17_07_2010 – Stillwater, Maroochydore

Stillwater is one of my favourite restaurants.  Nobu and Yuki are your hosts and are very friendly people who always make your visit as enjoyable as possible.  They are from the Kansai region and only use the freshest ingredients and keep to the traditional methods of food preparation and presentation.  There is no “fusion” food to be found here.

A good way to try the range of food here is the “omakase zensai” option with sushi plate at the end.  Normally we order a few entrees (ie nasu dengaku or agedashi tofu), a sushi plate (to share) then a soup with noodles (also to share) to finish.

Highly recommend… Remember to book, request the sushi bar if possible!

 

28_06_2011 – Sake Brisbane

This was one of our first serious restaurant visits since the birth of our beautiful son Sebastian. We had been planning to go to Sake since their Brisbane branch opened but things always came up at the last minute.

I had arranged with my good friend Shinichi, who is now there, to come down for a lunch session. We had also arranged to meet up with Cosmo – who’s always up for quality food, especially japanese. Cosmo had just been there the other night and had only good things to say about it.

As we arrived, Shin-san had a private room for us, which was very gladly appreciated having the baby with us. We let the chef take care of the ordering and the dishes began to flow.

First up arrived some whitefish sashimi with sesame and white soy dressing and kingfish jalapeno. Both perfectly dressed and flavoured to highlight the natural taste of the fish.

Next we had the sashimi tacos which came with a sake shot! Brilliant idea and taste to match. Some hot food arrived soon after with some japanese style wagyu sliders (mini hamburgers) and tonkatsu cups. The tonkatsu cups were presented like a little san choi bau.

Back to the seafood and there were some little pieces of grilled fish which led into a sashimi platter that was simply awesome. The next couple of bits are a little hazy as Sebastian decided he wasn’t too keen to keep sitting around waiting for us.

Edit: Almost forgot we had some venison nigiri which is one of Shin’s signature dishes (but not on the menu).

During our lunch we had asked for a sake recommendation and Cosmo and I had a glass of one of their premium sakes. To me it was an odd colour (strawish hue) but it was super smooth and of the savoury variety.

Dessert did not disappoint and actually blew me away when Shin explained to me the fine details of the dish he had chosen for us. The dish is based on a story of kids kicking over a flower pot and the resulting damage. So in this case the flower pot was a shot glass and it was presented on the plate on it’s side (ie knocked over) half full of chocolate mousse. The bits that were strewn over the plate (the dirt and flower parts) were a combination of clear white chocolate jelly, chocolate brownie pieces, black sesame icecream, a japanese style wafer and some small fruit pieces. What a finish.

Highly highly recommend!

09_07_10 – NOBU

Nobu was the real treat for our Hong Kong trip.  Omakase was great, nobu beer was great, sake was great, service was great, view was great.  Everything was great.

The omakase went something like this:

• Toro ‘ice cream’ with garlic served with a Japanese berry
• Dry clam with coriander and chilli, Crispy salmon spring roll, ‘New Style’ Uni and Ika sashimi
• Lobster and taro salad with jalapeño sauce
• King Crab tempura with a lemon ponzu
• Saga beef with truffle teriyaki
• Nigiri of mackerel, botan ebi, toro, snapper and uni
• Clear clam soup
• Banana ‘tofu’ with caramel icecream and chocolate sauce

Nobu Hong Kong is at the Intercontinental Hotel with one of the best views in town.

Saga beef was a new one for me and it was excellent (plus I loved the truffle teriyaki).  I was also extremely impressed with the ‘New Style’ sea urchin and squid sashimi.  The mackerel nigiri was also a standout, which surprised me.
There were some very bad reviews of this place on the internet forums but it was great and I would recommend anyone to give it a go if you have the funds available.