Back in October, I blogged about my first ever dinner at Yuzu and how much I was blown away by everything there. My second time at Yuzu was just as great - I enjoyed everything from the cocktails, oyster shooters, to the sashimi and hot dishes, and finally dessert. Everything was phenomenal, all except for ONE dish. But more about that later.Like last time, this was also a birthday dinner; last time was for my birthday, this time was for May's birthday. I actually told May to choose a place since she was the birthday girl but I guess she loved Yuzu so much that she wanted to again. Well no hesitation on my part either =)
If you want to see some pictures of the decor at Yuzu, check out my first post here. For this post I'm gonna dive right into the food.
We each ordered a cocktail. May had the Yo-Ki-Hi, which was sweet, smooth, and had a refreshing taste of lichee with a kick of sake. I had the
Yuzu Moni, a light, sparkling cocktail. We were both very happy with ours.
With no further adieu...
Soup & salad - came with the sashimi dinner we ordered.
Oyster shooter fresh oyster, quail egg, tobiko, yuzu ponzu, uni, green onion
Duck Gyoza - This tasted like your typical gyoza; the duck taste wasn't very prominent. The dipping sauce was very ordinary too, we couldn't tell that it was "infused" with yuzu as it claimed to be, just seems like typical soya sauce to us. Still good, just nothing "wow" about it.
Scallops and shimeji pan seared scallops, shimeji mushroom, sake butter sauce - Although presented beautifully, May and I both agree that this dish was disappointing, definitely the worse dish we've ever had at Yuzu. We did not taste any sake in the sauce; it could easily be just a "butter sauce" for all we know.
The scallops were over cooked, so much so that we thought that they tasted like dried scallops, or "乾瑤柱" in Cantonese (our first thought as we both think in Chinese).
Blah, let's move on.
Pork Belly
Four pieces of pork belly and I ate three. May is not a big fan of fatty stuff so she had one; even she said it was good. Look at that thick layer of FAT! Sooo amazingly good with the sauce (I don't know what the sauce was), but believe me it was divine. Don't be fooled by the portion of the cuts, three pieces filled me up good.
After the hot food, it was time for some cold dishes.
Sashimi deluxe chef’s selection, 21 pieces of sashimi - every piece of fish was as fresh as it could be.
Unagi nigiri - we supplemented our sashimi plate with a side order of unagi (May was craving this).
Zarusoba chilled buckwheat noodles, quail egg, dipping sauce
I personally have not had this dish before; I was clueless on what to do with everything. May has had it before at Cafe Green Tea, in J-Town.
Basically 1) pour egg on noodle 2) mix it up 3) take however much you want and slather it in the broth (not shown, the broth is beneath the the above container where the upper level opens up) 4) put in mouth and eat =D
It was interesting but not much flavor to it (it is supposed to be that way). Not really my cup of tea. As I said, May has had this before and she said she prefers the one at Cafe Green Tea because the soba at Yuzu seemed a bit soft / overcooked and she prefers it to be chewier / al dente
May and I ordered the Spider Roll as well but we cancelled our order as it didn't arrive yet and also because we couldn't stuff ourselves with anymore food.
Well I guess not entirely true...
Black sesame ice cream- a must-order for me at Yuzu. Never had better black sesame ice cream anywhere else.
Green tea crème brulee - we both liked how it was a green tea creme brulee, a nice twist to the classic dessert. Unfortunately, like the scallops, the creme brulee overdone - it wasn't smooth, like when you scoop it with a spoon it was rigid and sturdy (we both thought the texture of it was very similar to the Chinese steamed egg dessert, "炖蛋")
Not unlike our last time at Yuzu, May and I walked out very satisfied (minus the scallops). Both times at Yuzu, we ate like we've never eaten before. May and I agreed that we should keep up the extravagant-birthday-dinner tradition; not necessarily at Yuzu every time (or maybe it will be, who knows) but somewhere extravagant for sure. All I know is that with my birthday in June and May's in December, timing couldn't be more ideal.