Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Yoshii Restaurant


Yesterday was my Mum's birthday and her and dad were having a little holiday in the city and therefore going out to dinner somewhere in the city....which I sort of invited myself to! Mum was doing a course a while back once a week near the rocks. She used to park her car in Harrington street next to this little restaurant called Yoshii and would walk past looking at the menu each time and decided that when she got her qualification for her course she would celebrate at this restaurant. So lucky me tagged along! The restaurant itself is quite small with different sections to it. The part that we were in only had 2 other tables that were occupied, so it was nice and quiet.



Saqura Menu

There was a choice between 3 set menus. The Yoshii Menu with Wines and Sake for $178, Yoshii Menu on its own for $130 and the Saqura Menu for $110. We all decided on the Yoshii course.



Yoshii Menu


Dad ordered a bottle of red wine too which was like 60 bucks! So we only had one bottle of wine, which was fine for me for a Tuesday night. We were immediately giving little saucers filled with soy sauce and shortly after that our first course came.




Sea Urchin Egg Cup

This was unlike anything i had before. It came with a little spoon and all of us were unsure what to do with the soy sauce. Our waitress (who was the most lovely waitress i have ever had) informed us to eat the egg with the spoon and then put the soy sauce on the radish? underneath. The egg had a sort of miso soup flavour to it with the egg yolk in there as well as sea urchin and some other things. It was very tasty. I wouldn't want to be the one cutting the shells of the egg.... Next up was 5 little things on a plate





Quintuple of Entree

Clockwise from the shotglass was Japanese Somen Noodle with black truffle, Kobujime with lime sorbet, Deep Fried Whitebait with Parsnip Puree, Duck Breast with red apple flavoured dressing, and in the middle was a Tomato Mousse with Pumpkin Puree. These were all good, apart from the tomato mousse which didn't have much flavour for me, but my favourite was the whitebait. The flavours just went so well together, and i love deep fried foods! Next up was the black cod.




Black Cod Marinated with Blue Cheese Flavoured Miso

Oh my god this was so good. This was my second favourite dish of the night. The Cod just melted in your mouth and you could really taste the blue cheese, but it wasn't overpowering. This came with Melba toast, celery with bonito flakes and not sure what the other thing was. I could have eaten heaps more of that it was so good! Veal was next..




Milk Fed Veal Sashimi served with Forest Mushroom Dressing

This was very good too. The sauce was nice and sweet and the veal was so tender. I was a bit worried at first when it came out, cause it looked like a slice of beetroot on the top and both Mum and Dad hate beetroot (don't know why, my sister and I both love it), but i tasted it and it wasn't. I don't know what it was, cause it didn't have any flavour. I think it was just there for texture. Then came the Fish Cake..


Daily White Fish, Scallop and Blue Swimmer Crab Cake steamed in Ginger Flavoured Bonito Stock

I must say that we were all little confused as to which was the fish cake. The colourful square on top tasted fishy, but didn't have the right texture and then the fried thing underneath had the texture but not the flavour...it looked pretty though! Next was the main course, the Wagyu!




Rose Gum Smoked Wagyu Beef with Horseradish and Turnip Puree with a Tamari Reduction

This was like melt in your mouth good, and look at all the pretty vegetables! I have never had wagyu before and i will definitely be having it again soon. Of course this was my favourite dish of the night and the reason we went for the Yoshii Menu. Then we had a lemongrass sorbet to cleanse the pallet



Lemongrass Sorbet

This was very refreshing! Dad and I were sure that there was some type of alcohol in this, but wasn't sure what it was. Later found out it was champagne! How could I have not got that. I have had a few champagne bottles in my time...and in case you weren't full after all of that next came a big plate of sushi!




Sushi


I have had good sushi before and this was good sushi. I have never had eel (which is the one down the bottom) and now i would say it is my favourite! I had a light lunch in preparation for this, so i had no problem finishing it all, but Mum and Dad went out for lunch so they were struggling a bit with this. This also came with a miso soup, but i didn't take a picture of that. To finish there was a selection of 3 desserts. A Marscapone Mousse, some red bean infused wasabi dish and a Crepe filled with Sweet Potato and an Orange Sauce. M&D both went for the mousse and I went for the crepe. They were very nice, but it wouldn't be something I would choose for dessert normally.


Crepe with Sweet Potato

Marscapone Mousse


Overall it was an excellent night. The service was fantastic. The waiters and waitresses were most attentive and friendly. The only complaint i had about the place was that it was a bit chilly and would have liked a bit more heat (especially as it was freezing yesterday!). I would recommend this place highly. It has had 2 chefs hats for the past 4 years or something too!


Us before the feast!

Yoshii Restaurant
115 Harrington Street
The Rocks, NSW

Ph: 9247 2566

Lunch Tues - Fri from Noon
Dinner Mon - Sat from 6pm

5 comments:

Darlene said...

Hi Susan,

I think I lost track of how many courses you had but everything looked excellent. I'm terribly envious of all the good food and variety you ate.

Additionally, glad you enjoyed the eel. I have grown to love it and it's one of my regular sushi favorites.

Kathy YL Chan said...

oh man, I love eel! In Hawaii I often eat 'unagi don' for lunch, basically a huge piece of eel over a bowl of rice! Those dessert look so good, reading your post made me hungry again and I just had lunch, hehe :)

susan said...

Hi Darlene - i know, i have never had so many courses in one sitting! I will definitely be getting the eel sushi next time i go to my regular sushi train!

Hi Kathy - I will have to try the unagi don, sounds good. I love all Japanese food. Yeah the desserts were good, cause they weren't too sickly sweet, so i didn't feel too bad after eating it...

Anonymous said...

mmm yoshii i loved the sea urchin egg cup! glad you enjoyed everything and happy birthday to your mum!

susan said...

Hi Suze - The egg cup was awesome. I have never tasted anything like that before. Thanks for the birthday wish too!