Nobu @Burswood, Perth

Quite some time ago now, Mr Alphie and I went to Nobu for my birthday dinner. Surprisingly, we were able to get a table on a Saturday night (in December!), even though Mr Alphie only booked two days before.

It was a stinking hot Perth day, so the light 'summery-ness' of Japanese (Japanese-South American fusion, to be precise) was the perfect choice for dinner. Nobu Perth is located within the Burswood casino complex, alongside Neil Perry's Rockpool Bar & Grill, Modo Mio and (A)lure. Burswood was bustling, with people everywhere, and every function room filled with a corporate Christmas parties (plus a few in marquees on the lawns), however, once inside the restaurant, you can easily believe you are in a stand alone restaurant - the bustling casino a mere memory.

We were escorted to our seats amid a chorus of 'irrashaimase' ('welcome' in Japanese) and presented with the menu, which, while quite long, was well explained by our waitress. Despite the helpful explanations, we opted for the 'Omakase Menu', because we simply couldn't decide! Our dining preferences were discussed; chilli - yes! raw fish - yes! and once we said yes to everything (except avocado - blurgh!), the banquet commenced.

Salmon Tartar with caviar

Yellowtail Sashimi with Jalapeno

Sashimi Salad with Matsuhisa Dressing

 

 Black Cod Miso

 Beef Toban-Yaki

A selection of sashimi - tuna, yellowtail, ???, and some sort of egg thing ('smelt egg'?)

Miso

 As for drinks, we opted to choose from the cocktail menu, as my food-wine matching skills are not up to the task of matching a banquet of Japanese-South American fusion to a single bottle of wine. As a lover of all things gin, I started with the Emporio Martini (Juynmai sake, gin, lychee juice, fresh lime & cranberry juice), and followed with a Lychee Martini (vodka, elderflower liqueur & lychee). Mr Alphie, started with the Japanese Mule (Nobu rocks, fresh lime, fresh lemongrass & cloves, ginger beer), followed by a something that I can't remember...

Emporio Martini                   Japanese Mule

The only disappointment of the night was the dessert - Bento Box with Green Tea ice cream and Goma tuille - the dessert itself was faultless. The chocolate fondant was perfectly cooked and still gooey in the centre, the green tea ice cream was delicious atop a sesame seed ('goma'?) tuille.

 

Bento Box with Green Tea ice cream

But, it just lacked that 'wow!' factor that all of the previous courses has delivered. I would have loved to try the Ichigo pannacotta with Yuzu granita and lychee or the Miso cappuccino with vanilla ice cream and cappuccino foam, both of which sound more exciting than chocolate fondant and green tea ice cream, which kind of felt like a cop-out. But, then again, I can always try the other desserts next time!

-Alphie

Monkey Magic, Surry Hills

Tuesday night is usually 'restaurant night' at our place (don't ask). Last night we made the trek to Surry Hills (not really for me, since I work in the city, but it was a bit of a drive for FH Alphie). He had chosen Monkey Magic in Surry Hills for tonights adventure - don't ask me how he found it, FH Alphie rarely chooses. And I'll admit, I was skeptical, as I'm not usually a fan of Japanese food, but it was a pleasant surprise.

Monkey Magic style sushi

I was running quite late, quite ironic given the relative distances we had to travel, but I had forgotten that I didn't have a bus ticket, then couldn't find anywhere that sold them. Once I had a ticket, I had to wait FOREVER for a bus to Surry Hills to arrive, which was then super slow thanks to peak hour traffic, and when I got off the bus, I walked the wrong way down Crown street... you get the idea. FH Alphie wasn't too worried though, as 'they treat cripples well' (he's still wearing his sling), I joked back 'especially ones who look like they've been stood up on a date'!

When I finally arrived, the first thing I noticed was that it looks quite empty from the street, but don't let this decieve you, as when we visited, the upstairs/mezzanine area was much busier.

Crab Leaves

We started with the Crab leaves (crab, ginger, chilli and lime on betel leaves), which were good, and had lots of crab meat, if a little tricky to eat. Then shared the Monkey Magic style sushi selection (large), which was delicious! I was a bit scared of this, as I haven't had great experiences with raw fish sushi in the past, but this was by far the best thing we ordered. The fish was incredibly soft and just melted in your mouth. I could easily have eaten the whole plate, although FH Alphie felt the same way, so it would have been a battle!

Stuffed cabbage roll

Stir fried Asian greens

Next was the Stuffed cabbage roll and Stir fried Asian greens. The cabbage roll looked nothing like I expected (now that I think about it, I'm not entirely sure what I did expect...), but it was quite tasty. Again, difficult to eat with chopsticks, although a knife and fork were provided. I loved the greens, FH Alphie would just roll his eyes and say that I always do. This time though, he agreed with me, which means they really were good.

We skipped on desert as we had to get going, and I'll be honest, I didn't even look at the desert menu, so I have no comments there.

The service was prompt (although it was a Tuesday - not really a busy night) and very friendy. All in all, a great night, it would be a great place for Friday night dinner & drinks with the girls I think (that would give me an excuse to try out something from the cocktail menu!). If you are dining midweek (Monday - Wednesday), theres a winter special - 20% of everything - but make sure you ask, as we didn't and despite it being a Tuesday, paid full price :(

Monkey Magic

3 & 4/410 Crown St

Surry Hills

NSW

www.monkeymagic.com.au

-Alphie