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Fusion Tapas
2016-06-16 1210 views
A Japanese influenced, fusion-tapas restaurant is how Naked Gurume Gyarari describes itself. This is not new to me after Nobu experience but still sounds interesting as creativity never halt.Located on Elgin Street, this place is no doubt in amongst the buzz of Soho, but as it’s on the first floor it allowed us to enjoy a quiet meal. A gallery-like corridor and stark black and white stairway leads us to the restaurant, which is divided into a gallery/private dining room on the left, and a main d
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 A Japanese influenced, fusion-tapas restaurant is how Naked Gurume Gyarari describes itself. This is not new to me after Nobu experience but still sounds interesting as creativity never halt.
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 Located on Elgin Street, this place is no doubt in amongst the buzz of Soho, but as it’s on the first floor it allowed us to enjoy a quiet meal.
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 A gallery-like corridor and stark black and white stairway leads us to the restaurant, which is divided into a gallery/private dining room on the left, and a main dining area on the right.
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 The deco is stylish but simple, having black color as key scheme, perhaps keeping it “naked”. The minimalistic set-up also align with the name “Gurume Gyarari” which actually means “gourmet gallery”. That means, customer should focus merely on food.
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 An open kitchen countertop completing a contemporary. I don’t mind to sit at the bar with sights of busy chef and kitchen if dine alone.
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 Small dining tables are all set with elegant table setting. Space is limited between tables which is popular in busy area like Soho.

Presentation of all dishes were delightful. We start off with a special shooter.

Jyunsai Shooter
Jyunsai Shooter
$78
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 Jyunsai (Water Shield 蒓菜) is an interesting material if some of you are not familiar with. The texture is very unique. It feels like sprouts covered with natural jello and eats like jello sprouts. It always great in soup. I guess it is now in season so it was chosen to be in the Shooter.
sea urchin / Jyunsai
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 With a base of sake, Sea Urchin 海膽 and Kmichi Ponzu Viniagrette 泡菜酸醋汁 were another pair of unique ingredients of this shooter. The presentation was nice, light yellow color with violet lily petal on top, and a big piece of uni immersed in the clear drink.
Jyunsai Shooter
$78
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 Complicated tasting including freshness from the sea (uni), sour but not spicy Kmichi, smooth texture of Jyunsai and alcohol from Sake. Strange that they were all mild and in good harmony. It was a drink with chewable substance. The Korean uni was not of top quality but served well in the sake. 

My dining companion is an oyster fans. She ordered oyster in 3 ways to start with. Today’s pick came from Australia.

Thai Inspired Oyster
Thai Inspired Oyster
$88
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 Presented in a cute dim sum box on a bed of seaweed, the oyster was a piece of modern art. It was colorfully printed by the green, yellow, orange and violet colors from water grape (海葡萄), lemon zest, deep fried garlic and lily petal respectively.
Thai Inspired Oyster
$88
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 The oyster was no doubt fresh, creamy and juicy. I could not tell if there was any nature salty from the sea as the complicity of crispy, sour and crunchiness draw attention of my palate. Last but not the least, sweet Thai Chili Paste gave it a further kick. This was a refreshing and a new experience.

Iberico Ham Wrap Oyster
Iberico Ham Wrap Oyster
$98
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 Innovation was amazing. 48 months Iberico Ham and Oyster were a contrast in my opinion; preserved meat verses natural seafood.
Iberico Ham Wrap Oyster
$98
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 However, the couple worked really well, the butteriness of the oyster and the deep flavors of the Iberico ham turn out to be surprisingly complementary. Touched up by lemon zest, offered me a rich great bite.

Having said so, it is very subjective whether you like this dish. The strong taste of Iberico Ham overwhelms the oyster. Interesting to say, this Oyster was relatively skinny as compare to the last dish, wonder this was chosen in purpose.

Mentaiko Crispy Oyster
Mentaiko Crispy Oyster
$88
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 Oyster was deliciously crispy. Sitting in a bed of Mentaiko (cod roe 明太子) brought again new experience to my palate.
Mentaiko Crispy Oyster
$88
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 Unique salty taste of Mentaiko seasoned the oyster. A piece of mouthwatering sea urchin laying at the top added contrast and smoothness of the dish.

We then started with sushi roll.

Mini Unagi Rice Crispy
Mini Unagi Rice Crispy
$118
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 Unagi was my regular order for Japanese cuisine since I like so much to the rich sweet soy sauce that Unagi carried. Uniqueness that Naked offered tonight were stuffed Mozzarella cheese and healthy qunioa藜麥in the deep fried sushi roll. It was again another rich bite. All ingredients have their character and ended up complexity and satisfaction to the palate. It was a bundle of joy.
Mini Unagi Rice Crispy
$118
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 It was also a gift to me with each piece of rice was covered by the sweet Unagai glaze that I liked so much.

Mentaiko Hotate Sushi Roll
Mentaiko Hotate Sushi Roll
$168
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Mentaiko Hotate Sushi Roll
$168
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 This was a cute presentation with eight pieces of sushi lining up in one side of a cross line, with the other cross drew by a piece of green leave, touched up by some white color sauce at two ends. There was either cod roe or sweet Unagai glaze with lily petal on top of each sushi drawing a big eye. The roll was a mixed of tempura shrimp, mini dried shrimp, cucumber and spicy cream.
Mentaiko Hotate Sushi Roll
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Mentaiko Hotate Sushi Roll
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 Scallop was no doubt juicy, tender and also thick. Crispy rice roll underneath contribute contrast sensation to palate was a forever perfect match.

Overall experience was palate stimulating. There are delicate details that was impressive and interesting. It was a cozy place to meet friends and chat. Though, we should have ordered more variety of dishes to meet my desire for gourmet. By the way, I heard that spaghetti was good. I also found Australia oyster far less satisfying than fatty Hiroshima’s.
(The above review is the personal opinion of a user which does not represent OpenRice's point of view.)
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    DETAILED RATING
    Taste
    Decor
    Service
    Hygiene
    Value
    Date of Visit
    2016-06-04
    Dining Method
    Dine In
    Spending Per Head
    $400 (Dinner)
    Recommended Dishes
    Jyunsai Shooter
    $ 78
    Thai Inspired Oyster
    $ 88
    Thai Inspired Oyster
    $ 88
    Mentaiko Crispy Oyster
    $ 88
    Mini Unagi Rice Crispy
    $ 118
    Mini Unagi Rice Crispy
    $ 118
    Mentaiko Crispy Oyster
    $ 88
    Jyunsai Shooter
    $ 78