Single Michelin-starred modern-day fusion Chinese / French / other cuisine deconstructed in some ways, with a lot of smoked and aged meats, price fixe tasting menu, and you get to try a small bite of all sizes. Music is a hiphop/classic Chinese/K-pop mix in the background, just loud enough to keep tables from hearing each other but not overwhelming. The bathroom has a little table shaped like a pile of US bills, fun design that almost made me want to pick up the whole corner table to see if it was real! Entry has a bar, friendly bartender and a hallway with the aging meat and some collectibles in glass displays. I do like the little name card with the table reservation name and party guest, good attention to detail.
The dishes are a mix of tastes and flavors, textures - some a little too salty or not to my taste, but others were very good. Service excellent - folding napkins when you leave your seat, explaining all the dishes well, and serving up new drinks and replacing cutlery between every one of the courses. Bartender was super helpful in picking wine for combination, too, and both our server Lila and the bartender (didn't catch her name) and I think the manager who also came over to check in on us were very good at explaining the dishes that came our way... here we go to try to explain them!
The tasting menu -
Appetizers:
- Aged Tuna was smokey, with black vinegar, ginger and kumquat in a mini crust
- Toast with mushroom jam and aged duck was not balanced for me, with no flavor of duck to add, perhaps cut too thin to have any impact with the overly salty toast; the mushroom jam was there but little rich flavor imparted likely again impacted by the saltiness; others did not have this issue so likely mine was just hit with the salt too much
- Mussels with daikon, crunchy millet on top, and preserved tomato and creamy broth was rich with great textures, spicy was a bit overwhelming, but in a presentation that reminded me of an oatmeal / cereal bowl - very good spooning 100% of this up and wanting more, probably my favorite dish of the night
Mains:
- Waygu with mizuna, carrot and doubanjiang was nutty and love the meat but oddly incomplete; the carrot felt like a bit of afterthought on top (no additional flavor or marination that I was able to taste)
- Abalone with sticky rice, oyster sauce, daikon was similar to the dimsum sticky rice dish in a banana leaf, but more creative as a liquid-y soft version with the Abalone cooked perfectly, not chewy at all
- Shumai was deconstructed, with royal reds, cured pork and tobiko - a great bite with little citrus and spicy drops with the prawns; the cured pork was barely there (could've used a bit more), though aged cure comes through nicely still, the wonton skin draped over the dish - this I liked probably second best of the night
- Lamb two ways - once with poblano, cumin, pickled onions - rich, not gamey and perfectly cooked piece- slightly spicy powder balanced by the poblano, pickled onions could've used some more time marinating to get some flavor, though and were two small pieces; the second part with ground lamb skewers themselves with the sambal was spicy and soft but not as flavorful as the grilled piece was; a little lettuce wrap to pick it up and eat it by
Dessert included
- Rose, greek yogurt and lychee sorbet which was sour and in a bowl like with the rose ice powder, which I'm not a fan of
- The honey dessert with yuzu and chrysanthemum was a delightfully crisp and refreshing dessert, though I didn't like the meringue-like hard cookie bowl it was in; the honeycomb was the key
A special dessert from the chef came, little spiced chocolate churros (good), mango bonbons (ok).
Overall great service, no rush dining spaced out just about right on timing, all the attention to detail from seating, water refills, explanations, directions, folded napkins, change of plates/cutlery, and more were on-point. Portions were small but varied in textures and tastes, with a recurring cured/smokey theme throughout. While only strongly enjoyed two of the selections in the tasting menu we had, they were all interesting in different ways, and the company was great!
Great spot for a foodie date night, clear menu and if you sit close to the kitchen, you'll get a great view of their prep for your meal. I'm not the same kind of expert to appreciate it, but they made me feel warmly welcome as if I was enjoying a meal being cooked by loving family that spent a lot of time preparing it... almost like grandma checking if you eat your food. read more