Dads bday at Yoshii Restaurant

6 August 2007, 19:36

My dad turned the big 6-0 and to celebrate we went to Yoshii Restaurant (115 Harrington St, The Rocks) a small cosy japanese restaurant hidden behind a heavy wooden panelled door.


Signage! There are 2 menus to choose from- the Yoshii Course ($130) or the Saqura Course ($110) so we ordered 1 each so we could try everything.


(Yoshii) Sea Urchin Egg Cup. absolutely. the. best. oh man this was so good i love eggs in all forms particularely if there is a higher egg yolk ratio to egg white mmm one spoonful of this delicous eggy mixture and your tastebuds will take over your body and cry urgently for you to spoon more and more mouthfuls into your empty soul… Theres also a tiny tender sea urchin floating around under that gold leaf and did i mention this was my favourite?


(Saqura) Deep fried roulette of Tofu and Spatchcock served with Ume dressing. Pretty to look at but it was no match to the sea urchin cup im afraid. After the awesomeness of the sea urchin cup the rounds of tofu and spatchcock were pretty bland but the dressing did a tops job bringing in the flavour reinforcements.


(Yoshii and Saqura) Quintuple of entrees. Clockwise starting with the shot glass: Japanese Somen noodles with black truffle, Kobujime with lime sorbet, Deepfried White Bait with Parsnip puree, Duck breast with red apple flavoured dessing, Tomato mousse with pumpkin puree. Hee i love my food in pretty bite sized pieces! Just one bite and you will either love it or hate it but either way its only one bite and its gone. Each morsel on this plate had contrasting flavours of sweet, sour and salty. The shot glass contained long glossy white strands of chilled somen noodles floating in a slighty salty sauce with the truffle flavour coming in as a rich aftertaste; i tried googling the term ‘Kobujime’ and i think it means fish that has been cured with kobu kelp? The fish was soft and sweet and paired well with the cool refreshing lime sorbet; the white bait was a mouthful of crunchyness, the batter light and the parsnip puree sweet; the duck breast was juicy and tender; and the mousse was strange im not sure i was a fan i was hoping for a really intense pumpkin or tomato flavour but it just tasted like the colour orange…


(Yoshii) Black cod marinated with blue cheese flavoured miso. I was a bit worried when i read on the menu that it had blue cheese since i dont think ive acquired the taste for it and i dont think ive ever had any japanese food with cheese in it but it was great not too overbearing on the delicate fish with an interesting tang and the square pieces of toast had a satisfying crunch and would have been awesome for a finger food party! There was also 2 tiny slivers of celery topped with bonito flakes and raw sliced lotus root in a light mayo sauce


(Saqura) Pan fried duck breast Jibuni-style port wine flavour. mmm i love duck it tastes like a cross between chicken and cow but in a good way cos it was juicy and tender and soft and oh it was very good!


(Yoshii) Milk fed Veal Sashimi served with forest mushroom dressing. This came a very close 2nd place for my most favourite dish i loved the presentation but most of all the oh so soft veal it just melted in your mouth and i loved the sprinkle of pinenuts on top (did you know pinenuts contain the highest amount of protein than any other nut or seed?)


(Saqura) Snapper carpaccio and Japanese vegetable served with Kinome flavoured miso dressing. How gorgeous is the presentation! Alot of effort must have gone into all the shapes of the vegetables and while the snapper carpaccio had a nice clean flavour it didnt come close to matching the unami taste of the veal sashimi




(Yoshii) Daily white fish, scallop and spanner crab cake steamed in ginger flavoured bonito stock. How pretty is this! Wheee so colourful! The pink layer is the crab and i cant for the life of me remember which the other layers were. As the cake was steamed there wasnt much texture when eaten alone but there was a fried ball underneath with glutenous rice which soaked up the salty goodness of the bonito stock hehe and yes i tried eating the layers one by one like a normal layer cake


(Saqura) Daily white fish and japanese sticky rice wrapped with cherry blossom leaf in bonito stock. The mothership loved the idea of the cherry blossom leaf and the smiley waitress confirmed that the leaves were flown in from japan phoar thats dedication!


(Yoshii) Rosegum smoked Wagyu beef with horseradish and turnip puree in Tamari reduction. Horseradish! Burning! i steered clear of the giant dollop of horseradish puree but the parentals loved it and swirled their vegies in it saving me free from the burning. i normally love wagyu but i was so full i only managed half and had to pawn it off to noods hehe it was tasty though a little rarer than i like but that means juicer! mmm juicy meat…


(Saqura) Paper wrapped Hiramasa kingfish baked with sansho leaves and red miso. The presentation was different- the fish came wrapped in a square paper parcel and the waitress took great care in opening it to reveal the morsel of kingfish hiding under the sauce. You can (usually) never go wrong when you bake fish the flesh was soft and soaked up all the flavours of the vegetables and the miso.


(Yoshii and Saqura) Lemongrass sorbet. The sorbet was a welcome palate cleanser with a good kick of champagne [hic]


(Yoshii and Saqura) Sushi. Arghh! If youre not full by now you definitely will be after this ginormous serve of sushi! i managed to eat the unagi (eel) which was sweet and very tasty and had to admit defeat and pawned the rest off to my family


heehee happy birthday dad!


The awesome dessert platter! From bottom left: my dads fave WASABI sorbet haha wow that was potent stuff i onli had a miniscule taste and i was breathing it for the whole night! Marscapone mousse- i think the yellow one was peanut and the other black sesame; red bean and apple spring rolls were pleasantly crispy and moreish; and my favourite the sweet potato crepes with orange sauce.


Overall a tops night- the waitresses were lovely with their cute japanese accents and bows but this was rather spoiled by the waiter who kept whooshing past our table. The food was fantastic we loved loved loved the sea urchin cup and the veal and im glad Sydney has some excellent restaurants that are relatively affordable for the special occasion and Yoshii more than made our dinner a night to remember!

1. neeed more veal…veal….sooo good…heh

   — noods    Aug 7, 11:46 PM    #
   
   

2. sigh What a beautiful looking banquet. Yoshi’s my fav restaurant, but I haven’t visited in awhile. That fish, scallop and crab cake looks like an actual cake! (like a slice of kueh)

   What’s that curly shiny orangey thing on top of the Snapper Carpaccio?

   — Y    Aug 11, 08:34 PM    #
   
   

3. I absolutely love those photos. Fantastic review!

   — Truffle    Aug 12, 10:55 PM    #
   
   

4. noods: wasnt it tasty! mmm tasty veal
   y: heh yeah i tried eating the crab cake like kueh but it didnt work out… i have no idea what the orange thing was i was hoping it was egg yolk but alas it was some kind of vegetable
   truffle: thanks dude!

   — chocolatesuze    Aug 13, 06:17 PM    #
   
   

5. Those photos bring back all the memories of when I went there with my parents. I remember the veal being very good too and the tomato mousse was the only thing I wasn’t a fan of…

   — Susan    Aug 14, 12:11 AM    #
   
   

6. susan: yeah the tomato mousse was weird it couldve been so much better…

   — chocolatesuze    Aug 16, 12:10 AM    #