Morocan Tuna Quinoa Salad

I developed this obsession with quinoa while I was in Boston, love the texture, the way it 'pops' in your mouth and its unique fragrance. Plus, it's also got a lot more protein and a lot less carbs than other grains so it's a win-win staple for people who want to lose weight (i.e. me)

Morocan Tuna Quinoa Salad.
To be honest, I know nothing about Morocan food, but the tin of tuna (yes I ate canned tuna), labelled "Morocan seasoning" had a picture of tomatoes, coriander and cumin seeds on the front so I just added a few of those ingredients to enhance the flavor.

Ingredients:

1/2 C Quinoa
1 C Water
1/2 ripe Avocado (diced)
1/4 ripe Tomato (diced)
1 Tin Tuna (either Morocan seasoned or plain in spring water)
1 tsp Whole cumin seeds
1 tsp Ground  coriander seeds
2 Cloves Garlic (minced)
1 Tbs Olive oil
2 tsp Lemon juice or balsamic vinegar (or both)
1/4 Finely sliced Fennel
Coriander leaves

1. Soak the quinoa in cold water for 5 minutes, rinse thoroughly, then bring to boil with the water. Allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes, then remove from heat and allow the grains to absorb the rest of the steam.
2. In a pan, gently toast the cumin seeds and coriander seeds, add the olive oil and minced garlic and fry briefly until garlic is cooked. Allow to cool and add the lemon juice. 
3. Combine all other ingredients and mix with the quinoa and dressing.

Simple, healthy and yet still tasty :)

Pumpkin Spice Latte

There is one thing missing in my kitchen - a household essential in America, but almost impossible to find in Australia. When I was in Boston, one of the first things my roommates bought was a hot pink coffee percolator. The only other time I’ve ever seen such an apparatus was in a fancy hotel room. 

So this thing basically sucks up water, heats it until it’s almost boiling then releases it into a container fitted with a controlled drip nozzle. The container is lined with a sheet of filter paper over which, ground coffee is added. The end result: A jug full of hot diluted coffee – a bit like a long black.

For the first two months, I absolutely hated the stuff. So whenever I wanted to grab a cup of coffee (at least once a day), I had to walk all the way to the nearest Starbucks (which, in America is never really that far). Starbucks in America is quite different to Australian branches. For one, their drinks menu is constantly changing. 

It was mid-September when my roommate first introduced me to her favorite “Iced Pumpkin Spice Latte”. Pumpkin is really common in fall/autumn, and this drink is based on an American classic - pumpkin pies. Being an Australian, this was a novelty I just had to try. To be honest, I wasn’t particularly keen on ordering anything other than my usual “small cap one sugar” and I’m not a huge fan of pumpkin, but was an exception. 

From that day on, every time I went to Starbucks, I either had a Pumpkin Spice Latte, or tried one of their new flavors hoping that it would be just as good.

Sadly as my semester abroad ended, so did my love affair with this drink.

But surely, it’s not impossible to replicate.

I looked everywhere for canned pumpkin puree, and didn’t give up until the manager at my local woollies actually told me off “Pumpkins don’t come in cans, we’re not in America”.  So I had no choice but to make everything from scratch.

Ingredients:

1 C Pumpkin cubed

½ C Heavy cream

1 C Milk

1 Tbs Brown sugar

¼ tsp Ground ginger

¼ tsp Ground cloves

¼ tsp All spice

¼ tsp Ground cinnamon
pinch of salt

2 Tbs Good quality freshly ground coffee beans

½ C Boiling water

1.       In a pot, simmer the pumpkin with the heavy cream, milk, sugar, salt and spices until pumpkin is soft and falls apart.

2.       Cool the pumpkin mixture and blend until smooth. Push mixture through a fine sieve.

3.       Add the ground coffee and boiling water to a coffee plunger and allow it to brew for up to 5 minutes.

4.       Plunge the coffee.

5.       Reheat the sieved pumpkin mixture until frothy and foamy.

6.       Pour half of the coffee and half of the pumpkin mixture into a mug; serve with whipped cream, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Serves 2.

Dark Chocolate Raspberry Tart with Cherry Brandy Jelly

Masterchef is back on!
Masterchef has to be my favorite cooking show. I love being surprised by what people can cook when put on the spot. It inspires me to be creative with my cooking, which, in my house, is very much appreciated.
So the first recipe I tried to imitate from this season was Audra's Dark Chocolate Raspberry Tart with Cherry Port Jelly, which was apparently a hit (or people just felt obliged to say so) at my friend's 21st last night.



It was hard to find some of the ingredients like borage flowers and cherry port, but I managed to find substitutes in the form of rose petals and cherry brandy (which sets you back about $25 at liquorland).
Be careful of the cherry brandy - it actually tastes just like the Panadol cough syrup.
I tweaked the recipe a little to reduce the amount of fat and enhance the texture. Audra herself said on the show that she would have liked to add an egg yolk to the tart.
So this is what I ended up doing:

Pastry

1 2/3 C Plain flour Pinch salt
4 Tbs Confectioner's sugar
2 Tbs Cocoa powder
140g Unsalted cold butter, chopped
6 Tbs Iced water

 

Ganache filling

200g Lindt dark chocolate, 70% cocoa solids
200g Cadbury cooking dark chocolate, 45% cocoa solids
50g White chocolate 1C Heavy Cream 2 Tbs Butter 
2 Egg Yolks 
 

Cherry Brandy Jelly

375ml Cherry Brandy
Packet of Port jelly mix (sets 450mL)1/4C Crushed frozen raspberries
 

Raspberry puree

125g Frozen raspberries
4 Tbs Confectioner's sugar
1 tsp Glucose

Decorations

300ml Thickened cream
2 Tbs Sugar
1 Vanilla bean, seeds scraped
125g Fresh Raspberries
100g White chocolate
Pinch of Salt
Spun/pulled sugar

1. In a food processor, pulse the flour, salt, sugar and cocoa powder until evenly mixed. 
2. Add the cold butter and continue to pulse until butter is finely chopped
3. Drizzle in the iced water one tablespoon at a time until the dough starts to bind.
4. Form into a rough ball, cover and chill for 20 minutes.

 

     5. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.  

     6. Meanwhile, in a double boiler, heat the cream and butter until steamy

     7. Turn down the heat and add the chocolate, stir until it reaches a smooth and even consistency.

     8. Beat in egg yolks until glossy. Reserve the chocolate mixture in the double boiler until required.

     9. Roll out the pastry between two layers of baking paper to a 3mm thickness.

    10. Carefully transfer the pastry to a fluted tart tin and press the dough firmly into the creases. 

    11. Cover with baking paper and weigh down with baking beads. Chill for another 20 minutes. 

    12. For the jelly, bring the cherry brandy to the boil on medium low heat for 5 minutes.

    13. Remove from heat and stir in the packet of jelly mix until dissolved.

    14. Add the frozen raspberries, and reserve until required.

     15. Blind bake the pastry crust in the oven for 10 minutes. 

     16. For the raspberry puree, gently heat the frozen raspberries, the sugar and glucose until the raspberries have disintegrated.

     17. Strain the raspberry mixture and chill.

     18. Remove baking beads from the pastry and return to the oven for another 10 minutes or until the pie crust is dry and golden brown on the edges.

     19. When the pie crust has cooled, pour in the chocolate mixture and spread evenly. Chill for 10 minutes or until set. 

     20. Pour the jelly mixture over the chocolate and return to the refrigerator until semi set. 

   

     21. Decorate with raspberries and refrigerate until ready to serve.

  

     22. For the salted caramelised white chocolate brittle, melt the white chocolate and salt on high heat over a stove.

    

     23. Continue to stir until the liquid thickens and turns golden brown.

     24. Pour between two layers of baking paper and roll into a thin sheet.

      25. Crush into small pieces (or crack into bite size pieces).

     26. Whip the Cream with sugar and vanilla bean seeds.

     27. Serve tart with a drizzle of the raspberry puree, vanilla bean cream, a sprinkle of the caramelised white chocolate brittle and spun sugar

I made a mini one for my sister with the left over components

Unfortunately I don't have a photo of the finished product, because I assembled it at my friend's house and forgot that I had a camera in my bag (also forgot where I put my bag...)

I think it turned out alright for my first ever chocolate tart, but the chocolate was just a tad bitter for my liking, I'd probably just use the 45% cocoa mass chocolate instead of a mixture of the 45% and the 70% next time.

Can't help but feel disappointing though because the Masterchef judges loved this tart so much that they gave an apron to Audra right after they tasted it. So either my tart is no where near as good as the one that she made (quite possible, but I can't imagine it being too much worse) or the judges were just putting on a show...

The Crumpet Shop

When I was in Seattle, I stayed at a hostel near Pike Place Market, a hub for fresh food and produce, famous restaurants overlooking a beautiful sea scape that faces the snow-capped Olympic mountains. Seeing as I was only there for a few days, I made myself a promise to try as many things as I could, which meant eating at a different restaurant every meal. Across the street from my hostel, there was a cute cafe called "The Crumpet Shop". I'm usually not a huge fan of (Golden) crumpets, but it was raining that day and the smell of freshly ground coffee was very enticing.

The cafe/dining area itself isn't very large, a huge area of floor space is occupied by the large industrial oven used to mass produce crumpets.

The glass divider allows all the customers to watch as they make individual orders according to the customer's preferences.

The cafe was really cozy and full of regular customers. I kind of felt like one of them (although I think my camera gave it away...)

I ended up ordering a fresh crumpet topped with stewed raspberries and cream cheese, which was by far the most amazing thing I'd eaten in Seattle.

Stewed Raspberry and Cream Cheese Crumpet

It was so good that I ended up going back there for breakfast the next day... and the next.

Maple Butter, Roasted Walnuts and Cream Cheese Crumpet

I just couldn't believe I'd never eaten a real crumpet before this.

The Crumpet Shop
(206) 682-1598

1503 1st Avenue  Seattle,
WA 98101, United States

Ratings:

Atmosphere: 8
Service: N/A
Food: 8
Price/ Value: 9

Overall:8



A few days ago my sister bought a packet of Golden Crumpets. I won't complain about it, but it just doesn't compare to what I had in Seattle.
So after a bit of research and a LOT of tweaking around, I managed to develop a pretty good recipe for soft, slightly bready, slightly chewy and fluffy crumpets.

You will need:

Crumpet:
7g Dry Yeast
2C Lukewarm Milk (divided into 2)
2tsp Sugar
2C Plain Flour
1tsp Cream of Tartar
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Baking Soda

1. Before you start, lightly grease 4 metal round moulds.
2. For the crumpet, dissolve the yeast and sugar in 1C of lukewarm milk and let it stand for 15 minutes in a warm place until foamy.
3. Sift the flour and cream of tartar together and combine with the yeast mixture.
4. Mix with a whisk until all lumps have been removed, then beat for 2 minutes. Cover and let it rest in a warm area for 2 hours.

 

     5.  Add a pinch of salt to the mixture and beat for a minute. Then cover and rest for 15 minutes.
     6.  Dissolve the baking soda into the remainder of the milk and mix well into the batter.
     7.  Place rings on an oiled pan and pour about 1/3C of the mixture into each ring. (Adjust according to the size of your mould and the desired thickness approx 1cm of your crumpets.)

     8.  Cook over low heat until the top of the crumpet has set, about 5 minutes, then remove mould and cook the reverse side for 1 minute (if desired).

 
Topping:
Anything you like, but I used
100g Cream Cheese
1/4C Confectioner's Sugar
1 Tbs Butter
Crushed Frozen Raspberries

1. Beat butter and cream cheese in an electric mixer until soft and fluffy.
2. Add confectioner's sugar and continue to beat until evenly combined.
3. Serve on hot crumpet and sprinkle on crushed raspberries.

Ok so it's no where near as good as the ones in Seattle. But definitely a lot better than store bought :)
Enjoy!

Sokyo

Before I start, I just want to apologize for the poor quality of the photos. In my defense, I couldn't bring my DSLR and the lighting was quite dim. Hope it doesn't detract from this post!

I wasn't planning on dining here, neither were the girls who were having dinner with me, but seeing as we were all running late for our booking at Black, we had to resort to our backup plan.

Sokyo at the Star (The Darling) is different to all the other modern Japanese restaurants that I've visited in that their menu is designed in "traditional Kaiseki style" to encourage diners to share. Having just visited another Japanese restaurant the night before, I was impressed by the atmosphere and aesthetics almost immediately upon entering The Darling.

After being seated, a staff member collected and stored our jackets in the cloak room (which I really appreciated because I had a coat on) and immediately after that, we were offered menus by our own waiter. I was somewhat disappointed that the waiter didn't explain the menu to us, but maybe that's just not their style. Flipping through the crisp white pages of the simple but expansive menu, it was obvious (already) that I was in for a huge treat. The courses and cooking styles were familiar: Sashimi, Tempura, Robata (grilled skewers), Sushi Rolls... nothing unusual; until you look at the individual descriptions. Every item sounded like a tempting combination of flavors that others would never dare to explore: "Tai sashimi, onion, capers, yuzu honey, crunchy miso", "Sirloin & Foie Gras in fig, plum wine soy" No wonder it took us so long to order. Finally, with the help of a menu designer, we ordered our long anticipated dinner and waited - with a "tokkuri" of apple and guava scented sake ;).

The service was surprisingly quick considering how full the restaurant was.
First up, the Pork Belly Sashimi...

Kurobuta Black Pork Sashimi. Thinly sliced pork belly, dashi jelly, salty caramel sauce - $16

Being the experimental foodie that I am, I was definitely looking forward to trying what I thought would be raw pork belly. To be honest I felt a little cheated when I realised that it was in fact cooked, despite being on the sashimi list. But the taste and texture of the pork definitely compensated for that. I've never had salted caramel with a savory dish before, but the slight stickiness of the rich sauce matches surprisingly well with the fatty pork and just melts in your mouth. This is definitely something I'd try (and no doubt fail) to make at home.

Lamb Chop Maple Miso, Maple miso, burnt baby eggplant - $31 (for 3)

Next up, lamb chops! Lamb chops are no doubt my favorite cut of meat, but looking at the description on the menu I wasn't completely sold. I've definitely learned a lesson though - never judge a dish by its description. I used to think that I could cook a pretty decent lamb chop but this is on a whole other level. The meant was thick and juicy, perfectly cooked to medium rare (just the way I like it) and well-rested. Mixed with the delicate sweetness of the maple miso and the smoky yet creamy baby eggplant, my mouth was in heaven! Who knew burnt food could taste so amazing. There was only one thing I think could be improved. I couldn't help but notice that the meat itself lacked the strong flavors of the mash under it - perhaps it wasn't marinated for long enough? Or maybe the chef wanted to give diners to opportunity to just taste natural flavor and quality of the meat on its own...

Somewhere between the lamb chops and our next course, our waiter noticed that my friend was struggling with her chopsticks, which made us all laugh because she probably uses them regularly at home (haha - but to be fair, the chopsticks were curved), and offered us each a cute chopstick clip.
The irony was harder to figure out how to use the clip then hold it correctly than it was to use the normal pair of chopsticks.

By the time we got over the chopstick clips (which wasn't very long) our salad had arrived.

Spicy Sashimi Salad, Cherry tomato, cucumber, mixed seafood - $22

We'd originally ordered the Crispy Skin Ocean Trout Salad but they ran out of the crispy skin! *mental note to order that next time* So this is what we substituted it with. On any other day, I would say that this was pretty good. But having just sampled two exemplar dishes, this was, in comparison, only mediocre. It didn't taste bad, but didn't stand out. The flavors weren't very exciting - the sauce actually tasted a bit like gochujang (Korean chilli paste). Moving on...

 Chicken Katsu, Potato foam, plum wine, grilled negi - $27

One of my friends was a bit reluctant about ordering this dish at the beginning because "Chicken Katsu" is usually just fried chicken and didn't sound very special. But it was evident the moment it arrived that this Katsu was anything but ordinary.  To start with, the potato foam! It's always exciting to see a new element on a dish. But presentation aside, the chicken breast was so moist and tender that I could literally slice it in half with the side of my fork. I've never had plum wine before, so I can only imagine that the pleasant eccentric taste was somehow related to that. Must find a bottle of Japanese plum wine one day. The chicken skin wasn't crumbed or fried so I'm not sure if "Katsu" is the right term for this dish (but then again, I'm no expert), maybe that's why it's called "Free Range Chicken Breast" on the online menu. I can understand from a marketing point of view why they changed it.
Again, I thought the center of the chicken was lacking a bit of flavor, but that's not going to stop me from having more haha.

At this point I was already starting to feel full. It's hard to stop eating when the food tastes so good, plus we were no where near the end.

Sokyo Spicy Tuna Roll, Cucumber, truffle chilli aioli - $14

This photo does not do justice to the flavor of the sushi. It might look like a simple, innocent piece of raw fish wrapped in rice and seaweed but the flavor of the truffle aioli really takes you to another world. I mistakenly underestimated the well balanced complexity of this sushi roll and  dipped my first piece in soy sauce before tasting it. I don't think any addition of any ingredient could have improved the enjoyment of this dish.

Tempura Roll, Prawn, cuttlefish tartar, squid ink tempura, shrimp oil - $19

As you can see, the quality of the photos are gradually deteriorating. I blame it on the Sake.
This is a familiar favorite for all Aussies I'm sure. Who doesn't love a good tempura roll? If such a person exists somewhere out there, they would love this one. The prawn was freshly fried and still warm but the rest of the roll was cool. The addition of the cuttlefish tartar and shrimp oil accentuated the beautiful flavor of the prawn and left a lingering sweetness (not literally sweet, I just can't describe it) in my mouth.

Queensland Roll, Spanner crab, spicy avocado, soy paper - $21

This roll was not what I expected. If you wrap up some lightly seasoned shredded spanner crab in a sheet of soy paper and top with mashed avocados and a sprinkle of crunchy beads, you should have the perfect combination of textures and flavors. It sound amazing on paper, but for me, it just didn't quite cut it. Like the salad, I'd gladly eat it for a casual lunch, but it just lacked something, another element. Maybe if there was a slice of crispy pork belly skin rolled in with the crab or a sweet soy glaze to go with the soy paper, it would have been better.

And with that, the meal was complete.
Well, no meal is complete without dessert.
With so many choices on the dessert menu, there was no doubt from the start that we'd order the tasting plates:

Chocolate Trio Fondant, Goma Street, Frangelico Bavarois - $24

Chocolate. Need I say more?
Starting with the Chocolate Peanut Butter Fondant (right of the candle). Cutting into a fondant with a clean spoon has to be one of my favorite 'dessert eating moments' (along with cracking the sugar on a creme brulee). I just love the way chocolate oozes out. The peanut butter really brings me back to America where I swear, there was a chocolate peanut butter item on the menu at every cafe and the peanut brittle and vanilla (really? tasted kind of strange to me) ice-cream served as great accompaniments.  For some reason though (must be this diet I'm on) I felt like it was a bit too heavy for me.

The Goma Street Caramelised white chocolate, sesame ice cream was my favorite on this plate. I love caramel (just in case I didn't make that clear enough above), and caramelised white chocolate tastes just like a creamy caramel with a hint of cocoa. The crunchy sesame candy and crisp sheets of chocolate shattered in my mouth and slowly melted and dissolved with the sesame ice-cream. So delicious! I can only fault this dessert on one thing - perhaps the sesame (tastes very similar to sesame snaps) was a little overpowering? But it was still orgasmic.

The Frangelico Bavarois looks like a simple cake, but it's filled with two thick and rich layers of cream. Frangelico is a hazelnut liquer and I guess it was used to flavor the bavarois with hazelnut cream. At this point I'm really running out of words to describe these items without repeating myself. I think you just have to try it to understand what I'm trying to say. I had maybe one bite of this and decided that I was too full to have any more. There was simply too much chocolate, and I think that's where the chef missed the mark. For me, any good sweet, creamy, rich dessert should come with something acidic to cut through it, a few raspberries or a strawberry, even something lemony?

Chef's Dessert Sampler - $26

 It's a bit too much to take in at one meal. But 3 desserts later, another 4 arrived. The Goma Street (which just occurred to me translates to 'Sesame Street' - how cute) was served in this set as well - not that I'm complaining.

At the top right hand corner, we had the Sokyo “Mochi Ice Cream” Yatsuhashi kyoto mochi, frozen strawberry milk shake. Of all the desserts this one looked the least impressive. But I personally think it tasted the best. Everything else was just too sweet, but this had that acidic component I was talking about. The milkshake was definitely made with fresh strawberries, and after having all that chocolate, the strawberry was what I needed. The stretchy mochi was soft and chewy, and the frozen milkshake just bursts in your mouth. I kind of wish I ordered another one now...

Miso Tapioca Red tea foam, coconut cream, miso caramel

Rotating clockwise, we had the Miso Tapioca Red tea foam, coconut cream, miso caramel. I didn't even realise the caramel was miso flavored, but I guess that's the beauty of fine dining. I don't know how these chefs come up with such beautiful combinations of flavors and manage to tame them to work harmoniously, but I'm so glad that they can do it because it's so inspiring. Normally when I have that much coconut cream (in the ice cream and the sago) I start feeling sick, but this was fine.

Finally, the Yamazaki Caramel Macchiato, Coffee ice cream, coco nibs, whisky foam. Even though I have a huge sweet tooth and usually lean towards sweet, creamy or tart flavors, the bitterness of the coffee, coco and whisky made a perfect end to the meal.

Hope this doesn't put you off

I don't think I've had enough of this place. I feel like I need to try everything before moving on. Yes there were elements that I wasn't quite satisfied with, but there were so many items on the menu that I wish I'd ordered. I totally understand why Chase Crawford dined at Sokyo when he was in Sydney.

Ratings:
Atmosphere: 8
Service: 8
Food: 8
Price/ Value: 8

Overall:8

I intended to give Sokyo a 7 because I'm sure there are plenty of fine dining restaurants that serve better food and provide better service, but looking back at my last review, which probably deserves a 4, I just had to scale it up to an 8.

Sokyo
1800 700 700

Level G, The Darling,
The Star,
80 Pyrmont Street,
Pyrmont NSW

Azuma Kushiyaki Japanese Restaurant

I was really looking forward to the Co-op Scholars Charitable Society dinner at Azuma Kushiyaki tonight, mainly because I wanted to write another post for this blog, but also because I wanted to try the restaurant for myself after finding several positive reviews.

At first glance, it seemed like a welcoming, somewhat classy, Japanese fusion restaurant with ambient lighting, relaxed atmosphere and simple yet sophisticated decor.
But that's about where the positives end.

To begin with, the service was quite poor. I'm accustomed to being greeted the sight and intricate descriptions of a restaurant's signature dishes upon opening up the menu, but instead, I see a page full of policies. One of which stated: minimum $30 spend per person. Under normal circumstances, this isn't a problem to me. Any satisfying meal at a mid-tier restaurant would cost somewhere between $40-$60. (although I am currently on a diet...) But to see the policy printed in black and white on the first page of the menu is somewhat off-putting. That was just the beginning.

After realising that we were expecting two more people than we booked for, a waitress advised that we should "count" the number of diners before making a booking. At any normal restaurant, this would be a simple problem that can be fixed by pulling up two chairs. But at Azuma, there seems to be a strict table-to-chair policy, which if broken, would result in a rude response: "You are not allowed to sit there, please get up" and "No no no, this chair is not for that table" After several minutes of standing awkwardly, the waitress finally brings out a matching chair and explains "this chair is for this table".

Another problem with the service was the timing and serving of the food. Although we all ordered at the same time, the dishes, regardless of whether they were an appetizer or main, came out individually whenever they were completed. This resulted in an awkward situation where some people had already finished eating by the time the last few dishes were served; not to mention it took about 15 minutes to serve one mug of green tea.

The first dish to arrive was my Seared Tuna Salad which was apparently made 'famous' on the SBS series: Food Safari.

Seared Tuna Salad - $16

I wasn't quite sure what I was expecting when I ordered it because I assumed that a salad that was featured on national television must be different or special somehow. So when it arrived, I was somewhat disappointed by the appearance of the dish - and I'm not a fan of a pile of shallots.
I'm not trying to be fussy, but I just want to point out that the onion slices are very uneven...

The dish does taste better than it looks though. The tuna was seared evenly, and just melts in your mouth (although a little stringy). Paired with the crunchiness of the fried garlic slices, the tangy vinaigrette and soggy salty crumbs, with just a hint of heat from the spring onions, it was definitely a pleasant mouthful.
Pleasant, but not outstanding, not amazingly good, not what I expected.

Next up was the 8-Skewer Tasting Plate which seemed to be a new addition to the menu (as it was written in ink in a cramped corner of the menu)

8-Skewer Tasting Plate - $19.95

I think this dish looks quite cute, and by cute, I mean street-food cute. The presentation and plating at this restaurant is definitely inconsistent. Or consistent in terms of not meeting my expectations. Nevertheless, it did look quite appetizing. I feel like it's halfway there, but they haven't figured out how to make it look better.
Working clockwise starting from the Zucchini seasoned with dried Shiso leaf flakes, we have Asparagus dressed with soy & butter, Chicken thigh fillet with Kushiyaki sauce, Chicken breast with pickled plum mayo, Atlantic Salmon fillet with soy, Sea Perch marinated in soy, sake & mirin, Grain fed Ox tongue with Azuma’s curry salt, Wagyu beef tenderloin with Yuzu citrus pepper.

After sampling each of these skewers, I noticed one common factor that tied them all together: They were all very under seasoned, very bland. The Zucchini was a little dry and overpowered by the distinctive flavor of the Shiso leaf, the Asparagus - they weren't even cut to the same length, and tasted like it was boiled then reheated in a fry pan. The chicken skewers were very dry, and overcooked. I didn't even know dark meat could be THAT dry. With the Salmon and the Perch, I honestly wouldn't be surprised if they just left out the soy and grilled them with a bit of oil. You can tell just by looking at the colour of the fish that it either wasn't marinated in soy or not marinated for long enough.
The beef and ox tounge skewers were the only two satisfactory pieces on that plate.
I guess that's why they gave us a large salt and pepper grinder.
(Another thing I just want to add - I prefer to add my salt and pepper separately to get a good balance of seasoning to my personal taste, but Azuma Kushiyaki only gives you one shaker that has a pre-mixed combination of salt and peppercorns.)

Perhaps it's my inexperienced palette or lack of appreciation for this style of grilling, but I don't think I would be satisfied if I were to be served this selection of skewers from a food cart for half the price.

My friend ordered a mediocre Seafood Salad.

Seafood Salad - $16

  I didn't really eat this, so I can't comment on the taste. But I remember laughing at the ridiculous amount of lettuce on that plate when it arrived. I think the picture speaks for itself.

There was one good dish on the menu though, the Wagyu Steak with soy garlic sauce - $25. I didn't manage to get a photo of this, but the texture of the marbled beef is perfect and just melts in your mouth. The only flaw with the dish that I could find (other than the presentation) was that it was pre-cut, and I prefer to cut my own steak, but that's just me.

And finally, for dessert, I ordered the Earl Grey Chiffon Cake, served with whipped cream, vanilla bean ice-cream and fruit salad. This cake was described by the Sydney Morning Herald as "Feathery, Pillowy, Melt-in-the-mouth...". And better yet, it's low in calories!

Earl Grey Chiffon Cake - $9.80

And again with the awkward plating...
After having my average dinner, I wasn't expecting much from the dessert, just looking at the puddle of split "whipped cream" made me regret my decision. But the cake was surprisingly good. The Earl Grey flavor was prominent and fragrant and the texture of the cake was as pillowy, and fluffy as described. I couldn't find any flaws with the fruit or the ice-cream (although the orange peel does look a little dirty), but I stayed away from the mysterious puddle of watering cream.
If you're not willing to dine at the restaurant just to try this cake, they also offer a selection of desserts at the Azuma Patisserie next door (Chiffon Cake for $5.80).

Overall, I had a great time at Azuma Kushiyaki, catching up with friends and discussing future CSCS plans and the. The food and service were disappointing but only because I expected better quality from a premium restaurant. Personally, I don't understand why there are so many positive reviews for Azuma Kushiyaki, but I would never choose to dine there again because there are plenty of Japanese restaurants in Sydney that offer a better dining experience at a lower price.

Ratings:
Atmosphere: 8.5
Service: 3.5
Food:5
Price/ Value: 8

Overall: 5

Azuma Kushiyaki
T: (02) 9267 7775

Ground Floor Regent Place Shopping
501 George Street
Sydney NSW 2000