Toriciya - Cammeray

A few of our friends had recommended for us to dine at Toriciya ages and ages ago. But for various reasons, it had taken us til now to visit this joint. Post-media hype meant some difficulties in getting a reservation and a bit more forward planning (of which we suck at). The restaurant was small and cozy. Japanese speakers were everywhere - most importantly, in the kitchen - meaning atleast a good level of authenticity.

They had a specials page. Out of that, we couldn't resist ordering the Otoro (fatty tuna belly). Our waitress said that the tuna was from Norway - then shipped to Tokyo - and then to us. It was super super fatty, really melt-in-your-mouth and gave off a very mild and subtly sweet flavour. It came at a price though!

Something else from the specials menu was the charcoal grilled extra large Cloudy Bay clams. These were not chewy or tough... but still, slightly underwhelming.

 The Toriciya nigiri set did not disappoint though. The fish were all really fresh and really sweet. The thickness of the nigiri was perfect. There was scampi, tuna, king fish belly, salmon belly, scallop and some other fish that I've completely forgotten the names of. It was all delicious.

As Toriciya is also famous for their skewers ($3 each), we ordered a plenty. There was pork belly, chicken and shallot, japanese sausage, chicken skin, etc. and you could choose between having it basted in sauce or just sprinkled with salt. The skewers were all OK.

Just to make sure hubby was full, he ordered a triangle rice. This was literally a triangular shaped rice with sauce and fried. It was slightly overpriced for what it was.

Last but not least - dessert! We each got a scoop of icecream. The brownish looking scoop is the roasted green tea icecream whereas the normal green scoop is just normal green tea icecream. I liked my roasted green tea icecream muchly.

All up, it was a good meal at Toriciya. The produce here is fresh and the package presents itself nicely. It is slightly pricey but I guess fresh produce comes at a cost :)

Ratings:
Food - 8/10
Service - 7.5/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 6.5/10
Overall - 29/40

Toricya
18 Cammeray Road
Cammeray, NSW 2062
Tel: (02) 9904 2277

Ramen O'San - Haymarket

What's perfect for a cold winter's night? Something warm, something soupy, something hearty - a bowl of thick, creamy Tonkotsu Ramen! In the past few years, the number of ramen joints seems to have boomed. A newcomer to join this tonkotsu trend is Ramen O'san in the Dixon food court.

It doesn't look like much, but it has this massive menu plastered in front. The person who took my order had some difficulties understanding what I wanted but this was eventually sorted out as I ordered the creamy Tonkotsu Ramen (with thin noodles) with egg and a Sumo Ramen for hubby.

Unbeknownst to me, and much to the annoyance to hubby, the Sumo Ramen automatically came with thick style noodles - which just doesn't quite soak up the soup as well. This ramen was half chicken and half pork broth and had two thick pork belly slices with it. The meat was sub-par compared to other ramen places as it wasn't as tender nor as tasty.

My Creamy Tonkotsu Ramen is different from the normal Tonkotsu Ramen that they offer in the sense that the soup is a bit thicker. It was pretty collagenergic and quite warming. It was extremely filling though, even though it was a relatively small bowl. Must have been because it's so rich and fatty. The soup looked very white and tasted really clean and flavourful. The thin noodles were tasty as was the egg. Unfortunately, that's were the positives stopped. The meat was pretty pale and super thin. Like paper thin. Could have done without it. There was also a large pile of diced onion (raw) which was a bit too intense that it slightly subtracted from the experience. On top of that, there was a dab of chilli in the soup which quickly contaminated the whole bowl. If I asked for chilli, this would have been good. But I didn't ask for chilli and I don't want to taste it in every spoonful!

So I guess that Ramen O'san is an option if you are craving ramen. However, I think I would prefer to go to Ramen Ikkyu, or Gumshara or Ramen Zundo if I was in that area.

Ratings:
Food- 6.5/10
Service - 6/10
Ambiance - 6/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 25.5/40

Ramen O'San 
Dixon Food Court
Cnr Dixon & Little Hay Street
Haymarket, NSW 2000

Hakata Gensuke - Melbourne

There's lots of lines for eating places in Melbourne. We lined up at HEAPS of them this trip. Luckily for us, Hakata Gensuke was one long line we managed to side step as we came here a little later than the normal lunch crowd.

The ramen portion here is not big, but the soup is thick enough that the package as a whole is filling enough (for lunch anyway). The three of us ordered slightly different soup bases. I ordered their signature Tonkotsu with an addition of a runny (super delicious) egg. The pork broth was super flavoursome. Thick. Collagen-rich. A tender pork cha-cha slice, black fungus and spring onions came with thin noodles. I got my noodles cooked normal - you could also request them hard or softer than normal. I loved it - hit the spot for my ramen craving.

Hubby go the black Tonkotsu. Lots of garlicy flavour in this. And super super black. The soup was slightly less thick than my signature tonkotsu but was heaps yum anyway. Again, it came with pork, black fungus and spring onions. Hubby got the noodles with goey egg and seaweed (the sides are NOT cheap).

Our friend ordered the 'God Fire'. As the name suggests - it was spicy! You could request the level of spice. My friend (being Korean) ordered a spice level of 3 of 4. It was a huge hit of chilliness. He seemed to quite enjoy the noodles, so I guess it was tasty enough :).

I would come back. But I love ramen - so I'm possibly biased. However, the amount of lines that we see as we go past this place suggests that other people like this place too.

Ratings: 
Food - 8.5/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 6.5/10
Overall - 29/40

Hakata Gensuke
168 Russell Street
Melbourne
VIC, 3000
Tel: (03) 9663 6342

LuMi Bar & Dining- Pyrmont

One of my friends who is very well eaten raved on about how amazingly awesome her lunch was at LuMi the other day (4 course - $45) and so, I was sorely tempted to try. As, unlike my friend, hubby and I work Mon-Fri, we opted to try their 8 course dinner option instead ($95). I tried my best to lower my expectations before walking into the restaurant but it proved a difficult task due to my friend's exceptional experience here, and because of the head chef's pedigree (we are talking a chef with training at Ryugin, Ormeggio, Noma and Attica). Yes - I was ready for an awesome feast!

Stepping into the glass box on the wharf, we were greeted with the view of boats and expensive apartments. What's not to like about that? Quiet and serene was the outside - also quiet and calm was the open kitchen.

With much anticipation, the plethora of amuse bouches placed a huge grin on my face. Super thin rice wafers with salt and vinegar flavouring - my favourite! We've had it at several other places, it tastes roughly the same at each place, but I would always want more of this thin, crispy, moorish snack. There was also churros served with this brilliant french onion savoury dip. The churros were perfected - super crunchy yet not too oily on the outside, and soft and fluffy donuty feel on the inside. Its the first time I've had savoury churros and I have to say - it was amazing!!! This onion dip thing was to die for! It took a lot of self control to stop myself from licking this smooth and creamy dip clean.

Other starters included a potato and rosemary foccacia, a small tartlet with creamed corn and a pile of cheese, a pistachio, horseradish 'sanchobao' (cos lettuce), and a chawanmushi with basil, chilli and tomato water. The focaccia took me back to my uni days where I would have a toasted foccacia for lunch every second day. It was fluffy and soft, and the crusted potato/rosemary top was pretty tasty. The tartlet pastry was a tad too thick - but the creamed corn and cheese was a good combo. The 'sanchobao' had a really distinct creamy pistachio flavour to it, quite interesting. And the steamed egg custard was super super smooth with just the right flavour combinations. YUM. I have to say - by now, I was actually already satisfied - the meal could have ended here and I would have been happy.

The first real course was a plate full of discs of white cucumber, white radish and an apple sour dressing. Globs of sour cream rounded off this dish nicely. It gave off a very fresh vibe and tasted really clean. Edible flowers for decoration - but I don't really like edible flowers.

Next was the veal tartare. This came on a MASSIVE plate - tons of negative space. The veal tartare was smooth and soft, the chargrilled capsicum gave it this pleasurable smokey flavour. It sat on a thick, flavourful tarragon emulsion. I tasted the emulsion on its own and was slightly repulsed - but when you eat it as a package (i.e. with the veal, and the popped crunchy buckwheat), it was pretty damn tasty.

The spelt ravioli was my hubby's favourite dish of the night. Four perfectly shaped raviolis filled plumply with this super smooth pumpkin mixture, swimming in a pool of absolutely delicious burnt butter sauce with really tasty roasted pumpkin seeds and a greenery of chopped chives... O. M. G. Soooooo good. The caviar on top made it more impressive to look at, but I felt like it didn't add much to the taste or texture. Instead, if they really wanted some black stuff on top, truffle shavings might have added another element and depth to the dish. Not that I'm complaining about the dish .... it was pretty deliciousness already, even for me (a person who would not go out of her way for pumpkin).

I really liked the next pasta dish, but my hubby was less amazed by it. Squid ink pasta with a small pile of scampi, a creamy orange guerre blanc sauce, and bottarga powder. I rate it! I loved it! I could eat it all day because I love creamy sauced pasta, especially when it's squid ink pasta, especially  when there's a pile of super sweet raw scampi meat on top.

We got upsold into getting an extra dish. The waitress described their snapper dish as something to die for. She said that it was going to be perfectly cooked with a super delicious potato consomme and all these fancy onions. So we ordered one to share ($15) and the chef nicely spit the dish onto two plates for us. Yes the consomme was super clear, tons of flavour, and pretty delicious, but the hero of the dish - the snapper, was kind of average. Nothing too exciting.

The beef cheeks was my favourite of the night. I wish it was more photogenic as it tasted so so so so sooooo much better than it looks on my photo. I am talking, super melt-in-your-mouth beef cheeks that's crazily packed full of flavour. A splash of bonito and anchovy gravy on top and I am in beef cheek heaven. And - I love cauliflower. This fried cauliflower with its mix of different spices... YUM. Top that off with a spinach and lettuce puree that is just absolutely gorgeous? Yup - dish of the day. We can go home now. My stomach is fully satisfied.

The pre-dessert cleansed out palates quite well. The waiter named it the 'evergreen'. It was very very green. The sorbet, the frozen crumbs, leaves on top, and these beautifully done little mint meringues left wonderfully clean flavours of sorrel, lemon basil, mint and parsley dancing in your mouth. The meatiness of the previous course is forgotten and cleansed, all ready for the real dessert.

I expected myself to not like this dessert. I'm not a fan of white chocolate. I don't really like passion fruit. Ginger is not my top pick of an ice-cream flavour. And I dislike yoghurt. So how can I possibly like a ginger ice-cream with white chocolate and passionfruit sauce and yoghurt crumble? I have no idea - but somehow, I loved it!!! LuMi has done the unimaginable and made me eat yoghurt that is not in the form of yakault. I was seriously this close to licking the plate.

So can you tell that I loved this restaurant? I loved the food - the presentation and flavour combinations. The staff were friendly enough. The views were tranquil and serene. And $95 for a 8 course meal sounds pretty reasonable. I suspect that hats are coming this way real soon... so I suggest that you try out this place before the price hikes to become less reasonable.

Ratings:
Food - 9.5/10
Service - 7.5/10
Ambiance - 8.5/10
Value for money - 8.5/10
Overall - 34/40

LuMi Bar & Dining
56 Pirrama Road 
Pyrmont, NSW 2009
Tel: (02) 9571 1999

Cho Cho San - Potts Point

I had heard of Cho Cho San for quite some time, but have never really been bothered to take myself to Potts Point to try it out. Luckily, one of my colleagues was more motivated to go here and booked us a table. The interior of Cho Cho San is quite hipster and trendy. A long shared table, some window/bar type tables and some small individual tables. Simplistic, naturalistic, hip.

The menu here is simple and not massively extensive. However, we still couldn't be bothered to choose so we opted for the 'Feed me Please' set menu - and added a raw beef tataki because I had read on other blogs that it was heaps tasty.

The first bite of the set menu was the edamame beans. Coated lightly with salt, seaweed and pepper, these were tasty but nothing super flash.

Next came the petuna ocean trout. This was really tasty. Fresh, sweet, with this yummy sweet vinegary soy ish sauce. Black pepper was also sparingly sprinkled on the delicious slices of fish.

I don't eat eggplant. I really don't like it in mushy stews and I just don't like it. Period. However, at Cho Cho San, the eggplant came out in a super super crunchy tempura form with just the right amount of miso flavour. The tempura was SOOO crisp... I actually ate a whole eggplant piece! (super record for me)

 The beef tataki was ordered as an extra plate. The raw beef was really nicely marbled and melt-in-your-mouth. The smoothness of the beef contrasted really well with a bed of crispy wild rice. The sweet ginger dressing was also pretty amazing with the thin beef slices.

The kingfish collars surprised me. There were big chunks of fish what were amazingly smooth, sweet and delectable. The squeeze of lime just finished off this seafood delicacy perfectly.

A big pile of soba noodles came next. The noodles were chilled but subtly flavoured (sesame, soy, mirin etc???). Tossed with sesame and piled full of edamame. It looks simple, and it was, but it was my kind of comfort food.

My least favourite dish was the celery dish. I think it may have been used as a palate cleanser? Not much taste... just celery - plain.

The last savoury dish that came out was the soy glazed wagyu beef. This exceeded my expectations. Perfectly cooked beef - rare ish. Super tender, quite melt-in-your mouth. Heavy sweet brown sauce. Lots of onion flavour. Sooooo delicious. Definitely will want this dish again some time!

Dessert-time was green tea soft serve. There was great green tea flavour without the crappy powdery stuff. One of the best green tea soft serves I have had. YUM.

 Good simple flavours here. Some pretty good dishes. Difficult parking situation... Maybe public transport here if you can... :)

Ratings: 
Food - 8.5/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 7.5/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 30/40

Cho Cho San
73 Macleay Street
Potts Point
NSW 2011
Tel: (02) 9331 6601

Sushi Hotaru - Sydney

Sushi trains bring back lots of memories. High school trip to Japan where a bunch of rowdy teens filled the whole sushi train shop. Lots of wasted time in HK waiting to be seated (cos every sushi train was super crowded back in the day). Late night after-uni sushi training. Much happiness indeed. So when we were invited by lovely Sue to dine at Sushi Hotaru, we jumped to the occasion.

It was my virgin trip to Sushi Hotaru, even though there has been many good things about the place. The first thing that drew my eye was the mosaic backdrop - sets the scene well :)

the chef (off to side) was camera-shy but super friendly :)

Most sushi plates are $3, which is awesome really. And not only can you pick off the train, you can also order off their i-pads (which unfortunately for me, means a lifetime of indecisiveness). Nonetheless, we made our choices and left stomachs satisfied.

Sushi Hotaru adds three-four new menu items each year. Guess that means you can come back time after time and try something yummy. For tonight, some of the new items included a crunchy prawn and cucumber roll, pork buns and seared chilli squid nigiri. That's where my search for new items stopped and instantly, focus was on eating. The seared chilli squid nigiri was super tasty. Slightly charred flavour, sweet (sauce-wise and seafood-wise), hint of chilli, all freshness and just zomg YUM. A plethora of really pleasing flavours - took a lot of self control to not order a second.

On Sue's recommendation, I punched in the beef tataki nigiri. Being two slices of Australian Wagyu, slightly seared, topped with onion, ginger and shallot, it was soft, light-meaty tasting and didn't requite too much chewing. Much much yummier than other beef tataki's I've had in other places.

The salmon nigiri also came with glowing recommendations. A large, really fresh slice of salmon atop of neatly made rice ball. What could go wrong really! Delicious :) I have to say, I liked the salmon nigiri more than the ship sushi with salmon bits and salmon roe which was OK but lacked the wow. The salmon and avocado roll was also good but again, just like your standard. 

I would highly recommend using the screens if you are ordering sushi's with deep-fried or seared things. We took a few dishes straight from the conveyor belt - one of them being the soft shell crab roll. It wasn't bad - it's just that I could imagine all the potential - how much more awesome it could have been if it was made to order. And I guess they also have good QC on their train - every two hours, someone's checking to make sure that the sushi training around is still good to eat, discarding any that don't look appetising.

Halfway through our meal, the chef handed over a pork bun. I took it before I realised that I didn't order it. I was about to stammer out that it wasn't ours when the chef happily waved the dish back to us and told us to try. I was super glad we did. The pork was melt in your mouth. The pork fat aromas filled my mouth and the warm, soft steamed bun was there to soak up all the oils. And of course, the kewpi - just completed the whole bun for me. A bit of lettuce and some sweet brown sauce... the package was just deliciousness!

Hubby ordered an eel hand roll. Unfortunately, he felt like the eel needed a bit more sauce. He also chose the lobster salad ship sushi. I thought it was good (but I like all salad-dressinged things) but hubby thought it was so so. Nonetheless, we ended the meal with a bang as I ordered two more really yummy items (which were a bit similar but oh so yummy) - the seared scallops (with and without the chilli and sweet sauce) and the seared chilli salmon. It's similar in flavour in some ways - but the fact that one was a salmon and one was a scallop allowed you to differentiate and look at each sushi with renewed appreciation.

All up, I thoroughly enjoyed my meal at Sushi Hotaru. Tasty and fresh (especially when ordering off their fancy screens), definitely a good choice for a fast quenching of sushi craving. Moreover, if you eat here enough, you can collect stamps on their loyalty card - one stamp for every $20 - 10% off for every 5th stamp! Happy hour here is from 2.30pm to 5.30pm where miso soup or green tea is given for free :)

Sushi Hotaru (Town Hall)
125-129 Bathurst Street
NSW 2000
Tel: (02) 9264 1630

We dined as guests of Sushi Hotaru and SD Marketing