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2015-09-30
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Omakase. You hear the word tossed around but what is omakase? Omakase is a Japanese meal where the chef will designate what he will give you to eat. Yeah ... you don't tell him how you want your fish done. He decides for you. Don't argue with the man. He holds a mighty sushi knife. It's a whole series of dishes that range from light to heavy. It may include anything that he deems to be fit to serve to you. So, when you think omakase, you think ... you can only get it in Japan as it's at least au
When a few friends mentioned they wanted to try a place that served seriously legit omakase in Yuen Long ... I was wary. Yuen Long? You kidding me? It this another one of those Mong Gok fakes that give you some California rolls and salmon slices and say it's omakase? Yuen Long, to me is where I have really great street side skewers and late night Chinese desserts. But Japanese? Let alone omakase? Prices weren't expensive as well compared to most other omakase places. Think around $1500 per person. My coworker, who lives in the Yuen Long area, vouched for this place and trusting him, I went to give it a try. Because Yuen Long? Is very very far from where I live. Very very far.
Located in a side street, is a small minimalistic shop that does remind you of a Japanese sushi restaurant. Slide open the door and you get a simple wooden sushi bar with the sushi chef behind it and a chairs facing him as he slices away. Just like you stepped into Japan.
As I was waiting patiently for the chef to start my meal, he had crafted a lovely sushi roll birthday cake for a couple of girls. It was a nice touch and made it seem like the chef here really cared for his customers.
Chef Cupid is young. Yet passionate about his work. Hearing him talk about his work, the intense exploration on choosing the ingredients was refreshing. This wasn't a man who just wanted to open a restaurant and hope for the best. This was a man who has a gift and he wants to share it with you. Hearing him tell us that his favorite sound in the world is the sound of a knife slicing food made the foodie in me smile because I loved that same sound as well. Though small as the place was, he already had a fan-like following not only from the customers there that night but his staff as well.
We started our meal with two appetizers.Tomato Salad. This was a simple slice of tomato and salad greens, lightly tossed with a vinaigrette. All was fresh and it was small enough prepre us for what was ahead.
Scallop Rim Appetizer. This was light and refreshing that had a bit of heat to give it a kick.
Chawanmushi. The cup of steamed egg was smooth and silky and topped with a dollop of truffle paste. Mixing it together it was extremely fragrant and strong.
He then presented sliced of pickles cucumbers and pears and freshly grated wasabi on our plates that were used as the stage for his knife skills. Usually I really don't care for the pickles but these were pretty good. Not overly tart and a nice palate clenser.
Amberjack. We started with two slices of amberjack sashimi. The fish was so fresh, it literally crunched when I bit into it.
Bonito Fish. This had a very nice texture that was more meaty than fish-like. It came with a dipping sauce that was a mixture of fish sauce and scallions. Dipping it in the sauce made the bonito fish less fishy in taste as sometimes I find bonito fish to be.
Autumn Knife Fish (aka Pacific Saury). This was also presented with the same dipping sauce. Perhaps it was the use of scallions, but it helped lessen the strong fish taste that I always find in this fish. It was perhaps the first time I actually tasted a bit of sweetness in this type of fish.
Scallops. I love scallop sashimi. So when he presented this to me, it squeezed a bit of fresh calamansi juice and grated some of the peel on top to give it an added bit of freshness. I love calamansi so was very pleased to see it combined with the scallops. The scallops were also thick and sweet.
It was at this point the chef cheerfully held up an abalone and announced to the restaurant he had an unplanned addition to the meal as he just bought it. So .. up next?
Abalone. He purposely sliced it in a zig zag pattern as he explained he wanted our tongues to feel the texture and have the time of it's life. This was presened with a sauce that I think was by far the most amazing thing I have ever placedf in my mouth. It was a rich buttery sauce that was rich in abalone juices.
In order not to waste the wonderful dipping sauce, he placed a roll of rice in the little dipping bowl, instructing me to mix it up and eat it. Do not waste it. Waste it? I wish there was more! I found interesting that the rice was not the usual white Japanese sushi rice but was flavored with a bit of vinegar and soy sauce.
Hirami. The sashimi was placed aside and sushi began with this. I found it interesting that the rice was flavored lightly with soy sauce. That I had not seen before and quite liked it. The fish was also sprinkled with fresh calamansi make it very fresh tasting. The fish itself was very sweet.
Peony Shrimp. The shrimp was creamy in texture. A nice contrast from the more smooth texture from the previous fish items.
Chu Toro. Firm in texture yet fat enough to melt in your mouth. This was a very good slice of tuna.
Sea Urchin Cup. This is when things started to go a little bit crazy. Chef Cupid scooped a small ball of rice in a small cup and then? He piled on sea urchin like there was no tomorrow. He then topped it off with shrimp. He then instructed us to eat it quickly because like ice cream, it will melt. Oh.My.God. This was insane. It felt like when I bought this 500g cup of jello in Japan one time. Just like that time, I greedily ate it like a child ripping apart birthday presents until I reached a point that I was so full but there was no turning back because I had to finish it. It was that insane. I later shared this on vaious social media and let me say ... my coworker the next day said she wanted to strangle me for eating this without her.
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Tuna Hand Roll. As I was much too full to go on, the chef added less rice in my hand roll. The tuna was nicely marinated and was a nice little item to finish off the meal.
Miso Soup. We neared the end of our meal with a bowl of miso soup. Normally, I don't bother to talk too much about miso soup because it's usually not that exceptional. But this was different. It was so sweet with a strong shrimp taste. I was informed that it was cooked with shrimp shells. It was so sweet, it was almost like having Chinese dessert soup. It was so good and a great little end to our meal.
Dessert. Dessert was a slice of Japanese honeydew. I love fruit so it was a welcome end to a very filling meal. It made everything balance out some how with this simple fresh fruit.
Rolling out into the night with tummies that are a few sizes larger, it was definitely a night to not forget. The food was excellent. The atmosphere was joyful. But what made it special was Chef Cupid himself. So rare is it that I find a chef that loves his work. That he is not just doing this as his job but that he truly loves what he does and he wants to share his love with you. I could feel his passion. Not only in how he talked while he prepared our food, but from the way he interacted with his staff and the way he presented his food to us. Everything he touched was made with love and it was strongly felt. I have an odd theory about food. If you need to go to the ends of the earth for it, it will be worth it for it will be excellent. Yuen Long is far from where I live, but this experience was worth it. I would recommend this to my foodie friends who would travel far for excellence.
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