Valentines Day 2010

Chinese New Year 2010

It has been long hiatus since my last post. So here's a post on V-day 2010 to kick-start things for 2010.

Mr. & Mrs Sim =)

It was quite fascinating this year as V-day fell on the same day as the 1st day of the Chinese New Year.

This year for valentines we decided to go to AZUMA KUSHIYAKI in Chinatown. It's located in Chinatown just a few steps away from the cinema in George Street.

We initially wanted to try the branch at Chifley Square, the menu looked more delicious but alas they don't open on Sundays.

When we first entered the vicinity we were shocked by what greeted us. It's like a cafe style, noodles takeaway type of establishment. A far cry from the suitable dining place for V-day.

Environment

Thank god the actual restaurant is further inside the complex. It's a typical japanese restaurant setup with very "zen" lighting.

We opted for the Special Valentines Menu for $88. Actually we didn't have a choice as ala carte wasn't an option. But it was quite good value for 7 course degustation.

Appetiser (4/5)

• Crispy Lotus Root marinated with Smoked Salmon & Avacado.
• Grilled Abalone with Mornay Sauce.
• Duck Breast Tatsuta Fritters.

We started off the night with the appetiser. Man this was really good especially the Crispy Lotus Root with that lovely sauce.

When we saw the menu and saw 3 listings under appetiser we thought that we had to only choose 1 option. So we were pleasantly suprised to get all three. ;)

Seared Tuna Salad served with Ponyu Vinaigrette (2.5/5)

Seared tuna was nice, but the gravy was quite salty. I'd prefer to have seared tuna on a sushi plate.

Simmered Silver Cod with grated white radish (3.5/5)

The cod was so fresh it literally melted in our mouths. The prawn was a pleasant addition but I did think it was a weird combination with cod, prawn and eggplant.

I did finish slurping up all the gravy.

Wagyu Beef Steak with Soy Garlic Sauce (4.5/5)

Near perfection.

Recently we had bbq wagyu beef at another japanese establishment and we were blown away by the tender sweet tasting taste.

Needless to say we had high expectations for this dish and it definitely didn't disappoint.

Simmered Scallop Soup (2.5/5)

Tasted like miso soup with lots of enoki mushroom.

Scattered Spring Sushi wrapped in Bamboo leaves (2/5)

Now this was a weird one. I kinda liked it cause I generally like sushi but Mrs Sim didn't. So I had 1.5 and she only had the remaining 0.5.

It quite sweet with some mince meat, salmon roe scattered around the rice. Extra points given to the presentation with the bamboo leaves.

I initially hoped that it was the triangular rice cakes that you find in japanese supermarkets. I don't know what it's call but I refer to them as triangle cakes. They taste really superb.

Japanese Chestnut Mont Blanc Cake (1.5/5)

Poor attempt at dessert. But I'm not a dessert lover anyway.

Overall it was quite a pleasant experience. Not overly romantic as I would have liked but still pleasant nonetheless.

It was also quite interesting peeping at the pair of hongkie cum japanese wannabes with full blond hairdos and japanese anime dressings sitting behind us.