moshi moshi sushi

the jolly japanese journey continues in djakarta... errr jakarta with a visit to the smashing sushi groove restaurant tucked in the happening kuningan district.
my old friend new straits times correspondent amy chew had suggested the japanese joint famed for its ambience and amiable staff apart from good food. and to chew fat over past, present and future in the new year.
first off, the sushi groove is located in setiabudi plaza - a building with great collection of restaurants offering a spectrum of cuisine from east to west, north and south. and of course, the ubiquitous starbucks where i dawdled with a java chip frappucino before dinner.
what can i say, sushi groove had a funky fun look with two long communal tables with stools for an ecletic experience in dining. amy was slightly late so had the standard miso soup and edamame beans with chilled ocha.
the little lady turned up soon after and we turned our attention to the menu with help of the ever-smiling staff.
i settled for the ziggy roll when i noted it was my favourite combination of deep-fried soft shell crab with cabe rawit or birds eye chilli or chilli padi as we know it in kuala lumpur. but the cabe rawit was sliced too thin and would have been better if a bit chunkier.
actually i had this combination in another sushi joint in jakarta and it was called a kalimantan roll while there is a similar dish in kuala lumpur at shrooms in klcc. whatever it is called, it went well with the wasabi and more than provided the explosive zing.
amy opted for her favourite baby dragon roll that combined shrimp tempura with with unagi and crab salad with avocado and tobiko for a savoury experience. it was a nice and crispy experience.
especially with more wasabi than soyu.
we chewed more edamame apart from fat about the ways of the world when the lion roll turned up. it was the waiter's recommendation and we looked at it with anticipation.
the lion roll looked every bit like a group of lion dancers performing during the chinese lunar new year celebrations. a combination of silver cod and spicy tuna, the roll hit the right spicy fishy notes on its own and was heavenly when dipped with wasabi and soyu.
the place was getting crowded and chatty but the ambience with some light music plus the good food aroused our appetites further. we decided to make one last order and picked the golden gate roll.
bearing a slight resemblance to its more famous american namesake, the golden gate roll is fresh salmon and avocado topped with tuna. we thought we bit off more than we could chew but the roll surprised us.
the fresh salmon and avocado was heavenly especially with some wasabi. we took our time to savour the flavour, nibbling and chewing it as we sipped our ocha.
what a meal it was. and i must say jakarta is proving to be a gourmet's heaven. can't wait to try out the restaurants in setiabudi plaza and other parts of the sprawling city.

whisky galore

whisky galore - there is just so much to write about whisky this week.
friends in kuala lumpur went for the chivas 18 whisky tasting while the enthusiastic zeal of the freshly-converted-to-single-malts in djakarta ensured a steady supply of whisky for me.
also, there is a remake of an old film based on a Sir Compton Mackenzie book which i have read called - whisky galore! and guess what, surfed the world wide web and found that there is a beverage afficionado who has made a videocast of tastings called the beverage review.
the latest videocast - with host michael lam in his christmas cap - is on the macallan cask strength single malt.

meanwhile, after a couple of weeks in djakarta, my single malt enthusiast-friend amazed me by getting his brother come over from kuala lumpur with more single malts.
a surfeit of single malts to delight us all.
apart from the half bottle of 15-year-old french oak reserve the glenlivet, our choice expanded to the bowmore cask strength and the bowmore darkest.
the host had the privilege of choice and he chose the bowmore darkest.
good choice and we imbibed it with care, this time with an ice-cube to release the serpent that coiled out sinously like a belly-dancer jiggling her way through the floor.
a bit of toffee, some cinnamon and the oily peaty finish in the bowmore darkest made us finish a fair bit of the bottle. i had three tumblers of the darkest and left for home satisfied.
considering that we had some beers and sake earlier during a superb meal at the hamako japanese restaurant in blok m, djakarta. the salmon was firm and fresh and went well with the wasabi.
might post a review of the restaurant if i do make a return visit there.
merry christmas and a happy new year folks!

rose, rose, i love you!

the song rose, rose, i love you is a very very old song, with chinese songstress yao lee recording it in 1940 and about a decade later, frankie laine cutting it in 1951.
why am i going on about this and what has it do with drinks or food? plenty.
i thought of the song as i sipped my first glass of jacob's creek sparkling rose, the latest sparkling wine from the australian master wine producer, at mizu, a japanese restaurant in bangsar village, kuala lumpur.
it was billed as an evening with a chief winemaker who turned out to be jacob's creek's philip laffer.
the rose was the star but laffer also brought along bottles of reserve chardonnay, riesling, shiraz and cabernet to go with some splendid japanese food.
featured here is the menu for the evening with a bowl that had miso soup - nice and as you can see, i finished it - a glass of shiraz on the left, finished the cabernet and the remnants of the rose.
the rose is great.
had a couple of glasses of this sparkling wine made from chardonnay and pinot noir grapes.
the non-vintage fermented sparkling wine is dry, combining the best of the citrusy chardonnay and the strawberry flavours of the pinot noir.
a soft appealing taste without the plumminess of red wines, the rose at 11.5 percent alcohol by volume, is great as an aperitif or with the dessert that we had, ice-cream with strawberry sauce. i did try it with some wasabi but it didn' t work out that well. guess there is a limit to both the rose and the wasabi.
having said that, the meal at mizu was quite good. it started with a sesame bean curd with a hint of wasabi combining well with the reserve chardonnay. a better combination followed after the clear soup when the reserve riesling superbly accompanied the shashimi trio of tuna, salmon and yellow tail with the wasabi and shoyu in attendance.
the riesling tangoed with the fish and wasabi, dancing in unison as i slowly savoured the complex flavours.
it was time for some red and the reserve shiraz made its appearance. the big and bold wine was paired with some foie gras delicately sitting on daikon or white radish in sauce. good stuff as the shiraz and the foie gras - featured here - held out their distinctive taste.
the cabernet heralded the start of the main course, a beef teppanyaki that was accompanied with rice, miso soup and pickles. quite good.
a great dinner to start the week.