Yuki

Posted on 12 May 2012 by ieat2fast

Yuki is a suburban Japanese restaurant that has been opened for a while. Ever since it opened, it consistently gets good reviews. Hungering for some Japanese I decided to go back to Yuki to see what is the current status quo.
Yuki has the usual Japanese options which will satisfy the majority of those looking for their Japanese favourites. Yuki also has a bento box menu which consists of a Japanse favourite dish (Teriyaki Chicken, Chicken Katsu, etc) with 3 choices of sides depending on how hungry you are. The most expensive one is just over $20 but as you will see below, you get a lot of what you are paying for. Never been known to turn down scallops, I ordered the scallop katsu bento box C (A is cheapest – C is the most expensive).

: Yuki – Bento Box

Good miso soup and a bowl of rice are part of the bento (although depending on which one you get, the rice is in the bento box itself) but what I like in this combo is that you get mixed tempura. The tempura coating is nice and light and you get good variety with assorted vegetables and seafood including a prawn. Dipping sauce for the tempura is also provided but it is not the typical ginger infused one.

: Yuki – Scallop Katsu Bento Box

In my bento box itself was a shot glass of edamame, 2 pieces of assorted sushi, salad, spring rolls and the scallop katsu. The sushi and spring rolls were OK, none outstanding. Maybe I should have gone with the gyoza as this bento box you have a choice of spring rolls or gyoza. The salad was nice and fresh with the typical Japanese fruity dressing. However there was a little bit of water at the bottom suggesting a very watery dressing or that the salad was not dried properly. The scallops themselves were quite plump but the katsu coating easily came off them. There was also a bit of liquid suggesting that the scallops were frozen when battered and deep fried. I personally didn’t get burnt by the liquid but let this server as a warning anyhow.

With so many components, this bento box will leave you very full. If you want a entree, choose something that is not too filling or you will struggle to finish the whole meal.

The service is pretty good but were were there for a relatively quiet lunch service and I like to judge a place’s service when they are busy.

With great value bento boxes like this one, I’ll be back for lunch.

Nobu – Teppanyaki

Posted on 4 May 2012 by ieat2fast

Ever since seeing teppanyaki in action on television, I’ve always wanted to see the show first hand. Having been to teppanyaki in Melbourne and Auckland, these were more about the food and not the show. Maybe in this age of legal liability, shows like this are a dying art. I still like the interaction between chef and diner and on a special occasion, I went to see Nobu’s version.

There were two set menus to choose from for teppanyaki and since it was a special occasion we chose the more expensive one at $188. After being seated around the teppanyaki hot plate, drink orders were taken and not before too long, our first dish was served.

: Nobu – Mix Salad with Matsuhisa Dressing

The salad is mix of various lettuces, dressed with the Matsuhisa dressing and topped with some cooked rice vermicelli. The dressing adds a necessary saltiness and acidity to combat the bitterness of some of the lettuce.

: Nobu – Oyster Filo

The next dish to arrive was the oyster filo. This consisted of a oyster wrapped in kanafe which was deep fried and served on a bed of lettuce and topped with wasabi aioli. The oyster flavour was not strong and the wasabi aioli added a nice extra flavour. The crunch of the kanafe gave the morsel a satisfying crunch.

It was at this point the teppanyaki chef arrived and started cooking.

: Nobu – Ceviche Tomato Tofu

Here tofu was sliced and cooked upon the grill with asparagus. When the duo was cooked the asparagus was served on top of the tofu and dressed with tomato and red onion salsa. The tofu was typically bland which made its combination with the asparagus and the acidic tomato “ceviche” a strange one. The flavours didn’t really combine together well for me.

: Nobu – Ebi & Hotate

The scallops in this dish was cooked in a uni (sea urchin) butter which smelt divine while it was cooking. The scallop however lacked sweetness and was quite bland which allowed the uni taste to come through. The tiger prawn was delicious and served with a miso yoghurt and tabouleh salsa. The salsa tasted quite similar to the tomato salsa in the dish before.

: Nobu – Stuffed Ika

Here a squid tube stuffed with crab meat was sliced and cooked on the hot plate before being serverd with spicy miso yoghurt and a cream jalapeno sauce. The grill had imparted a nice flavour to the squid while the crab meat didn’t add too much flavourwise. The sauces added a little kicked to the tasty squid.

Nobu - Sake Hana

This beautiful dish consisted of raw salmon topped with salmon roe on a bed of crispy leeks and seaweed dressed with a delicious Karashishu miso sauce. Without the crispy leeks and to die for Karashishu sauce this dish would have been remembered as salmon sashimi. The leeks adding a great textural component here.

: Nobu – Wagyu

This dish was meant to consist of Black Angus beef but instead was substituted with wagyu beef which is what is meant to be now. While the beef was grilled to how you personally liked it (medium rare for me) we snacked on moorish artichoke chips. The grilled beef had a nice beef flavour as only wagyu can give. A trio of dipping sauces were provided to compliment the beef.

: Nobu – Yakimeshi

Some showmanship was finally displayed for the last dish the teppanyaki chef made for us. The chef skillfully spun an egg on the hotplate before tossing it up in the air and catching in still spinning on his metal spatula. A final toss ended with the egg split in half by the up-turned edge of the spatula. The fried rice is not very flavoursome when you consider it having jamon as one of its components. In fact the rice is dominated by the bitterness of burnt garlic. The crispy prawn head from the tiger prawn used in an earlier dish is like a tasty prawn cracker.

: Nobu – Prawn Head Miso Soup

This soup is a great rendition of this Japanese staple. The prawn flavour is quite pronounced which was something I really liked.

: Nobu – Bento Box with Green Tea Ice Cream & Goma Tuille

A delicious oozing chocolate fondant is balanced nicely with the green tea ice cream. This is one of the best places to get a chocolate fondant and it is easy to miss the tuille under the green tea ice cream.

The dishes maybe small but due to the large number of them, I was very full at the end of the meal. Some dishes were hit and miss and I would have loved more of a show. However the service was very good and the chef was quite nice.

El Publico

Posted on 22 April 2012 by ieat2fast

Mexican, to be more exact tex mex, isn’t one of my favourite cuisines. In the past, places in Perth that advertise Mexican food actually serve tex mex. Recently there has been an influx into Perth of Mexican places serving Mexican food. Keen to give it a go, we headed to El Publico.
El Publico is primarily a bar, a fact illustrated in their menu where the food options barely take up a quarter of the menu. With this fact in hand, the food options are tapas like, small dishes intended to be shared over drinks and with friends. I love tapas so this style of food suited me perfectly and after placing our order, the dishes started to arrive.

: El Publico – Crispy Whole Street Prawns

First to arrive were the street prawns. These are small prawns, deep fried whole to be eaten whole. Watch out for the spiny bits as you eat these delicious morsels. These are really delicious and were my favourite dish of the day.

: El Publico – Esquites

Next to arrive was the esquites. This is a Mexican street food favourite, which consists of corn kernels mixed with chilli, mayonnaise lime and cheese. After mixing the corn through with the other accompaniments, our corn in a cup was suspended in this very watery mixture. Maybe the corn kernels weren’t separated from the water they were cooked in enough. Still the corn was fresh, sweet and juicy. The other ingredients added a nice balance to the sweetness but I suggest adding some of Sam’s very hot sauce (complimentary with a warning) to give it a bit more kick.

: El Publico – Salmon Aquachile Jalapeño Coriander

The Salmon Aquachile was next to arrive. An aquachile is similar to a ceviche but not the same if this dish was an example of the former. The raw salmon is decorated with coriander and hides a ground chilli sauce. The raw salmon is not acidic like if it was in a ceviche and tastes like salmon sashimi. The coriander and the chilli sauce go well with the salmon. If you listen (taste) carefully you will also get some acid from the lemon juice.

: El Publico – Chilaquiles with Chicken Chilli, Tomatillo and Queso Fresco

Rounding off a filling meal were the chilaquiles. Torn tortillas are mixed in with a wet mixture of chilli, tomatillo and queso fresco (cheese). There is also some shredded seasoned chicken in there but not much compared to the amount of tortillas. The tortillas as a result of being wet were quite tough. The mixture was not bad with the tomatillo addins some refreshing acidity. In the end I didn’t really like this dish and we left in unfinished. This dish is quite filling so I wouldn’t recommend this one if you want sample more of the other dishes.

: El Publico – Cajeta Flan with Banana Puree and Peanut Butter Ice Cream

I lied before about rounding off the meal. The flan was the perfect ending of the meal. The flan was very silky and the banana puree was full of flavour and sweetness. The peanut butter ice cream was subtle in flavour but I wouldn’t mind having more (who would).
Service from the restaurant staff was very friendly and if you have trouble deciding, they are more than willing to assist you. I look forward in returning to sample the rest of the dishes.

I Eat 2 Fast

Musings of another foodie

Yuki

Nobu – Teppanyaki

El Publico