Wednesday, September 11, 2013 | Posted by CalvinTCQ ♣ |
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Celebrated my first 21st Birthday dinner celebration at Ume!
It was my first time trying a chef hatted restaurant.
So I was definitely excited to try it out :)
Ume holds one chef hat, and they proudly display it on their window.
Service
Service was excellent! The waiter was knowledgeable about the food.
And they catered to my friend's dietary requirements.
Nothing to complain.
Great start :)
6 Course Degustation
Ume offers a 6 course degustation for $80.
I thought that this price was extremely reasonable, considering that it's a hatted restaurant.
Let's see how it fares.
Snapper Carpaccio
Shredded Cucumber, Shiso, White Soy, Black Sesame
I found their starter to be quite normal.
I wish they pushed a little bit more and be more adventurous.
Nevertheless, it was a good snapper carpaccio.
Scallop Carpaccio
Soy brown butter, Yellow Lime, Dulse
THIS. Oh my god.
This was by far my favourite dish of the night.
The dulse (sea lettuce flakes) and the soy brown butter really brought out this delicate fragrance that just delivers harmonious flavours to your palate.
Not to mention that the scallop was sliced thin enough to just melt in your mouth.
Yums!
If you visit Ume and decide to order a la carte, order this.
Shiki no Salad
Roasted Heirloom Carrots, Fried Brussel Sprouts, Dashi Custard, Soy & Ginger dressing
Oooof.
We hit a bump.
I found the dish to be very very salty.
I believe it's due to the soy dressing that they used.
It was so salty to the point where you could taste a hint of bitter-ness.
Yikes.
(not sure if it was deliberate though)
Tako
Fremantle Sustainable ‘Giant’ Octopus, Shio Koji Potato, Baby Sun Rose, Pickled lime Juice
Another dish to rave about! :)
Their octopus was insanely massive.
I have never ever seen an octopus leg that was so huge in my life.
The waiter said it was put in an oven(?) (or something I forgot) for 4 hours.
Thus, it made the octopus really really tender.
An issue that I had was that they served carrots on the course before this.
And now they serve potatoes.
They both have similar texture, so it actually bothered me a little.
Another issue that I had was that this dish is also really salty.
Riverina Lamb
Charred, Soft Lamb Shoulder, Wasabi-Pea Sauce, Yaki Nori, Wasabi Cress
I liked how they went for lamb as their main, instead of the usual wagyu.
The lamb itself was really good.
It was very tender and the amount of fats was just enough.
The wasabi-pea puree was also very interesting.
But I'm not so sure if it works.
Hmmmm maybe it's just me.
Purin
HoujichaMilk Pudding, Candied Chestnuts
I loved their dessert!
What a great end to a meal :)
The presentation was really cute.
I really liked how they serve their pudding in this tiny little jar.
And of course, the little 'happy birthday' touch was nice :)
The pudding was a little bit on the sweet side, but overall its quite fragrant.
A picture with my friends :)
Conclusion
It is worth the $80? Yes.
However, I don't think these 6 dishes can justify their one chef hat status.
It's definitely questionable as their food has little bumps here and there.
I mean, it's great, but it's not amazing.
But don't let my judgement stop you from trying Ume.
Considering the portion size of their dishes, along with their creativity, and their reasonable price tag,
It's still quite worth it.
Fin.
Labels: degustation, dinner, food, japanese, ume
Thursday, September 5, 2013 | Posted by CalvinTCQ ♣ |
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Wooden Spoon provides a 5 Course Degustation Menu for $56.
Isn't that cheap?! Whoah! (Degustations in Sydney normally go beyond $80)
Why so cheap?
Let's see why, and how the overall night went.
Service
The service was fantastic!
The waiter/waitress was very friendly.
& they did their best to accommodate our dietary requirements.
The entire meal also flowed really well.
The timing between each course was perfect.
Onto the food!
5 Course Degustation
Deep Fried Boiled Egg Rolled in Dukkah w/ beetroot yoghurt, radish and herb salad
Their first course was my favourite!
Just because I've never tried anything like it.
Never thought an egg could be turned into a single course.
The beetroot yogurt and the herbs was a nice compliment for the egg :)
And look what happens when I slice my knife through!
Yums.
Egg Porn (as most foodies would describe it)
BBQ Style Squid w/ smoked paprika and lemon aioli
This actually tasted really good!
Squid, smoked with paparika and lemon. What could go wrong? :D
They did not hold back on flavours, which I really like.
Mmm.
Crisp Pork Belly w/ dauphinoise, turned zucchini, apple chutney and chorizo puree
The pork itself was disappointing.
It wasn't crispy nor it was tender :(
But everything else on the plate makes up for it :)
Absolutely loved the dauphinoise (it's that potato at the side).
Dauphinoise is slices of potato that's stacked. Yum!
Along with the zucchini, apply chutney, and chorizo puree.
It's like a blast of flavours into your mouth!
Pan Seared Scallops w/ cauliflower puree, green apple, parma ham crisps & romesco sauce
The flavours of the components that accompanied the scallop was pretty asian.
I could taste chinese and indian elements in those sauces.
Interesting. Noms.
Char Grilled Eye Fillet w/ pumpkin puree & chimichuri
Their steak was average.
I think their portion is slightly too small.
Every dish that came before the fillet was very light,
So I guess a larger piece of steak would nicely fill the stomach.
But um, the potatoes and the sauces were actually quite nice :)
Desserts
After having the 5 course deg, we just had to order their dessert!
I actually found it strange that they did not include a dessert into their deg and made it 6 courses.
Hmm.
Wooden Spoon only has 4 desserts ($13 each) in their menu,
So we ordered all 4 to share.
Every dessert had nice presentation, but flavour and texture wise, it did not have that wow factor.
Still, I turned into a happy kid when I saw the desserts coming to our table :D
Their dessert menu changed, so I don't have an online description of each and every dessert :/
Thus, here's my attempt to caption every one of them.
Creme Brulee, Ice Cream, Macaron & a duo of Eiffel Tower...thingy
Lemon Meringue w/ something sour & something really sour
Peaches w/ Earl Grey Jus?
Conclusion
Not every dish was executed perfectly,
But I do appreciate the effort put into creating them.
Also, I can now understand why Wooden Spoon has such a low price for their deg.
It's because their portions are actually pretty small.
Wooden Spoon attempts to be sophisticated, going beyond the scope of regular dining.
I can say that they're nearly there.
A few tweaks here and there (especially increasing the portion size) & their degustation could be awesome!
We dined as guests using a 50% off special deal by Urbanspoon.
Labels: degustation, dinner, food, wooden spoon
Saturday, August 31, 2013 | Posted by CalvinTCQ ♣ |
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Lime & Tonic provided a 'Five Fresh Courses w/ Five Paired Wines' deal at Cala Luna for only $55!
Sounds like a steal no? :D
The experience, though, was only so-so.
There were definitely some highs and some lows.
Service
Service wasn't as good as expected :(
The waiter we were assigned did not care to explain what was on the plate.
I feel that any restaurant that serves beyond 3 courses should give an explanation for each and every course.
The information about the paired wines were also in the dark.
In comparison, the waiter in Bishop Sessa explained why each wine was paired with each course.
Therefore, we can learn to appreciate and think about how the flavours of the wine and the dish would match.
It just makes eating really fun :)
Cala Luna on the other hand simply placed the wines on our table with no explanations whatsoever :(
Another misconception was that the website provided a sample degustation menu,
& At the bottom it states that:
"This menu will vary on a daily basis to reflect the freshest produce seasonally available. However the menu will always contain soup, salad, pasta, fish, beef, and dessert"
We did not get a soup nor a salad,
We got a tiny little scallop instead of a fish dish,
&
We got pork instead of beef (which was fine actually)
Ugh.
Okay enough complaints about the service, on to the food!
Food
Italian Olives & Aged Parmesan Cheese
I was quite surprised that this was considered a course.
Hmm.
Seared Scallop w/ peas and ???
I was also surprised that this was considered as a course.
Don't be deceived by the photo, the scallop is actually really small.
However, it was one tasty scallop!
It was aggressively seasoned with salt, which I like :D
Tortellini with ...
I think it was salmon inside,
& I have no idea what puree that was made of -_-
Uh.......................
Yeah, tasted like salmon wrapped in pasta.
That's all I have to say.
Stuffed Suckling Pig w/ grilled figs & pumpkin
This was the highlight of the meal!
I absolutely looooooooooooooooved this.
Oh my god,
The pork was so tender,
The stuffing really made the pork quite aromatic,
The skin was definitely crackling,
& The flavours of grilled figs and pumpkin just went so well with the pork.
High praise on this one!
Random Dessert Platter
Now how can you put out such a sophisticated main and put out such a crappy dessert? :(
It was so dissapointing.
None of the components on that plate impressed me.
Ice cream was tasteless,
Strawberry was bland,
That yellow crunchy thingy was also bland.
Ugh, everything just did not go well together.
Conclusion
At the end, we still left happy. Why?
The main was satisfying (thank god), and the entire meal only costed $55.
If the price that we had to pay was double, it would definitely not be worth it.
On the plus side, scenery was just amazingly beautiful!
It was my first time at Mosman and it won't be my last.
The restaurant is facing the yacht bay.
So the setting was just perfect on a friday afternoon :)
Fin.
Labels: cala luna, degustation, food, lunch
