September 19, 2007

•      The Stiletto, The Platter, The Girl

  the girl goes to

  Tetsuya's

  Just for the record, my attempt on the full-day starvation strategy failed like a mad cow. Instead, i fed myself packed with a junk load of glutinous and fat eg: pork belly and macha ice cream.

  Mission failed gao gao. -__-

  Tats and myself were probably the only 2 of the 7 of us who did not complete the mission seeing that the rest of the table arrived with 100% empty tummies to prepare to down HIS goods. Mind the capslocks, i treat him as GOD from today on.

  My experience at Tets was interesting, very interesting in fact. Everything seemed pre-planned, like a pre-written novel waiting to be told.Obviously, they knew what they were doing. For starters, we had champagne on arrival, NV Pol Roger Brut Reserve to be exact, courtesy of TetsuyaTim (we pulled strings..)..and we were also lucky to be taken care by Richard, one of their senior staff, who by the way answered every single question we shot at him (whether intentional or not) without a single fidgeting doubt. He was GOOD i tell ya. even his way of handling Yasuho's rather tricky demands and dietary requirements was impressive eventhough we knew some of her demands were rather hhmmm, how should i say this.......... off-shore. but still. well handled. I guess they dont get good tips for nothing eh?

   

  

  Our first course was....intimidating i tell you

  Pea Soup with Bitter Chocolate Sorbet

  I almost hated this to be honest with you, i found it hard to digest the 2 flavours of pea and chocolate. Think: pea and chocolate??...really??  I dare say that this really made my eye cocked for a good 57 seconds, it was tough this one, and half of the table seemed to agree with my thoughts. PEA AND CHOCOLATE......pls dun try this at home,really,unless well...you'd wana be challenged or you truly genuinely enjoy eating your peas with chocolate?

   

  

  Pacific Oysters with Ginger and Rice Vinegar

  This isnt part of Tetsuya's degustation,but thanx to TetsuyaTim, we had em' specially made for us

  and then the real deal came out. This could possibly be THE BEST oysters ive ever eaten. It was YYUuUUmMMMMM....think cold slurpy orgasm shots with a tangy sorta sweet sauce to go with. This one made me fly high. We had 2 shots each, not enough at all. It was refreshing, it was nicely chilled, and the mix of flavours were OMGGGG.....the whole table were literally mmm-ing and yummm-ing out loud. No kidding. I was probably moaning even. Im a self confessed oyster slut.

   

  

  Smoked Ocean Trout & Avruga Caviar

  The next course was beautiful. It was the scallop mousse filled with quail's yolk that made this dish very sexy. Think smoked salmon with under done poached eggs but 10 times more exquisite. Getting there?...and then think a splash of spanish herring caviar to go with. mmmm hhhhmmmmm.....

   

  

  Leek and Crab Custard

  I pay homage to this dish for bringing back memories of home cooked egg custard, but at its best. I almost predicted how this dish would taste like, a rather shy exterior but fierce on the inside....but it was more intense than i thought it to be. I enjoyed the intensity of the crab flavours in the broth but couldnt taste any leek.hm. The custard was made to perfection even a 180 year old grandfather could eat this like a baby, it was that smooth.

   

  

  Scallop Carpaccio with red wine vinaigrette

  Being a self declared raw scallop fanatic, i was very much looking forward to this dish. It was yum no doubt...but not YYYUUUUUMMMMMMM.....if you know what i mean. It was refreshing to the palate for the vinaigrette took over much of the flavours. Though i wish i could taste and feel more scallops than i tasted vinaigrette. Hm.

  

  Confit of Petuna Tasmanian Ocean Trout with Konbu, Daikon & Fennel

  This was obviously THE DISH everyone was waiting for. Tetsuya's trademark dish. Cooked in its own fat at a very low temperature, the trout's texture was very toying, oily and smooth to the palate. I like how it wasn't excessively oily like how some confits are, this one was cooked to how i like it. Though i have to admit the Konbu topping (a japanese seaweed) was slightly too salty for me; it didnt overpower the trout, but it was just a lil too salty, thats all. But overall, this dish is champion for its texture.

  

  Ravioli of Queensland Spanner Crab with tomato and basil vinaigrette

  If there was one dish that would be easily forgotten from Tet's menu, this would be it. The sound of it didn't tempt me to begin with, and the crab-taste that i was expecting from this dish,kinda went missing along the way. It just wasn't quite there, if u know what i mean. Though i thought the vinaigrette was one of the best that i've tasted.

   

  

  Baby Abalone with braised ox tail and orange

  Funny how my favourite whole abalone served with superior sauce back home was more exciting for me than this dish. No doubt the abalone pieces were absolutely beautiful in taste and texture, but if i were to compare this with Ah Yat's abalone with superior sauce, i'd go for Ah Yat anytime. Oh yeah.

  

  Twice Cooked De-Boned Spatchcock with Olive & Caper Jus

  This would probably be my least favourite dish of the whole menu. It was absolutely tender,no doubt. but the Spatchcock (which is a bird species) tasted to me like chicken breast cooked with olive and capers.Thats it. There was no OOHHh....no AAAHhh....no celebration in my mouth. No ' wow!, thats spatchcock kinda feel.' u know?

  

  Grilled Wagyu Beef with Lime and Wasabi

  THIS is EASILY EASILY EASILY MY FAVOURITE DISH OF THE NIGHT!!!!..Im a huge fan for natural flavours, and this was the epitome of all things naturally flavoured. The wagyu was exeptionally grilled to perfection,retaining all flavours and juice; texturing was AMAZING. But what took us away really was the fresh wasabi. It was my first time eating fresh wasabi. This shaved Japanese horseradish was so beautiful all of us were eating it on its own!! Fresh Wasabi is hard to come by because it is known to be one of the hardest vegetables to grow due to strict growing conditions. Yasuho was surprised to have found it available in Australia. This dish is best eaten with a slice of the wagyu, a tiny wasabi,a small cut of the ponzu jelly, a small cut of the mushroom,finished off with a drizzle of lime. PERFECT-O!!!!   Igive this a 10/10!!

  

  Comte with Lentils

  

  Beetroot & Bloord Orange sorbet , Strawberry Shortcake

  The next course was our 1st dessert course. Majority of the table didnt quite enjoy the beetroot sorbet. Comments were 'ergh, it takes like vegetable ice cream' , ' i taste roots', ' I taste beetroot'. I guess beetroot isnt exactly the easiest thing to eat.Though i didnt think it was that bad, it was different so to say, very refreshing even.

  On the other hand, Tetsuya's version of a strawberry shortcake was HEAVEN. like HEAVEN. i absolutely absolutely loved loved loved it. i was close to liking the whole shot glass. i wont descirbe this because i'd only spoil it. we'll let ur imagination savour it. It was beautiful.

  

  Vanilla Bean Ice Cream with White Beans & Dates

  To be exact, this was a double cream fresh vanilla bean Ice Cream. One of the best ice creams ever, no kiddin! Very very rich and smooth and the dates for me went absolutely perfect together with the ice cream. It even looks shiny from the picture, thats how smooth it was.

  

  Ginger and Lime Creme Brulee

  This was another dish TetsuyaTim specially arranged for us out of the menu. Because im not a huge fan of ginger, i thought there was too much ginger flavours in it, still rather go for a traditional Creme Brulee anytime. 

   

  

  Chocolate Terrine with Mascarpone & Cognac Anglaise

  This was our last dish and the only dish i did not finish. it was SOOOO rich, too rich in fact, and also cos i was just way tooooo full to down any more gooey chocolate thingy into my mouth. I literally gave up. The sauce Anglaise was yummy though.

  

   The Petit Four...cute

  

  Our satisfied, contented and slightly too much Moscato faces

  

  Beautifully distorted

  

  TetsuyaTim and us...

  thanx for everything =)

  but still, u dropped a bread roll during service, how can!!

   

  

  Tetsuya Wakuda is short, but we are shorter..Shit. and we had heels on...pft

  

  Im really starting to belief that we have homogenous taste buds and palate

  we liked n disliked the exact same dishes...hoho

  MyNomadPartner indeed

   

  Tets and SirHoward

  

  Cucumberboy and muuuaaaa

  

  Yasuho gave us education about japanese ingredients throughout our dinner, priceless

  

  OH,and the mandatory loo shot, comes with sinks and taps...=)

  and funny how the whole table wore black and white unintentionally, except MyNomadPartner,spoiler...hoho

   

  And this about wraps up our 15 course degustation menu at Tetsuya's. I'd have to say that the whole experience was amazing, the food, the company and really, just to be able to dine at Tetsuya's (finallyy!!!) is ppphhooooo!. But to say i was blown away like Dorothy in her red shoes would be overating, quite interesting enough, MyNomadPartner seemed to agree with me on my thoughts at this. Could it be possible that the build up of wanting to dine at Tetsuya's was just way overly climatic that the real thing didnt turn out to be THAT climatic after all?

  P.s: as much as i hate to admit it, we had a waiter dropped the whole damn plate of beetroot sorbet and strawberry shortcake platter on the floor and poor SirHoward got a beetroot stain on his crisp white shirt. Hm.and i thought how possible. I guess we're all only human.

  Im finally Tetsu-fied!

   

  • 9:47 am
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