Kobe Jones - New Winter Romance Menu

Mrs Shanks and I were lucky enough to be invited to try out Kobe Jones new Winter Romance menu which was just perfect as we missed out on a date for our wedding anniversary back in April.  It was a much need distraction from the everyday business plus being cooped in the house the past few weekends due to the excess rain we've been having in Sydney.

Kobe Jones is located in the heart of the dining district of King Street Wharf.  A stylish restaurant with modern Japanese influenced decor and I've noticed the glass bi-fold doors that open up the dining area to panoramic waterfront views of Darling Harbour.  Well known for it's Japanese-Californian fusion style of eastern cuisine matched with western sauces and their famous Volcano Roll, Kobe Jones now has a new head chef Hong Sub Lee (Edan) running the show. It's been a while since we've been to KJ so it was great to come back and see what has changed.

Kobe Jones Sunset and LLB

On their website I have noticed that the menu structure has changed focusing on sharing-style banquet meals that range from $55-$180pp.  Their a la carte menu ranges from rolls, sushi & sashimi, tobonayki, hot rocks, and everything in between.  I like the vast variety of the banquet menus so that you're not restricted based on budget or the number of courses.  The variety also showcases the chef's specialties and we got to try dishes that we would not generally consider ordering off the menu.

Number One Special

A great start to the banquet was KJ's Number One Special Roll.  Crab salad with avocado is always a win for me, but when it's wrapped with kingfish and baked in secret sauce makes it all the better.  KJ's secret sauce sweet, sticky, caramelized, hoisin flavoured goodness that balances well with the cream topping.  I'm not a big fan of alfalfa but thought this added some freshness to the dish and an additional dimension to the overall taste.

Tantalising Tasting Plate: Spicy Ebi Nigri, Wagyu Tataki, Salmon&Seafood Poke, Lollipop Sushi, and Spider Roll

The Tasting plate is elegantly plated on a long slate tile (hard to photograph though) highlighting the level of detail into each bite sized morsel.  As sushi and sashimi are chef Edan's first love, this platter truly displays his passion.  Each mouthful had distinct textures and flavors.  My favourite would have to be the Seafood and Salmon Poke, Hawaiian style marinated sashimi cubes served with poke sauce which I think had a dash of sesame oil which just brought the dish together.  This also reminded me of a similar dish we had on our honeymoon, the Fijian Kokoda - which we dubbed "fish in a cup".

Pacific Calamari Fritto

The Calamari Fritto was a highlight.  Crisp light panko crumbs encasing pillow soft calamari drizzled with roast shallot mayonnaise.  Mrs Shanks and I also couldn't get enough of the marinated yellow radish which had a smokey flavour and we both agreed we could have a whole bowl of this stuff with an ice cold beer.

Jalapeno Salmon Tataki

The salmon had a wonderful texture, lightly flamed slithers of salmon with briney pops from the salmon roe and hint of heat from the jalapenos.  The dish was a bit on the oily side to my liking and could have been lifted with some citrus.

Spicy Seafood Tabonyaki

IT'S ALIVE!!  is what Mrs Shanks said upon witnessing the air-dried tuna shavings wriggling on top of this warm hearty dish.  A seafood medally of prawns, scallops, squid and mussels with wild mushrooms tossed in KJ's seaweed butter and baked Tabonyaki style in cream sauce.   This was a welcomed hearty dish but we both feared the carb-overload as we were only halfway through the banquet.

Volcano Roll

KJ's infamous Volcano Roll oven-baked scallops layered with crab and avocado roll covered in a molten cream sauce, roasted sesame seed, smelt roe, and shallots with lashings of bitter sweet soy glaze - enough said.  It's a great dish with a good combination of flavours and textures.  If I were to be really picky I would have to say that having this straight after the seafood tabonyaki was border line cream sauce overload, and it may have been better served before the calamari ... but seriously, who can ever get enough cream sauce!?!

Alaskan Crab - Before and After

The dish I'd been waiting for had come.  The Alaskan crab legs were as long as my arm and surprisingly quite thorny.  KJ's menu describes that the crab leg is grilled robata style to highlight the crabs sweetness and I'd have to highly agree with this cooking method.  Not only was the crab meat succulent and sweet, the grilling also gave smokey tones that enhanced the crab's natural seafood flavor.  The separate soy/lime dressing was not required in my mind as the taste was already complete.

Lobster Hot Rock

Fresh sweet slipper lobster meat served on a hot rock at the table - what's not to love?  The initial searing of the lobster gave an amazing aroma as well as a smokey charred flavor to compliment the lobster's natural sweetness.  The lobster was served with three sauces garlic seaweed butter, ponzu and motoyaki sauce.  Out of the three sauces the garlic seaweed butter was the winner for me.

KJ's  Tiramisu + Flaming Green tea Anko

Not that we weren't spoilt (and full to the brim) enough already with an awesome array of dishes, but then our waiter did not ask us which dessert (a choice of two) we wanted.  Instead he came out with the flaming lot - literally.  The green tea and Anko (red bean paste) brulee arrived alight, infusing the vanilla liqueur to the brittley sugar coated top.  I was surprised to find the brulee still retained a crack-worthy toffee crust.

The tiramisu consisted of a green tea and sake infused sponge served semifreddo topped with chocolate shards and strawberries.  A refreshing dessert with good contrast in flavours. 

One the way out I also noticed that KJ is not only for fine banqueting, but they also do lunch and dinner specials for those wanting a quick meal.  $32 (at time of review) for a mixed plate lunch and they are still doing $29pp all you can eat sushi platters (min 2 persons).  Time to get your Volcano Roll fix!!

Anyway, we enjoyed a fantastic winter-romance date, with the atmosphere, seating arrangements, heaters (which were very welcome on a particularly wet and cold night), great service and the sharing-style menu providing a warm and intimate dining experience, with a hint of luxury thrown in.

Till next time ... we eat.

Shanks

Yaya's Yum Yums dined as guests of Kobe Jones.

Sakura Honey Basbousa

Sakura in Japanese means cherry blossom where the Japanese celebrate the blossoming of these delicate flowers during their spring festival.  Similar to Spring (my favourite season of the year), sakura symbolizes life, beauty and new growth. Which may segue to the question of my absence to blogging.......
 
 Let me introduce you to the latest member of family Shanks...HBurger!!
A new little sister for MiniB and my excuse for the lack of my blog presence.  Granted HBurger is nearing 11months now and looks so much cuter than this pic shows, but anyone with young kids will know...they're hard work.   My late nights staying up to blog have been replaced with much needed catch-up sleep.  But it's all worth it and now that we're in some sort of routine, I look forward to get my blogging mojo back.

To help celebrate Spring in Australia, Sophie from Nihon Ichiban has provided samples of Sakura products made in Japan.  Like many other Japanese products/craft, I found it ingenious that the they have found a way to create food products from this ever popular flora.  I tried the Sakura Honey Syrup which is gorgeously light and fragrant similar to rose water, and led me to combine it with a middle-eastern classic sweet.  The dish may not reflect on the sakura's beauty, but it sure backs it up with taste!!

Till next time ... we eat!!

Shanks


Sakura Honey Basbousa

2 1/2 cups semolina
1/2 cup self raising flour
1 cup desiccated coconut
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup of vanilla yoghurt
200g unsalted butter, melted
25-30 blanched whole almonds
200g caster sugar
Extra butter to grease the tin

SYRUP
2 tablespoon Sakura Honey syrup (or honey)
1 cup white sugar
250ml water
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Sakura Honey Syrup to drizzle
 Note: if honey substituted, use 1 table spoon of honey and 1 teaspoon of rose water.

• Preheat oven to 190 degrees Celcius
•  Use a small amount of butter to grease the tin.  Cooking spray can also be used.
•  Mix together semolina, coconut, sugar, flour
•  Add and mix in yoghurt, vanilla extract and melted butter to the dry mixture
•  Use your hands to spread the mixture into the tin evenly
•  Cut diagonal lines across the mixture to form diamond shapes
•  Place 1 almond in the centre of each diamond
•  Bake for 35-40mins or until golden brown

•  Place sugar and water into a saucepan and bring to the boil
•  Stir the mixture until all the sugar disolves
•  Simmer for 5mins without stirring
•  Add lemon juice and stir
•  Add Sakura honey syrup and stir
•  Leave mixture to cool for 2mins
•  When the cake is ready pour the sugar mixture onto the hot cake
•  Allow to stand for 5mins for the syrup to soak into the cake
• Drizzle extra Sakura honey syrup over the cake and serve

 

 Sakura sample products were supplied to Yaya's Yum Yums by Sophie of Nihon Ichiban.
For more Sakura products check out their website.

Mr Wong, Sydney

"Foodies", "Hipsters", and "Foochebags" 

These are the terms I got from this food article I ran into.
Love them or hate them (albeit, us), is it true that they along with "gangsta chefs" are elevating the revival of street food and trending our taste buds?



With all the hype from Ms G's, us Yummers were intrigued by what Dan Hong's new venture, Mr Wong will bring to Sydney's food scene.

As there were 8 of us I thought I'd do the right thing and make a reservation.  After jumping through the Merivale empire's corporate hoops and signing my life and credit card away for a meal, we were booked in.  The dinner reservation form stipulated that a table of 8 guests had a mandatory 10% surcharge, a minimum spend of $70pp including beverages, $500 cancellation fee if less than 24hours notice, and $70pp fee for no-show guests.  Whilst I understand the frustrations of last minute cancellations I personally thought it was a bit steep and took the shine off the event.  On a brighter note, the Merivale reception were very prompt and professional with the reservation.



Mr Wong can be found at 3 Bridge Lane, Sydney.  It's a tiny, dimly lit lane-way that resembles the dark alley ways of Gotham city.  Once you step past the Mr Wong archway you are transported to a 1930's Shanghai tea house.  The fitout of this multilevel ex-night club is superb.  Splashes of industrial chic with exposed brickwork and iron fittings work really well with the rustic Asian decor.



Another small gripe before we start our meal ... you would think that after the special service we received above from Merivale that we would get our own table.  Instead we were placed downstairs (away from the open kitchen action) on a communal table (well, 3 reserved tables joined together), which made the seating quite tight.

Steamed Dim Sum Platter ($32) - (available for dinner only)

Scallop Shumai, Har Gau, Jade seafood dumpling, Mushroom dumpling.

Maybe we were too in awe of the decor, but I was kicking myself when I found out that we'd ordered two steamed dim sum platters rather than the a steamed and a fried, therefore missing out on my much anticipated introduction to lobster mei si roll and foie gras prawn toast.
What I did enjoy from the steamed selection was scallop shumai.  Plump, juicy, stacked with at least 2-3 scallops and encased in a delicate pastry skin.

L: Roasted 5-spice Pork Belly ($25)   R: Steamed Chinese Broccoli with Oyster Sauce and Garlic oil ($12)

L: Mr Wong's special fried rice - Large ($24)   R: Twice cooked green beans, pork mince & XO sauce ($16)

L: Crystal Bay Prawns with black pepper, garlic, and butter ($32)   R: Wagyu beef with rice vermicelli - Large ($26)

Who doesn't like a succulent pork belly with a crunchy crackle or a non-oily fragrant fried rice with prawns.  But personally, I guess I was expecting a Dan Hong twist to the dishes - Ms G style!!  Don't get me wrong each dish was executed well and served as a great meal, but I guess the "hipster" in me was expecting a little more.

L: Salt & Pepper Lamb Cutlets with Fennel and Cumin ($32)   R: Sweet & Sour Crispy Pork Hock ($28)

The winner for me was the lamb cutlet.  Succulent lamb cutlets with a crunchy outer coating fused with fennel and cumin brought together with a squeeze of lemon.  It was so good we debated ordering seconds and YaYa tried to replicate this at home the following night.

Sweet and Sour Crispy pork hock was also top notch.  Maybe a play on the traditional Sweet and Sour pork, this dish is far superior with no comparison to the westernised version found in most Chinese take-away shops.  De-boned crispy pork hock with flaky innards that's permeated with a good balance of flavours - and no sign of extra large capsicum and pineapple chunks in a fluorescent sauce!!

L: Mr Wong's deep fried ice-cream with butter scotch sauce ($14)   R: Roast white chocolate ice cream, yuzu curd, logans, and raspberries ($14)

Dessert time, and as you can see, even the food blogging Yummers couldn't hold back for photos before digging in. First to go was Mr Wong's interpretation of the well known deep fried ice cream.  I liked the addition of coconut strands in the crispy coating and the butterscotch sauce was thick, gooey and surprising not too sweet.

The roast white chocolate ice cream was well constructed with multi-levels of flavor and textures.  I couldn't quite taste the yuzu though.

L: Green apple ice, osmanthus jelly, water chestnuts and coconut sorbet ($14)   R: Seasonal fruit plate (serves 2-3) ($18)

For you folk that don't like heavy desserts the Green apple ice is very light and refreshing, although the osmanthus in the jelly was heavily masked by the other flavours.

Yes, we even ordered the fruit platter and were somewhat relieved to find that it wasn't your standard complimentary plate of dry oranges, tasteless honeydew and powdery watermelon that you generally expect after a Chinese meal.  The platter was spruced up with the addition of fresh strawberries, raspberries, golden kiwi, and our new found love ... Jack Fruit!!

Strawberries, meringue, macadamia praline, cream cheese ice cream and Thai basil ($14)

The cream cheese ice cream dish really hit the spot for me.  Just the word cream cheese ice cream had me drooling.  I thought the addition of both meringue and praline would push this dish over the edge in regards to sweetness, but the tartness of the fresh strawberries livens it up and the Thai basil just takes it to another level - man I love micro herbs!!

Overall I think the mains are slightly overpriced.  Definitely good for that special treat and I'll definitely be back to try Yum Cha, and the foie gras prawn toast.


Till next time...we eat!!

Shanks

Fondant Fun

Mrs Shanks and I would like to congratulate our good friend Jo and family, of The Cupcake Gallery on the safe arrival of their 3rd beautiful bundle of joy, Little Miss M. She (even though I had all my coins on it being a boy!!) is absolutely gorgeous and we can't wait to see all the marvelous baby-inspired cake creations you have in store.

First Prize: The Last Supper depicting the true meaning of Easter

5hr dinner. It's not a meal. It's a Ritual.

What do you get when a passionate, creative chef has access to fresh local produce and wines coming from Port Stephens, The Hunter Valley and other neighboring regions? Add a dedicated team of chefs and floor staff that share that same passion to take you on a journey where you will rediscover ... Taste.

The answer is Ritual Restaurant.


Since first reading about Ritual, I have waited over 12 months to come and dine at this establishment. I would describe the restaurant as a Mary Poppins carpet bag. Nestled in the suburban side of Nelson Bay, there are no water/beach views and away from Port Stephens marina and other main eateries. It's located in a local shopping complex, next to a Blockbuster video store and a bottle shop - sound like a plain old carpet bag so far??

Yabba Dabba Doo Man-Chops + Easy Tomato Chutney

Remember the opening intro to the Flintstones where they get drive-thru giant brontosaurus ribs that almost tip the car over. I so would have tackled this back in the stone ages and would love giant fries to match. Well my recent encounter with the "Man-Chop" reminded me of this very scene.

Vanilla bean Panacotta with Cumquat 3-ways & Matcha Soil

Happy New Year!!

Hope you all had a fantastic festive season and I trust you all ate well - As you can see we sure did from Gummi Baby's latest posts.

A new year arises, we slowly get back into the routine of eat-sleep-work, but the streets are quiet and you're still working only half pace. This void in time within the blogasphere only means one thing to us bloggers....we open the flood gates of backlogged blogs.

Merry Christmas from the Yummers @ Yayas

Wow!! How fast has this year gone. There's usually a 3 week period before Christmas where everything starts to wind down. This year Christmas has just walked up to me and double-slapped me in the face.

Cupcakes with Sparkle

Why be plain and boring ... when you can Sparkle!!

Cupcakes for Food Bloggers

(Party Time!!)

To all my fellow Food Bloggers out there, to all that enjoy reading food blogs, to all who have a passion for food, to all people who eat food, come and share some cyberspace cake with me.

Why you ask?

Momofuku Crack Pie - (for us XGLUTs)

Hi, my name is Shanks ... and I'm an XGLUT.

What is an XGLUT you ask?
XGLUT is the self-proclaimed-name (patent pending) I call a person whose world is turned upside down through the diagnosis from a blood test. A person who has loved and cherished gluten-based delicacies but is no longer loved back in return. A person who can no longer tolerate a loveless relationship, who takes hold of their life, and divorces (ex or X) the constitution of Gluten (GLUT). A person who is unique and now lives abroad (ex-pat) from the world of gluten.

Well it's not official but I am the chairman, secretary and single honorary member of the XGR, XGLUT Revolution. And to celebrate this occasion ... we're having pie!!

The Cupcake Gallery - 2D Workshop

I was going to hand this one over to my better half, the W, as she experienced this first hand. But she prefers to stick with her crocheting and baking, and left the blogging to me. Since I got to do my photography workshop a few weeks ago, it was the W's turn to pursue her passion in the form of cupcake decorating.

As big fans and long time admirers of The Cupcake Gallery's (TCCG) work we were both very excited to find out that they are starting cake decorating workshops.