Tetsuya's

I've been wanting to come try this place for a while, so have been saving up this place for a special occasion with a special person. So for my 25th birthday this year, decided to book the most expensive degustation dinner in Sydney (thanks Blair for the birthday dinner). I've been to a lot of food places in the past year, from fine dining (Bennelong, Catalina, O Bar and Dining, and more)/restaurants/local eats/cafes etc in Sydney, from East Coast to West Coast in America, and throughout Europe as well. Just haven't had time to do food reviews (last one was in Aug 2018 which was a backlog from March 2018), but had to do a post about Tetsuya's.

For a Tuesday night, the restaurant was surprisingly full. I made a booking around 2-3 weeks in advance, and was seated one 'row' behind the window garden seat. Apparently window tables are allocated based on reservation dates, so I guess there were some people who are more organised than me haha.

8 course degustation was $240pp. Yes, I still bring lunch to work, so I can then splurge once a year on fine dining. The food here is focused on seafood with 4/8 dishes being seafood, so if you don't like seafood then don't come. It has Japanese inspired dishes mixed with a bit of French cuisine.

Hidden on Kent St

I used to always walk past this to get to my bus from the city to home on Kent St. During the day the gates are closed, so this place is hidden away. You come here for the food not views, unlike other fine dining places 

View of the Japanese style garden

Can't really see it at night and I don't think you're allowed to walk in it, but it's cute. Of course if you ever go Japan, the original country is always more impressive. It's cute how they try to transport you to Japan.

Truffle butter + filtered water with lime

We ate pretty much almost all the butter. I never eat butter, except at fine dining. It was so light, and whipped well so very spreadable, but the truffle flavour was so intense and you could see so many bits of truffle in it. Makes my truffle salt and truffle oil at home seem like nothing. Even if you had a blocked nose, you would be able to smell the truffle. They offered sparkling, still or filtered water (no tap water option cause fine dining haha).

Bread options were Kombu scroll, rye or white sourdough. All of them were so delicious. The scroll was extra flaky and easy to pull apart, and sourdough had a nice crunchy crust without being chewy. Not sure if I filled up from the bread, butter and water...

Cherry Blossom: dry sherry, bombay gin, cherry beer, ratafia, lime-$24

Chose this one since it seemed to fit with the Japanese theme. It tasted like slightly sour cherries, and not sweet. It was nice but not one of my favourite cocktails.

Tuna with daikon and wasabi

You can definitely tell this fish was so fresh and the flavours weren't overpowering the fish flavour. Could hardly taste the wasabi which was good, since I'm not a big fan. Daikon gave it that extra bit of freshness for the dish.

Poached scampi with coffee vinaigrette and cannellini bean

Scampi perfectly cooked and full of flavour, and moving onto a warm dish. I couldn't really taste the coffee, but it gave that slight bit of acidity to cut through the butteriness of the scampi. The puree on the side help emphasis the smooth texture of the scampi.

Signature dish: confit of ocean trout with salad of apple and witlof

Wow, this dish lived up to the hype. The softest trout ever which melts in your mouth, perfectly seasoned with the kombu on top. Your knife just glides right through, and this is indeed my favourite seafood dish. Loved the crunch from the apple salad hidden underneath for some texture and slight sweetness. The caviar also gave it a pop of flavour. The parsley oil looked pretty on the plate, but I couldn't really taste it.

eating from books

Apparently, this is the most photographed dish in the world. Mainly because it was invented back in 1987. Most restaurants weren't even opened by then, and most chefs change their menu and remove signature dishes (like the Quay's snow egg) from time to time to keep people coming back. This dish has stayed on the menu since it was first created which explains why it's the most photographed dish. The recipe photo shows more parsley oil and caviar, but I guess that book was published around 2000, and 19 years later, inflation etc so they just cut out the extra bits without sacrificing the quality of the trout. 

salad to go with the trout

Salad had a nice dressing, I don't mind acidity, but some may find it a bit too acidic/bitter. Waiter suggested to have the fish first then have the salad as a side. I found the salad flavour to a bit overpowering, so I just had the salad separately after I finished the trout.

Queensland murray cod with confit fennel and young garlic

Moving onto the first hot dish where the plate was pre heated to preserve the warmth. This piece of fish was quite small, but again cooked to perfection. The skin super crispy and again the fish was very soft. It looked like a lot of sauce, but it was the perfect amount. This garlic sauce is better than El Jannah's (which is already one of the best for just cheap eats). The sauce was an emulsion, so it was super smooth without being too garlicy.

Pearl meat with jerusalem artichoke and navel orange

The first of the two meat dishes was this confit chicken which was really moist and smooth, and packed full of flavour with the accompanying jus. The orange was a nice element to the dish bringing some depth of flavour, rather than just savoury.

Wagyu rib eye with chestnut mushroom and yuzu

I loved the yuzu sauce on the side, highlight of the dish. It gave a lovely acidity to cut through the richness of the beef. The meat was perfectly cooked and loved the jus sauce. Mushrooms were plump and juicy. Good end to the savoury dishes.

Blood orange and beetroot sorbet with layer of white chocolate

This was the perfect palate cleanser, and the sourness from the sorbet really cut through to literally cleanse the savoury taste from previous dishes. A thin piece of white chocolate covered the sorbet to help balance the acidity, and on the side were some pearl like things. Apparently they use some science to make them. They're soft and not chewy like your usual tapioca pearls.

Chocolate stone with honey and milk

The dessert was nice but not amazing compared to other fine dining desserts I've had, wasn't expecting much from desserts since I was coming here for their seafood. The chocolate stone had a sort of milk ice cream filling inside and was really soft and not rich. Loved the quenelle of ice cream on the side with some crumbs for texture. The tempered ring of chocolate made the dish more fun. Could definitely hear the crack as your spoon cut through it.

Yay for birthday cake

Tetsuya's chocolate cake

The mousse cake was rich but not too sweet. I'm not a chocolate person, and if I do eat chocolate, it's always dark choc. The mousse was predominately dark choc which I loved, and just some sweetness from the white choc inside.

Petits fours: citrus tart, raspberry and mascarpone macaron, chocolate truffle lychee black sesame

I love these petits four, especially because it wasn't just chocolate. The chocolate truffle was my favourite, since it looked like truffle, but inside was this delicious black sesame filling, what a thin outer shell of chocolate. The macaroni wasn't overly sweet since the mascarpone was light and with a mild raspberry filling. Loved the acidity from the citrus tart as well with a thin layer of meringue.

His first cookbook

Thanks Blair for buying this book all those years ago (way before we met and even he didn't know who Tetsuya was when he bought this book around 10 years ago). So lucky we brought it along with us, since we got it signed! (Well Tetsuya was overseas but they swapped our copy with a signed copy in their stock).

Me being weird even though it's a fine dining place, I started taking photos of the trout dish with the book, and the usual taking a million photos before I eat, even though these days they just get stored since I don't really have time to upload to my food Instagram account or blog about it. Halfway through the meal a waiter said to follow him, and to take our phones. He ended up showing us into their kitchen! First time seeing a commercial kitchen (not through a window or on MasterChef). We were literally on the pass, and seeing all the chefs plate up. Inside was really big, and they explained how they don't use computers, since everyone eats the same 8 courses, so they just cross it out as you complete a dish then make the next one. So cool seeing the head chef in work as well.

peek into kitchen

Bit shocked at the invite into their kitchen, still in awe

Service was impeccable throughout the night as you would expect for a fine dining restaurant.  We did tip them extra since they went above and beyond for our dining experience. Although Tetsuya himself wasn't there (he was to return the following week, but these dining places are more once in a life time not weekly dining so we wouldn't obviously go back just to see him), we were just shocked that they let us have a peek into their kitchen and signed our book! Definitely a birthday dinner to remember.

LuMi Bar and Dining

Birthdays are really just an excuse to go out and eat. Every year I treat myself to some fine dining, because what is life if you don't enjoy the finer things in life? (Well every year I've worked...) Literally all my savings go into food. This year decided to go somewhere 'cheaper' (*cough under $200pp) since I've already gone around the world in both Europe and Asia, and have long well reached my food quota for the year. Decided to come here since the chef was on MasterChef as a celebrity chef (who lost but that doesn't really affect the quality of the restaurant since when was reality tv all that real...). This place is a fusion between Italian and Japanese (so many post-Jap feels...). Be prepared for a photo spam.

Different side of Sydney

The restaurant is actually quite quiet around this area, so it's nice to come this side of Sydney.

Cute tea set

menu

Went for the 8 course degustation for lunch $115pp. Normally they have the 5 course menu for lunch, so you have to call them up if you want the 8 course for lunch. I think price wise it's decent since you get a few snacks, and a petit four to finish. Even though the blinds were drawn it was still quite sunny.  The main problem was dealing with moving shadows when taking photos...

bar

Snack: snapper jelly with fish mousse and Neptune seaweed

inside

The flavours of this jelly reminded me of miso soup rather than a fishy taste. It was really flavourful and you have the slight creaminess from the fish mousse inside.

tapioca with seaweed

So crispy and love the way they used seaweed as a seasoning. Interesting how they placed it on top of the the raw veggies.

soft cheese- not too cheesy, and yes it was soft. 

Jap steamed egg custard with shell fish oil and caviar

Loved the presentation of this in a scallop shell on top of the sea shells. The flavours were quite interesting and not too salty. I do prefer the crab steamed egg custard I had in Tokyo since it was more eggy/flavourful.

Brioche bread + breadsticks 

This is probably one of the best brioche breads I've ever had, probably even better than some French bakeries. From far away they looked like muffins. It was still nice and warm when it came on the table and super easy to pull apart. Super soft and flavourful, didn't even nee the extra butter on the side. Since it's not your normal complimentary sourdough, they do charge $4 for each additional bread, which is pretty cheap if you compare it to Asian bakeries where it's just all air inside. If only I could take one of these brioches home...Breadsticks were average, but I did notice you only get them if you have the 8 course tasting menu.

Veal, yoghurt, jerusalem artichoke

First time having raw red meat. I was too scared to have steak tartare in France just in case I got sick. I do love my steak pink inside, but having it completely raw is a new experience. It was surprisingly nice, and the flavour of it reminded me of a cross between salmon/tuna, texture wise sort of was similar to sashimi. The yoghurt added a lovely creaminess to it whilst still being light. Loved the crunch of the jerusalem artichoke, if only they were readily available in packets to buy off the shelf...

Miso-stone

A spin on the classic minostrone soup. The scoop mini balls from different veggies and other ingredients such as cucumbers, radish, pickled radish, potatoes, carrot, pumpkins, potato, macadamia nuts, and poured in a tomato soup, but unlike the normal red tomatoes in the original dish, this one had a clear green tomato soup base. Really an interesting concept. I saw that they do chop up the core of the veggies, for example, the cucumbers have the skin on, so I guess they use the middle for other stuff.

Agnolotti, parsnip, truffle (added more truffles-$15)

without truffles 

inside

It's almost the end of winter and I missed the beginning of my favourite season since I was overseas, which also means that the truffle season is almost over. I am a massive truffle fan, and if I could have truffle everyday, I would. So it made sense to pay the extra $15 for some shaved pieces of truffle. If you had the 5 course lunch, you could opt to add truffle in the pappardelle (below), but it was in fine strands, rather than seeing the fine grains of the truffle. I found the truffle they used here smelt good but it didn't taste as strong compared to other truffles I've had. The pasta itself had a parsnip sort of liquid cream inside which bursted with flavour. The sauce was supposed to have some truffle flavour already, but couldn't really taste that much.

Pappardelle, duck, hazelnut

I love when I see duck on the menu since it's my favourite protein. Although it is more in a ragu form, it really complemented the flavours of the pasta. It was super flavourful, probably because it was cooked in individual saucepans with a large slab of butter. The pasta was super silky and cooked al dente. Loved the crunch from the hazelnuts as well.

Lamb, celeriac, chilli kosho, carrot puree

Lamb was super soft and melt in your mouth. There was quite a bit of fat though since they used the shoulder. Loved the plating of the sheet of celeriac. The chilli kosho wasn't actually that chilli, and helped complement the spices in the lamb (slowly building my chilli tolerance). The puree was super sweet and tasted like pumpkin more than carrot, pretty sure they said it was a carrot puree. There was a rosemary (?) powder sprinkled on top as well.

Granny Smith Apple: green apple sorbet, liquorice mousse, finger lime

inside

My favourite dish was this apple, it's unlike anything I've seen or tasted before! It's a real apple with the top cut and stalk still intact, then they core it and hollow out the apple, before putting in a mousse, sponge and green apple sorbet on top. How do they manage to make the apple hollow inside whilst keeping the skin intact? I loved how it was presented on gum leaves, and they sprayed a food scent on it, so it smelt even more like a super fresh and sweet granny smith. I love a bit of theatre in food and it delivered. The sorbet was on of the bests ones I've had and really kept true to the flavour of the granny smith without being too acidic. Couldn't really taste the liquorice mousse, but loved the burst of the sour finger lime, making this dessert really refreshing and not sweet.

cute candle (which I slightly burnt my finger and left wax all over the table for them to figure out how to clean once it dried....)

Douglas Fir ice cream, rhubarb, extra virgin olive oil

Another refreshing and light dessert to finish. This is not your normal ice cream, since it was super light and texture reminded me of foam from a foam gun. It tasted sort of like pine, well the scent of the fresh Christmas trees. The olive oil helped to cut back the sweetness of the rhubarb, which I did find was just a tad bit too sweet.

Petit four: pear and rosemary friand

For once, the petit four wasn't chocolate. Although it does seem a bit stingy giving one petit four, for the price you pay it's ok. The friend was quite buttery inside with a crisp edge. It did have pieces of pear and rosemary sprinkled on top. Again, needed to go with 8 courses to have the petit fours.

open kitchen!

the chef!

If you're after something a bit different and not too pricey, I think LuMi does a pretty good job. I would even come back here just to have the apple and brioche bread again. Too bad there's no a la carte here...