Tetsuya's

We had long been intrigued by Tetsuya's. A great TV documentary introduced to us an apparently modest, self-taught chef who came to Australia and started the hard way, filleting fish in a seafood restaurant. Tetsuya's is one of only 4 Australian restaurants to make the San Pellegrino list of the world's best restaurants. Admittedly it fell 19 places in the last ranking and has been beaten to top place by Quay, but it certainly deserved a visit regardless.

I must preface this review by saying that we were at an event dinner with about 70 other guests. Heston Blumenthal of Fat Duck fame was in town and was going to chat to us over an 11 course degustation prepared by his good friend Tetsuya Wakuda. Obviously the kitchen was limited by having to serve us all en masse, and we did not get the true experience of a degustation meal in the main restaurant downstairs. Heston Blumenthal was also an entertaining and garrulous speaker. The event ran over time and some dishes had to be held until he had finished telling us some of his amusing stories. I can only imagine the frustration in the kitchen as their timetable went out the window. From our perspective however we enjoyed a great meal and had the pleasure of meeting one of our absolute food idols at the same time.

We began with a chilled apple and cucumber soup with sheep's yoghurt ice cream. This was matched with a remarkably smooth sake that is made especially for Tetsuya's restaurant by one of the sake masters of Japan. I could recognise that it was far less astringent than sakes I had tried in the past, but I can't say it converted me. The apple in our shot glass amuse bouche was chopped into small cubes and suspended in a jelly with the delightfully smooth cucumber soup providing a delicious contrast in both flavour and texture.

Our next dish was Tasmanian lobster and olive oil mousse with a wasabi and soy jelly. The jelly was sensational - a jellified stock of delicate soy which nevertheless gave a real hit of astringent horseradish. The olive oil mousse was also delicate and delightful and both the mousse and the jelly went well with the raw morsels of tender lobster.

Marinated New Zealand scampi followed served with curd, Junsai and scampi essence. Junsai are apparently lotus shoots and are added for texture rather than flavour. The curd on its own was rather unpleasant but all together the dish worked.

Tetsuya's signature dish followed. It is a remarkably simple but beautiful creation. A slice of ocean trout sitting aslant the plate covered with black, salted konbu to recreate the skin of the fish. The konbu (kelp) had a delightfully smoky, almost bacon like flavour and contrasted beautifully with the silky texture of the raw fish. The dish came with a celery and apple salad which added a pleasing crunch and palate cleanse to the salty konbu and smooth fish. My husband and I both loved this dish, but our table companions, all regular visitors to the restaurant downstairs, assured us that this was not up to the normal standard of the dish.

It was pleasant after all the raw seafood to have some steamed Murray Cod next, with black bean and sautéed spring onions. The peppery broth the cod came with was the highlight of the dish for me, demonstrating Tetsuya's mastery of the balancing of flavours to create a delicious umami flavour.

Not being a great lover of Japanese cooking I was beginning to feel that the whole degustation had been delicate but a little anemic. I was longing for some stronger flavours and some meat. The meat duly came with the next dish in the form of a slow cooked breast of quail served with onion jus, fig and braised eschallots. The quail was beautifully cooked but I would have preferred the bacon wrapping it to have been crisp. The accompanying fig owed nothing to the kitchen it came from and everything to the tree from which it had been recently picked.

The next dish horrified my husband but made my night and finally satisfied my craving for some meat. Slowly braised oxtail was served with juicy sea cucumber that had somehow been infused deeply with the flavour of the meat and came to resemble in both texture and flavour the beef sinew we had tried at the Royal Mail. The lotus root had little to add in terms of flavour, but beautifully resembled the bone of the ox tail and added a nice firm element to the dish. Once again the broth that accompanied this dish was an absolute masterpiece. It was not to my husband's taste but I happily polished his off as well with a smile on my face.

The savoury dishes ended with some grass fed Tasmanian beef short rib with puffed rice and wasabi mustard. The meat was beautifully tender. The accompaniment was simply grated wasabi with mustard seeds mixed through it which was so subtle it left me longing for a good French sauce.

Our palate cleanser was a slice of green musk melon. A very delicious and very ripe melon but, like the fig, not exactly a tribute to anyone's skill.

We were given two desserts. The first was a deconstructed tarte tatin served in a shot glass. I was disappointed with the creamy custard like substance which was part of this dish - this having no place in a tarte tatin in my opinion. The chef had also decided to go with a burnt caramel flavouring, which I actively dislike - neither salted caramel or burnt caramel being food trends of which I approve.

The chocolate pavé which followed saved the evening. It was covered with a deliciously smooth and still liquid, light ganache concealing an airy and creamy chocolate mousse. The accompanying cream cheese icecream was delicious, smooth and light and sat on a wonderfully bitter bed of 100% cocoa chocolate rubble. I even forgave the single salt crystal resting on the chocolate pavé.

Overall Tetsuya's impressed, even in a difficult setting with a set degustation for 70. If they can serve such excellent food in this format then I can only imagine the delights of dining à deux downstairs. The service was excellent throughout and the whole building is a design statement, nestled back from Kent Street amidst a peaceful oasis of a Japanese garden and filled everywhere with the beautiful artworks Tetsuya collects. The overwhelming impression of the evening was of refined and delicate food. If my own tastes lean more towards robust French flavouring that is no slight to Tetsuya's impressive skill.