My birthday dinner was at our favorite Japanese restaurant – Tatsuya. I reserved 2 counter seats and specially asked that we sit in front of Chef Goh-san. We asked Goh-san to give us 2 omakase sets and to include more of cooked dishes.
We started with 2 small appetizers each– my wife had pan-fried tofu with fish roe and freshly cut figs and I had the sliced rolled smoked salmon with roe and the freshly cut figs. These were good to start with and prepared us for a greatly enjoyable evening.
Next came a large rock oyster for me. It was smooth and sweet and could have easily slight down my throat.
Fugu mirin boshi – fried puffer fish with a sweet liquid flavoring made from glutinous rice and shochu- was next. We always asked for fugu mirin boshi without fail at Tatsuya. It was so so good and it’s liking eating bak-kwa with no guilt. Of course fugu can be deadly if not prepared properly.
Next came a plate of sashimi. Tatsuya consistently serves one of the best sashimi in town. Just look at the photo. Doesn’t it look at a piece of art? ;-)
Sliced cooked awabi (abalone) topped with bits of salmon skins and marinade was next. Each slice was chewy and crunchy. Nice contrast to the sashimi.
Next came a warm thick broth that had generous cubes of grilled eel mixed with radish. I think miso must be one of the ingredients and the broth was sweet.
We had a grilled isaki next. It was light and delicate but not as sweet as the kinki (my favorite and bloody expensive). I think it may be because the isaki was grilled instead of steamed. We finished the whole fish except for the head and tail.
The preserved ginger and pickled vegetables were good and they are usually served with the aburi sushi.
Tatsuya is well known for its aburi (grilled) sushi. We had a couple of them. Below is a picture of a piece of hirame (flounder) sushi. A check with Chef Goh-san and we found that it came from a left-eye flounder. Nice grilled aroma, chewy and juicy with lots of oomphs. I also asked for a piece of Matsusaka beef sushi. Gotta have Matsusaka beef whenever I am there.
My wife was served a bowl of tasty hot thin white noodles (I think this is hiyamugi) soup with beef. It was so good that we had to ask them where to buy the noodles. Understand from one of the chefs that the hiyamugi is available over at the Isetan supermart. Will definitely go and look for it.
It was late in the evening when we neared the end of the omakase course. Throoughout dinner, I had umeshu which was made by Tatsuya and bought for us as an anniversary gift from Andrew and Pat. The umeshu went well with the dishes and I think it will become a lot better given a couple more years of ageing. We were the only customers left and took the opportunity to chat with the chefs while they were cleaning up the counter.
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