The bento is not supposed to come with california roll, but we decided not to have the unajyu and opted to change it to a california roll instead. 
The california roll was not bad. Normal japanese rice taste of vinegar but is not very sweet. Somehow the rice here is very sweet. I'm not sure how they cooked the rice, but you know how when you chew on rice for a considerable period of time they start to digest and start tasting sweet? That's how it tasted, coupled with the vinegared taste of course. It probably sounds disgusting, but it is really quite good. The sweetness instantly erupts when you put it in your mouth and lingers long after you have swallowed.
Sharon thinks it is one of the best california rolls she has eaten. I don't think it is that good, but it is quite good, frankly. The avocado was very creamy, the tobiko burst into frenzied raptures when bitten into, the rice was an immaculate balance of acetous and sweet. It was definitely pleasurable. However, I wouldn't go so far as to say it is the most outstanding one I have tried. I'm certainly not about to run down the roads proclaiming Tatsuya as the King of california rolls.
The chawanmushi is very unique indeed. It is very soft, very smooth, very eggy and very tart. Yes you read right, tart! There is a distinct yuzu taste to it. That added an interesting dimension to a very traditional dish. I quite liked it. I thought it was refreshing and well, nippy.
However, this chawanmushi had no other ingredients added whatsoever so I got a bit bored of the taste. The yuzu was unable to sustain my interest for very long. As much as Sharon likes yuzu, she thought that this was a corruption of chawanmushi and did not like this at all.
Their tuna looked amazing. So thick and succulent. However, we did not like this. It was limp and very fishy. Then again, we're not big fans of maguro anyway. Somehow, we like tuna belly but not tuna sashimi. To me, it has a very metallic taste about it and I don't like it. So maybe maguro-fans will like this?I thought the Salmon Sashimi was not bad. It was fresh and firm to the bite. However, compared to Akashi? It's a long long long way off. I don't know why, but Akashi's Salmon sashimi is simply out of this world. It's in a whole different league of its own. Akashi's other stuff are not that great but their salmon sashimi is darn freaking good. I have never had anything like that before.
Ok, I digress, back to Tatsuya. Their salmon sashimi was good, but it was not THAT good. It was definitely better than what you would get from sushi-tei, but I don't think the discrepancy is that great to command that wide a price gap. 
Tai (sea bream/red snapper) sashimi. I did not like this. I thought it was limp (and not just cos it was sliced so thinly) and not very fresh. 
Mekajiki (Swordfish) Sashimi. Sharon liked it, she thought it was very good and comparable to Akashi (though Akashi is better). In her own words "u know how when u eat swordfish, coz its a firmer fish, wen u bite into it.. there's a slight crunch to it? and lk the 'juice' comes out from the meat? this was lk that... just that akashi's is better"
The cod was flavourful. The seasoning was quite marvellous. Sharon found it too salty for her liking, which I found odd, cos I'm usually the one more sensitive to extremely salty food. Towards the end, her tastebuds could no longer handle the excessive sodium and she could only eat two slivers of it.
The gindara was overcooked and much too tough. Fish is always difficult to cook. A minute less and it is slimy, a minute more and it's too tough. But this fish was obviously wayyy overdone. The charred skin was great, I loved the smoky taste, but the texture was verging on rubbery. This does not make me a happy girl.
2 comments:
ya i heard that tatsuya set meals are not very expensive. how much u guys spend? but sushi tei better than tatsuya? hmmm
We spent about a hundred in total? We only ordered one lunch set, gindara and sashimi. I don't think Sushi-Tei is manifestly better than Tatsuya. However, it is definitely more value for money than Tatsuya.
Generally speaking, I think the standard is better at Tatsuya, just that it is not worth the price tag. The difference in quality is not proportionate to the difference in price. I definitely thought the gindara is a lot better at sushi-tei. Not flavour-wise, but texture-wise. The chef at Tatsuya really screwed up that cod, it was way too overcooked. But the sauce was splendid, I'll admit that.
Perhaps if we ordered omakase, it would have been a lot better, because those who did seemed to enjoy their food a lot more than those tucking into the lunch boxes. And the food look oh-so-good to boot!
I know many people are opposed to conveyor belt sushi chain restaurants but I do think that Sushi-Tei and Ichiban Boshi have some surprising finds that are very value for money! Of course you can't expect extremely exquisite food, but occasionally, the freshness of the sashimi and the lushness of the unagi, for example, can nearly rival the top restaurants. (Provided of course that those aren't the top restaurants' signature dishes)
Post a Comment