes, I loved the salmon belly and the smoky pickled taste. 

Kampachi, a dense white fleshed fish like white tuna, was served chopped up and mixed with tobiko (?) on top of rice wrapped in egg.  This is certainly inventive and a nice combination of the tamagoyaki (egg sushi) with fish.  Lastly, more of the delicious delicate fluke was served.  The rice itself wasn’t very memorable, unlike the amazing experience at Solo Sushi Ya, but what makes Yuzu’s nigri shine is the variety of flavours and textures used in the ingredients topping the sushi. If the restaurants could combine Solo’s rice with Yuzu’s toppings my ideal sushi would be created!


 


For dessert a square of sake cheesecake was presented.  The cheese was smooth and light but the flavours still quite strong with hints of sake flooding through. 




Our visit to Yuzu definitely fulfilled the purpose of trying new things; this was my first experience with the dobin mushi, uni, horse mackerel, kampachi and fluke.  If any of the above sound delicious to you, I urge you to make reservations and go soon as menus change seasonally and these dishes may soon disappear.  But, if you’re an adventurous person and are opened to trying new things then there’s no rush. Half the fun is sometimes not knowing what you’ll eat; after all, it’s through tasting menus that we may learn we like something we’ve never heard of. 



Overall mark - 9 out of 10

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 ____________________________
Gastro World's Grading System
  • Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
  • 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
  • 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
  • 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
  • 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
  • 10 - absolute perfection!



Yasu (Toronto)

Posted on Saturday, August 09, 2014 by
Location: Toronto, Canada
Address: 81 Harbord Street
Website: http://www.yasu-sushibar.com/
Type of Meal: Dinner

 Yasu tops my list for traditional sushi in Toronto. No, there's not going to be dynamite rolls but you will find a train of nigiri served piece-by-piece so each one is fresh and at the optimal temperature. Chris Nuttall-Smith, the Globe and Mail’s food critic, gave it a rave review. Nonetheless, I set my expectations low as the only point of comparison to Yasu I have is Jiro Roppongi (a two Michelin star restaurant in Japan where they live and breathe sushi).

I’m happy to say my expectations were blown away! To be fair, Jiro was still a better experience (the deftness/evenness of the fish slices, the flavouring of the rice and meticulous preparation of each ingredient). But, for less than half the price, Yasu was absolutely amazing! If Canada ever awarded Michelin ratings they would be at least a star.

With only two 12-person seatings per day (at 6pm and 8:30pm) space is limited. With the exception of a table for two, all other spots are located around a sushi bar so patrons can watch the two chefs prepare each piece in anticipation.


It’s an omakase menu ($80/person), meaning you essentially eat what you’re served.  They will inquire about allergies at the onset but I discourage visiting if you have aversions to seafood, rice or seaweed. We eagerly waited as the 18 pieces were crafted in front of us. Each prepared with a recommended amount of wasabi and sauce so once placed in front, all you need to do is try not to make a mess gobbling it down.

To begin striped jack (shima aji) a neutral white fish that was great to warm up the palette.


Next a beautifully coloured salmon (sake), which was lean so that the fish oil taste was not over whelming.


My husband and I both agreed the horse mackerel (aji) at Yasu was much crisper tasting than the ones we’ve had in Japan. So, if you’re normally turned off by the strong fish essence of mackerel you may still enjoy this.


A vibrant piece of marinated lean tuna (maguro) arrived next. It was just ever so lightly seasoned so that the delicate fish took on a bit of sweetness.


Yasu lightly blow torches their scallop (hotate) rather than serving it completely raw, helping to counteract the gummy texture.  Topped with just a pinch of yuzu pepper it was already spicy enough to warm up our mouths. I was so excited to eat it that I forgot to take a picture of the scallop in its fully dressed glory.


The fifth piece consisted of monk fish foie gras (ankimo) with shiso leaf. Another excellent combination with the creaminess from the liver balanced by the citrus basil element of the shiso leaf.


This was followed by a piece of sea bass (suzuki), another crisp, clean and mild fish which is a nice contrast after the richer liver.


Although the Chef removed the skin from the sardine (iwashi), this tends to be a fish that has a stronger taste. Luckily, Yasu tops it with some ginger and green onion to counteract the fishiness and make it milder.


The marinated salmon roe (ikura no shoyu zuke) was quite nice and served make-your-own hand roll style with a sprinkling of freshly grated lime zest. I appreciated the extra big piece of toasted nori to fully encapsulate all the roe so I could take smaller bites (with no fear of making a mess) and really enjoy the briny flavours. 


Indeed, the snow crab (zuwai gani) was good but, in my opinion, would have been better if the crab was boiled and removed from its shell just prior to serving. In the end, it lacked the sweetness that I expected from crab meat.


The following sea bream (tai) was soft and had a surprisingly creamy texture that was quite enjoyable.


Another piece of mackerel was served next (except not the horse version) so was more intensely flavoured. The large slice of pickled daikon and sprinkling of green onion helped to counteract its essence.


Fatty tuna (otoro) is always a treat. Yasu blow torched it to let out some of the oil’s essence and topped with freshly grated wasabi. An absolutely delicious piece of sushi.


After the rich otoro, the yellow tailed amber jack (buri) almost acted as a palette cleanser with its refreshingly light taste.


Another one of my favourite pieces of the night was the stunning looking lightly charred bonito (katsuo). The fish itself was delicious and fresh and had a kick to it from the pepper rub used.


Each individual was offered a tuna hand roll next. The seaweed (nori) was lightly toasted on the oven then filled with chopped tuna, shiso leaf and wasabi. It left my eyes watering and me breathing heavily to rid my nose of its burning sensation.

 

Sadly, I was too anxious to eat the eel (unagi) that followed and forgot to take a picture. Trust me when I say there was a nice big piece of it. It had been roasting on the grill during our dinner then topped with a thick sweet glaze complimenting the tender meat. I can still taste it now…

Our last piece of sushi was egg (tamago) without rice, a light and slightly sweet ending.


Yasu offers a choice of desserts at the end of the meal. The sesame ice cream was the popular choice amongst the diners that evening. It was delightful with a fluffy texture but still had an intense black sesame flavour.


Meanwhile, the green tea panna cotta was much richer and creamy. I enjoyed the addition of maple syrup drizzled on top as it added sweetness but also masked the subtle green tea flavour of the panna cotta itself. All in all, not a bad dessert.


Yasu’s drink menu is one area that can be improved. With only Chardonnay offered by the glass it presented limited options for single wine drinkers. My husband and I ordered beer instead (Asahi and Kirin) and they arrived in frosted glasses. He believes they were stored in the same fridge as the fish, as when it first arrived, he found a faint fish smell on his glass, but not something I noticed.

Do yourself a favour and make reservations soon before it becomes impossible. I was able to score our spots two weeks in advance but overhead the waitress telling another couple that smaller tables now have a month lead time and large seatings even more. If you want to eat traditional sushi the way it’s meant to be prepared, Yasu is definitely the place to visit in Toronto. 

 Overall mark - 9.5 out of 10
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 ____________________________
Gastro World's Grading System
  • Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
  • 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
  • 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
  • 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
  • 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
  • 10 - absolute perfection!

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