food

Mohini – mini high tea

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I’ve been slack on my high tea consumption.
I partook in afternoon tea last month with a friend made through this blog. She contacted me and told me she was a fan of high tea, so we arranged to meet up. Coz, that’s how I roll.
We ended up going to a small tea cafe called Mohini for a mini high tea.

Served on a single tray platter we got tiny finger sandwiches, a small piece of pound cake, some fruit, and the tiniest scones I have ever seen! It was very cute. The set is called “small afternoon dish” and not bad for a mere 700yen. Pots of tea are 550yen and there is a very good selection of teas. It’s a tea specialty store. A simple afternoon tea which made for a pleasant change from a hotel high tea. I’m finding that the service at hotel high teas are terrible. There are no shortages of plenty of cute cafes around Tokyo.

It was nice simple old school, home-style afternoon tea, something you’d whip up if your neighbours were to drop by. A nice light refreshment served with a pot of tea.

From Mohini – mini tea
From Mohini – mini tea

The tiniest scones ever:

From Mohini – mini tea

Cute tea cafe:

From Mohini – mini tea
From Mohini – mini tea

Mohini website.

Bread Brunch: Le Pain Quotidien

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Another brunch venue ticked off the list.
If you like bread and got the dough to spend, check out Le Pain Quotidien (means “The Daily Bread”) right near Shiba Park and Tokyo Tower.
Here you’ll find a great bakery with real breads – a bit of a luxury in Japan.
Breads and pastries galore and tarts to boot, including lemon tart!

From Le Pain Quotidien
From Le Pain Quotidien
From Le Pain Quotidien
From Le Pain Quotidien

I got a pot of tea (surprise, surprise), but I highly recommend ordering a large cafe latte or cappuccino, or any large coffee for that matter. They are served in awesome bowls (oversized handle-less mugs).

From Le Pain Quotidien
From Le Pain Quotidien
From Le Pain Quotidien

Le Pain Quotidien is open for breakfast/brunch, lunch, afternoon, and dinner.
It’s a great breakfast spot because they’re open from 7:30am in the morning – a rarity in Japan. Throughout the day they serve quiche, mezze platters, open-faced sandwiches, waffles, breads, cakes/pies etc, and even serve alcohol. It’s a great all-day venue.

The first time I went there was in the afternoon for a late lunch and cake break with friends.

From Le Pain Quotidien
From Le Pain Quotidien
From Le Pain Quotidien
From Le Pain Quotidien

The second time I went was for breakfast/brunch. Note that the breakfast menu stops at 11am. They have an assortment of eggs they do. I opted for another open sandwich – prosciutto, fig, and ricotta.

From Le Pain Quotidien

The restaurant itself is comfortable. There’s an open street terrace out the front perfect for summer al fresco dining.

From Le Pain Quotidien
From Le Pain Quotidien
From Le Pain Quotidien

Tokyo Tower in the background:

From Le Pain Quotidien
From Le Pain Quotidien

Tower reflection:

From Le Pain Quotidien

Drool over the menu here.

Afternoon Tea in London (Four Seasons)

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This is an afternoon tea that I did last summer when I was in London. Still haven’t gotten around to posting anything from the my London Trip (last June!).

I would absolutely love to live London! It’s the mecca of high tea! It was a major dilemma to decide which two afternoon tea venues I would do there. So many to choose from! As part of my Four Seasons Afternoon Tea project, I had to go to the Four Seasons hotel in London. A perfect venue for a mini reunion! I was in London to meet my best friend and her fiance, plus catch up with Bex and Jess (whom I knew my days living in Fukushima back when I was a JET). It was pretty awesome that we were all going to be there in the one city at the same time.

The Four Seasons Hotels always have impeccable taste in decor and matching tableware etc.

From 4 Seasons London – afternoon tea

Champagne all round to start of the festivities:

From 4 Seasons London – afternoon tea

I should probably add, that I only had about 2 days in London and I crammed two afternoon teas in one day! So actually, before attending this afternoon tea, I had come straight from another one beforehand. Ugh, what a glutton.

Lovely tableware – plates, cup saucers, timer sets (for optimal tea brewing).

From 4 Seasons London – afternoon tea

There were two afternoon tea options here. Decisions, decisions. They had the traditional classic “English afternoon tea” as well as a “Gourmet Italian dolce vite afternoon tea”. Talk about torn.

I am a massive fan of Italian food, so the Italian set it was. Between the six of us, I think we ended up 3 Italian sets and 3 English sets, that way we could try both and share.

From 4 Seasons London – afternoon tea
From 4 Seasons London – afternoon tea
From 4 Seasons London – afternoon tea

Yay. Reunion time:

From 4 Seasons London – afternoon tea

The Italian-themed afternoon tea set did not disappoint. The savoury morsels were to die for. Way better than cucumber sandwiches.

From 4 Seasons London – afternoon tea

The desserts on the Italian set were also the better option. The two side by side (Italian desserts on the left, English desserts on the right):

From 4 Seasons London – afternoon tea

English desserts:

From 4 Seasons London – afternoon tea

Italian treats:

From 4 Seasons London – afternoon tea

Yum:

From 4 Seasons London – afternoon tea

Only the English afternoon set came with scones though.

From 4 Seasons London – afternoon tea

I thought the food in the Italian afternoon tea set was amazing. Would definitely opt for that again.

Plenty of pots of tea:

From 4 Seasons London – afternoon tea

Service here was also great. They each gave us a little souvenir of some chocolate tea leaves which I took all the way back to Japan with me. They also gave us a Four Seasons pen. The afternoon tea here is a solid choice venue.

Friends and tea – nothing could be better:

From 4 Seasons London – afternoon tea

IVIV: Afternoon Tea at 165 – KL

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A few months back I was in KL for a couple of days, and of course, I managed to squeeze in an afternoon tea or two. My high tea project needs its own passport, me thinks.
I spent months trying to narrow down the 2-3 venues I would partake in tea at. Kuala Lumpur has a bountiful selection of venues where you can do afternoon tea. Malaysia is a food mecca after all.

The best afternoon tea I did in Kuala Lumpur was at the InterContinental Hotel – at their lobby lounge called IVIV (in Roman numerals) or 165 (numeric).

From Afternoon tea at 165, KL

Why 165, you ask? It’s the number of the hotel’s address.

From Afternoon tea at 165, KL
From Afternoon tea at 165, KL
From Afternoon tea at 165, KL
From Afternoon tea at 165, KL

I pretty much had the lobby lounge to myself, being the lady of leisure that I am, I settled in for the afternoon at a table for one.

Two afternoon teas on affair – which one to choose?

The Malaysian version:

From Afternoon tea at 165, KL

or go traditional:

From Afternoon tea at 165, KL

Traditional it was. They had me at lemon meringue pie!

The presentation of the afternoon tea is awesome. I like new and interesting ways of presenting afternoon tea.
I was particularly taken with these stands.

From Afternoon tea at 165, KL

Little shelves of yummy treats:

From Afternoon tea at 165, KL
From Afternoon tea at 165, KL
From Afternoon tea at 165, KL
From Afternoon tea at 165, KL
From Afternoon tea at 165, KL
From Afternoon tea at 165, KL

All the components here were really tasty. Every. Single. One.

From Afternoon tea at 165, KL
From Afternoon tea at 165, KL
From Afternoon tea at 165, KL
From Afternoon tea at 165, KL
From Afternoon tea at 165, KL

And the lemon meringue pie was what I was hanging out for. Not as great as I thought it was going to be, but I’ll take what I can get.

From Afternoon tea at 165, KL

A little too meringue heavy for my liking:

From Afternoon tea at 165, KL

Scones with strawberry jam and cream – at last.

From Afternoon tea at 165, KL
From Afternoon tea at 165, KL

And a pot of tea to top it all off.

From Afternoon tea at 165, KL

Shirako* (one Michelin star)

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Racked up another Michelin star to my eats tally. This time a one Michelin star in the Shonan area. In the onsen town of Yugawara, a short walk from the station, in a non-descript building, you’ll find Shirako. The menu doesn’t have a lot of variety. I think there’s only about 6 dishes that you can choose from, at lunch time anyway. But what they do do, is good. Come here for the food. Not for the service though. And there is only thing you need to order – the kinmedai fish dish. Absolutely delish. We tried to order 4 of them (one each), but alas they only serve a limited amount a day, so we could only order 2 and we’d share it, and ordered another dish to share. We got the sashimi platter. It was pretty good but not the best sushi I’ve ever had, but a good assortment of sashimi though.

From Shirako michelin
From Shirako michelin
From Shirako michelin

Was not a fan of the side dishes:

From Shirako michelin

And the lunch sets also come with rice and soup.

The kinmedai fish (金目の姿煮定食) is where it’s at. It takes 40minutes to prepare. But so worth it. They bake it in this amazing marinade stew and it’s so amazingly meaty. I would come back here just for this dish. Was totally bummed that we had to share the fish between two. I so wanted a whole one to myself!

From Shirako michelin
From Shirako michelin
From Shirako michelin
From Shirako michelin

A job well done!

From Shirako michelin
From Shirako michelin

Very, very reasonable prices too. 3500yen for a one-star Michelin meal.

You wouldn’t think it would be Michelin starred.

From Shirako michelin

Website here. (Open for lunch and dinner)

Swimming at Wylie’s Baths

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My trip back to Sydney alternated between eating and swimming. It was actually really cool to explore and swim in new waters. Another swimming venture was to Wylie’s Baths – another first. This is ocean water pool. Conditions will really depend on the tides. At high tides the waves wash over and lap into the pool making it a real proper wave pool.

From Wylies’ Baths
From Wylies’ Baths

It’s located at Coogee. Nice views indeed.

From Wylies’ Baths
From Wylies’ Baths
From Wylies’ Baths

I know a couple that got married here and had their reception on the pool deck/terrace. Very cool. I’d never have thought about a wedding reception at a pool, overlooking the ocean. Very idyllic.

From Wylies’ Baths

The “bath” is actually an ocean pool. It was a bit wild on the day we went.

From Wylies’ Baths

The surface floor is all rocky and barnacle-y and there happened to be lots of bluebottles in the water on the day we were there. My dad actually ended up getting stung as did some other pool-goers…needless to say we didn’t manage to do a lot of swimming there. No lanes either, just free swimming, but it was super wavey.

From Wylies’ Baths

Definitely a very cool place to swim…but much preferred the “tame-ness” of Bondi Icebergs.

From Wylies’ Baths
From Wylies’ Baths
From Wylies’ Baths

Considering I wasn’t able to do many laps here, I took advantage of taking photos instead.

From Wylies’ Baths
From Wylies’ Baths
From Wylies’ Baths
From Wylies’ Baths
From Wylies’ Baths
From Wylies’ Baths

I had never been before so it was great to actually check out this ocean pool.

From Wylies’ Baths

You can see Coogee beach in the background. From the baths, you can go down a direct walking track to reach the beach.

From Wylies’ Baths
From Wylies’ Baths
From Wylies’ Baths

Coogee Beach:

From Wylies’ Baths

One of the open water swim races that’s on my bucketlist when I go back to Oz, is the “Wedding cake island” swim. It’s an open water swim race from Coogee Beach out to Wedding Cake island and back. It’s about a 3km swim. This, my friends, is Wedding Cake island. It’s high tide here, so it’s not that visible. Perhaps some better images here?

From Wylies’ Baths
From Wylies’ Baths

Had me a good ol’ sausage roll here, with tomato sauce, of course. Yummo.

From Wylies’ Baths
From Wylies’ Baths

 

A dip at Bondi Icebergs

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One of the things on my Sydney to-do list, was to swim at Bondi Icebergs – an iconic swimming pool right by Bondi Beach. Hard to believe I’ve never swum there before. What started out as an overcast morning:

From Bondi Icebergs

ended up turning into clear blue skies later….

From Bondi Icebergs

Bondi Icebergs is a 50m saltwater swimming pool at the edge of Bondi Beach open ALL year round. (Entry fee $5.50)

From Bondi Icebergs
From Bondi Icebergs

At high tide, the waves lap over the walls. Yeah, it gets kinda wavy and rocky when you’re swimming laps in this pool. It’s good open water swimming practice in a contained environment. (Stay clear of lane 8 if possible).

From Bondi Icebergs
From Bondi Icebergs

A real Aussie beach:

From Bondi Icebergs
From Bondi Icebergs
From Bondi Icebergs
From Bondi Icebergs

I ended up swimming up 2.5km here. It was a nice refreshing swim. So nice to be able to swim outdoors and in a 50m pool and a saltwater one at that – all of which are a rarity in Japan. And exclusively all swimming lanes. Gotta love a pool that dedicates all 8 lanes to lap swimmers! A great pool to swim in. Very invigorating.

From Bondi Icebergs

After swimming a couple of k’s, it was time to EAT. The Icebergs Club has both an RSL and a fancy dining restaurant. The RSL is the way to go. Balcony terrace with stunning views, good hearty Aussie food and super reasonable prices given its location (it is an RSL after all). We just missed out on the brunch menu (it ends around 11-11:30am) so had to dine from the lunch menu. I definitely wanna go back there again when next in Sydney for brunch. If you’re in Sydney, I would totally recommend a swim here followed by brunch. And then a walk from Bondi to Coogee following the coastal walk. Are you listening, Lonely Planet Australia? Nothing like a swim and then a hearty big Aussie brekky. Lunch didn’t disappoint though. Got me a schnitzel with gravy, salad and fries. Does it get any better? We managed to score ourselves a balcony table. Check out the views!

From Bondi Icebergs
From Bondi Icebergs
From Bondi Icebergs

A glass of wine, basking in the Sydney summer.

From Bondi Icebergs
From Bondi Icebergs

Tucking into lunch:

From Bondi Icebergs
From Bondi Icebergs
From Bondi Icebergs

It’s fun to people-watch here and watch all the lap swimmers.

From Bondi Icebergs
From Bondi Icebergs

I love it when the water is this colour!

From Bondi Icebergs

And then dessert – lemon tart. Hell yeah!

From Bondi Icebergs

Talk about an ideal day in Sydney – morning swim at Bondi Icebergs pool, good meal, lemon tart and a cup of tea, enjoying the sunshine Down Under.

From Bondi Icebergs

Hello, Sydney!

From Bondi Icebergs
From Bondi Icebergs
From Bondi Icebergs
From Bondi Icebergs
From Bondi Icebergs
From Bondi Icebergs

The Bondi to Coogee walking route:

From Bondi Icebergs

I’m looking forward to next time I get to swim (and eat) there! Happy Australia Day for tomorrow!

The life of Pie

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Got to eat a meat pie when I was back in Oz. Not any ordinary meat pie, mind you, but a Harry’s Cafe de Wheels pie. They call it the “Tiger” (a pie floater) – meat pie topped with mashed potato, mashed peas and filled with gravy in the middle. Mmm yum. That’s what I’m talking about.

From Harry’s cafe de wheels
From Harry’s cafe de wheels
From Harry’s cafe de wheels
From Harry’s cafe de wheels
From Harry’s cafe de wheels

 

Aria, Sydney

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Brace yourself for an overload of Sydney photos. Was back home over the Christmas and New Year break and did a hell of a lot of eating. Top of my go-to list was Aria. Actually, I had wanted to go to Quay – Australia’s number 1 restaurant and ranks in the world’s top 50 restaurants. Bookings are near impossible. We tried to book 2-3 months in advance, to no avail. Aria was my second choice. Did you know that Australia has no Michelin star restaurants? (It’s because they don’t cover Australia). Aria is up there on Australia’s culinary scene, having garnered a lot of publicity from Masterchef’s (TV show) Matt Moran. Located at Opera Quays it offers both views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House.

From Aria

We were able to get a booking here under the pre-theatre dinner option, that is dine early and be out early (in at 6pm and out at 7:30pm). It was also a somewhat cheaper option (although the meal will set you back some bucks). One of my best friends appreciates food, much like yours truly and it’s a tradition of ours that when I’m back home for visits that we do a fancy expensive restaurant. Prior to our reservation we thought we’d have a pre-dinner cocktail but alas they weren’t open until 6pm on a Sunday, so we headed to Opera Bar instead for a cocktail.

From Aria

Enjoying Sydney sunshine:

From Aria

My memory is a little rusty, so here’s what can I remember. Upon arrival, we were given the best seats in the house, right by the window with views of the Sydney Harbour and the bridge (mind the barricades – they were set up for impending New Year’s Eve celebrations. Our reservation was for December 30).

From Aria
From Aria

We splurged on a bottle of wine to share (I’ll admit the wine list was pricey!)

From Aria

There was an amuse bouche/appetiser. I cannot recall what it was, but it was tasty.

From Aria

Some bread to boot:

From Aria
From Aria

For entrees, I opted for the scallops and was not disappointed by the generous portion – 4 scallops (for an entree! Maybe I’ve been in Japan too long. Am used to much smaller portions). I love meaty scallops!

From Aria
From Aria

Jess opted for the wonton consomme – lots of mushroomy goodness in there. Again, very flavoursome.

From Aria

For mains, we both opted for the lamb dish:

From Aria
From Aria

Now, I swear Australia is the only country I know of where when you order a meat dish, you have to order the sides separately. I’m not a fan of this. If you’re ordering a main dish, if should be a complete dish. Mind you, this only happens at upper scale restaurants in Australia. Most other countries you get the meat/protein plus vegetable accompaniments etc. So anyway, we have to order sides separately. We got a salad to share and the truffle oil mashed potatoes. Was really disappointed with the salad. Overpriced for 4 cos lettuce leaves and some ricotta/feta (can’t remember which) cheese.

From Aria

The truffle oil mashed potatoes on the other hand, I would highly recommend. Portion was incredibly generous (4 person serving) and it was incredibly creamy and indulgent.

From Aria
From Aria

Because we were on the time-limit dinner, they unfortunately couldn’t offer us dessert as they needed us to vacate the table. If you eat fast enough, there would have been time for dessert…but I would argue that the service was a tad on the slow side. It did take a little long for our main dish to be brought out. At any rate, complimentary petit fours were included to end the meal on a sweet note.

From Aria
From Aria
From Aria

The overall experience – whilst it was fun to do, I don’t think I would go back there again. I was also somewhat horrified by two minor mishaps that didn’t escape my attention. I’m usually not that picky but when you spend a fair bit of money at a reputable restaurant, I have higher standards. The first was that when we arrived, the table wasn’t properly ready. By properly ready, I mean that it was a table that was set for four people, when there was only two of us. Considering we had a reservation 2 months in advance, and they knew we were coming, I would have liked to have seen that they were prepared for a party of 2 rather than a table set for four and then take away the additional place settings in front of us. I just looks unprepared. A reserved table should be ready and waiting for you. The second incident was that a waitress knocked over my cutlery which fell on the floor. She then picked up the cutlery and proceeded to put it back on the table for me to use. I think she noticed my split second expression of absolute horror and did a double take and said she’d get me new cutlery. I’m all for the 5-second rule if something falls, but at a top-notch dining establishment I expect them to bring me out new cutlery. I’m really not that fussy a person, but you have certain expectations when you dine at certain places. Nevertheless, it was still cool to dine there. And the food and wine was pretty good. Been there, done that!

From Aria
From Aria

5

Molecular Gastronomy in Tokyo

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I had a pretty awesome Saturday. I slept in late, then hit the gym. Swam 1km and did a 7km jog (and walk). In the afternoon, I went to the Tokyo Photography museum to catch the last weekend of the World Press Photo exhibition (a yearly photo exhibit which I try to go to see each year when I can). There was a lot of people there. Memo to self: don’t go on the last weekend of an exhibition. I thought I’d see the women’s Olympic triathlon at a sports bar or something. Tried two pubs. One wasn’t open yet (at 5:30pm) and the other was only showing the rugby, and not a single Olympic event! Went home and managed to see the event on my “tv”. Dinner was the highlight of the day. A late dinner at 8:30pm was a 20-morsel journey of molecular gastronomy. Food meets science. I think molecular gastronomy is pretty fascinating. At the end of the day, cooking is technically a science of processes and chemical reactions. Dining at the Tapas Molecular Bar at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel had been on my Japan bucketlist for a while now. The main deterrent was it’s price tag. However, when a friend organized the event a couple of months back, I was definitely in. There are 2 seating sessions per evening. 6pm and 8:30pm. We were booked in for the 8:30pm. Seats are limited to 8 people only. It’s more than food, it’s a performance show. A magic show of sorts. The Tapas Molecular Bar is technically the bar that’s in the Lounge of the hotel on the 38th floor, the same place where they serve afternoon tea which I did a couple of years back.

From Molecular Gastronomy

There was 6 in our party, and then a couple on the end. The food and the way it’s served is crazy and wacky. However, it does not compromise on taste or flavour. Arguably, the flavours are enhanced by the techniques they use. As we sat down to the counter, we were faced with beakers, test tubes and pipettes.

From Molecular Gastronomy
From Molecular Gastronomy
From Molecular Gastronomy
From Molecular Gastronomy

This was the aperitif – a red shiso mojito.

From Molecular Gastronomy

We had to squeeze the contents of the pipette into the test tube, shake and then drink. It was very, very shiso-ey. All the food is served at the counter, in front of you, by two chefs (although a lot of the mis en place has already been done). They explain in both English and Japanese the technique and process involved and you’re free to ask them questions.

From Molecular Gastronomy

Next up were two snacks. 1) Caramel popcorn.

From Molecular Gastronomy

This was just bizarre. They have to prepare each one individually. It tasted exactly like corn soup (very corny), but powdery and then was coated in a caramel syrup.

From Molecular Gastronomy
From Molecular Gastronomy

Second snack was caprese – a dehydrated tomato skewered by a pipette filled with cheese. You had to inject the cheese as you ate the tomato.

From Molecular Gastronomy
From Molecular Gastronomy

There are 10 courses in the degustation part of the menu. They used a lot of tweezers and liquid nitrogen to prepare the next few dishes. The presentation of these dishes were amazing. Beautiful and creative. New soba – a jelly soba with wasabi and soy sauce foam and karasumi. Karasumi tastes like cheese, but is actually fish eggs.

From Molecular Gastronomy
From Molecular Gastronomy
From Molecular Gastronomy

The soba dish was delicious. Was definitely one of my favourites. So flavoursome! Who knew foam would taste so good.

From Molecular Gastronomy

Gotta love the silverware – skinny forks and a scalpel-like knife. Super fine and sharp.

From Molecular Gastronomy
From Molecular Gastronomy

The soba was followed by the crystal salad – dehydrated salad components with dressing that had been frozen and quinelled onto the plate. The salad was also really awesome. I can’t tell you how flavoursome all this food was. There was just so much flavour and taste and a variety of textures. The salad lacked height though. Everything was so finely sliced.

From Molecular Gastronomy
From Molecular Gastronomy

That went down a treat:

From Molecular Gastronomy

Delicate work. Food surgery:

From Molecular Gastronomy

Next up was the squid ink soup. Earlier during the evening, the chefs prepared squid ink balls. They squirted squid ink blobs into calcium water to soak and form balls.

From Molecular Gastronomy
From Molecular Gastronomy

They later used these squid ink balls for the squid ink soup.

From Molecular Gastronomy
From Molecular Gastronomy

Here are the stages of the squid ink soup: The components – a squid ink cracker (which was tasty), the squid ink balls which now looked like mini kidney sacks. and octopus legs.

From Molecular Gastronomy

They they add broth to the dish:

From Molecular Gastronomy

You then pierce the squid ink ball to release the squid ink:

From Molecular Gastronomy

And then we added something to it and stir. I cannot recall what it is. I thought it was a mustard, mayonnaise of sorts, but it had a cream-like texture. Stir it all through. The dish was surprisingly yummy, especially since I don’t really like squid/octopus. I ate the legs and had a few spoonfuls of the soup. The soup was tasty, but the flavours were very strong. It was very squid inky. Like I said, there was no compromise on taste. If anything, all the flavours were accentuated and were quite strong. Despite the small portion of the soup, I couldn’t eat it all. Next up was the cryptically-named dish called “Summer Mountain Stream”. Watching the chefs prepare this dish was like watching them make a diorama or collage. Check this out:

From Molecular Gastronomy
From Molecular Gastronomy
From Molecular Gastronomy
From Molecular Gastronomy

So pretty. The rocks weren’t edible, but the fish and the crab were. I didn’t care much for the coating on the fish. Unusual flavour. But made better with the green jelly sauce. The baby crab was a little more awkward to eat. You had to eat the whole thing in one go, and all of it – shell, legs, body and all. It had been fried in oil and again was really tasty. Very, very crunchy, I might add. We’re now about halfway through the culinary journey. Uni and fennel – powdered, dehydrated uni (sea urchin) with the use of liquid nitrogen, served with a hot fennel broth which they poured from a teapot. There was also fennel tied to the spoon to add to the aromatics.

From Molecular Gastronomy
From Molecular Gastronomy
From Molecular Gastronomy
From Molecular Gastronomy
From Molecular Gastronomy

Try each component on its own, and then mix the uni into the fennel soup. Very unusual flavour combination. The next dish was called “Beach” and ended the four-dish seafood section of the degustation.

From Molecular Gastronomy
From Molecular Gastronomy
From Molecular Gastronomy
From Molecular Gastronomy
From Molecular Gastronomy

There was a scallop with a clam sauce. The scallop was delicious. Have a thing for scallops, I do. The shell came complete with a pearl which contained a yoghurt sauce of some kind inside when pierced. Even the sand was edible. Did not care for the sand.

From Molecular Gastronomy

For the gazpacho that followed, the chef injected the tomato with liquid:

From Molecular Gastronomy

The gazpacho:

From Molecular Gastronomy
From Molecular Gastronomy
From Molecular Gastronomy
From Molecular Gastronomy

This was one of my least favourite dishes. It was a frozen tomato, injected with something served on more of that “sand”. My tastebuds were not happy with this dish.

From Molecular Gastronomy

Chef at work:

From Molecular Gastronomy

The next three dishes were my absolute favourite of the evening – these were the meat dishes. Hell yeah. Give the girl some meat. The whole meal had been carb free and I’m not sure that I was yet full. The next three meat morsels were divine. First up was a dish mysteriously called “Smoke”.

From Molecular Gastronomy
From Molecular Gastronomy

Smoke had been captured under the glass klosh.

From Molecular Gastronomy
From Molecular Gastronomy

When you lifted off the lid, I took an inhale – a very woody aroma. Underneath the klosh was chicken and gooseberries. This dish was awesome. But the next dishes got even better.

From Molecular Gastronomy

Next up was sholompo which technically means a dumpling but is soupy and juicy on the inside. It’s the squirty kind of dumplings. To our surprise, we were served up lamb. We were told to eat the thing in one go. The inside of the lamb with be all squirty. Simply delicious.

From Molecular Gastronomy

I could have had me a dozen of these.

From Molecular Gastronomy

The final dish of the degustation was the piece de resistance, simply titled “wagyu”. Mmmm drool.

From Molecular Gastronomy
From Molecular Gastronomy
From Molecular Gastronomy

The potato mash puree was so light and fluffy. The wagyu had been roasted at 58 degrees for 6 hours. My only complaint was the tiny petite portion of wagyu. I could have had me a whole slab of this. And a yummy red wine jus. Pure culinary magic. And here is a magic trick of my own… Now you see it:

From Molecular Gastronomy

Now you don’t!

From Molecular Gastronomy

The great disappearing act. Except it lacks the prestige. “It’s not enough to make it disappear. You have to make it come back” – a line from the movie “The Prestige”. You must see that movie! Food bliss:

From Molecular Gastronomy

I absolutely love that every course is served on different plates and serving ware. That’s a whole lot of washing up! Now onto the desserts. And what’s molecular gastronomy without MORE liquid nitrogen!

From Molecular Gastronomy
From Molecular Gastronomy

The chef’s made a mint puff – which was like a mint marshmallow. This thing was freaky. You placed the puff on your tongue and chew fast. The liquid nitrogen can kind of freeze your tongue. Your tongue goes a bit of a numb tingling sensation, but as you eat it, all this “smoke” comes out of your nostrils. It’s pretty insane.

From Molecular Gastronomy
From Molecular Gastronomy

Then the dessert wheel is brought out:

From Molecular Gastronomy
From Molecular Gastronomy

On the top shelf was cappucino-flavoured fairy floss.

From Molecular Gastronomy

On the next layer was the NY cheesecake and olive oil gummy.

From Molecular Gastronomy
From Molecular Gastronomy

The cheesecake was good, but the olive oil gummy – what were they thinking. It was very olive oil. Even the thought of consuming a jelly lump of olive oil makes my blood curdle a bit. I had a tiny bite to taste, but pass. Sparkling chocolate which contained popping candy inside and then a berry meringue.

From Molecular Gastronomy
From Molecular Gastronomy

Nice views from the 38th floor:

From Molecular Gastronomy

The next dessert dish was the pina colada ice-cream. Deliciously refreshing. Enjoyed this dessert.

From Molecular Gastronomy

The final dish of the evening was “Fruits”. We could see them prepare fruit such as oranges, lemons and lime. How were they going to jazz up some citrus fruit, we wondered.

From Molecular Gastronomy

They instructed us to eat one of the strawberry halves, one lemon wedge, one lime wedge and one lemon wedge. Obviously, these were really sour and not what you would call an enjoyable dessert. We then had to take a sip of water (which they also provided). We then had to put the red berry in mouth for about 1-2 minutes without breaking the seed inside and just keep it in our mouths. They even had a egg timer going. This red berry they told us was called a “miracle berry”. Once the time was up, we had to remove the see from our mouth. We then had to eat the remaining lemon, lime, and orange wedge. Amazingly, the citrus fruits tasted super sweet. The miracle berry makes whatever you eat afterwards sweet. This effect can last up to about 2 hours. It was amazing how the lemon and lime tasted so sweet! Wow. I was impressed.

From Molecular Gastronomy

If you consume red wine afterwards, it makes it taste like port. Everything tastes so sweet afterwards. What a sweet way to end the night! The other Japanese couple in our seating session, it was the guy’s birthday so they did a little cool birthday surprise trick for him at the end of the night. Won’t give you any spoilers, just in case, you decide to come here for your birthday, which would indeed be a treat. My first foray into molecular gastronomy was enjoyable. Definitely interesting and creative and pushes the boundaries of food and science with some unusual taste sensations and flavour combinations.

From Molecular Gastronomy
From Molecular Gastronomy

The Tapas Molecular Bar received one Michelin star for the last four years, but was not awarded a star this year. The menu changes with every season. We had the summer menu. But it would be really interesting to see the offerings for the other seasons. Seating is only limited to 8 people. Two seating sessions per evening. I recommend the later session. The earlier session has a very strict time limit to make way for the 8:30pm session. But with the later session, you can sit and linger at the bar for a bit at the end of the meal. I’m undecided whether it’s value for money though. It is incredibly pricey, but there is a lot of food and a lot of ingredients go into the preparation of the course. And the price does not include drinks, so drinks on top plus the service charge, make it overpriced. You’ll definitely need to save your yen for this one. Good to try the once, but based on price, will not be in a hurry to relive this kind of dining experience. Still, the food was pretty incredible and definitely has entertainment factor.