Bonsai Japanese Restaurant

Bonsai Japanese Restaurant would have to be one of the earlier modern Japanese restaurants to have opened in Perth. Since its opening back in 2010/2011 it has only gone strength to strength and proves to always provide quality dishes at reasonable prices (see my previous post here).

However, since its opening the restaurant has refurbished and expanded the place, but it is still sleek with a cavernously airy affair.

The menu hasn't changed much, but I love that sometimes, because its comforting and allows you to have your favourites.

We ordered a few different dishes to share. We started off with creamy prawn spring rolls (per request of M). It really wasn't too bad, the spring rolls were lightly fried and weren't drenched in oil (BONUS!) an the pastry wasn't too thick.

Creamy Prawn Springrolls

This was followed by prawn kushi-yaki - grilled prawn skewers with caramel soy dipping sauce. The prawns were plump and juicy it lacked a bit of flavour, which I guess was made up by the accompanying sauce. 

Prawn Kushi-yaki

To cut through some of the fried and creamy tastes of the other dishes, we ordered something light and refreshing - salmon sashimi ceviche. The salmon was nice and fresh and was marinated in light lemon and olive oil dressing and tossed through salmon roe and witlof julienne. It was exactly to my liking, tangy, fresh and light. Delicious.

Salmon Sashimi Ceviche

The teriyaki patagonian toothfish was just heavenly and just melted in the mouth. It was dressed in this lovely miso-teriyaki sauce, which added that sweet and salty flavour to the dish. This is as good or if not better than that of Nobu's Black Miso Cod and its the fraction of the price!

Teriyaki Patagonian Toothfish

To break the seafood trend, we ordered the crispy skin duck.The duck breast was pan fried until the skin was crispy and was dressed with this lovely vinaigrette and caramelised soy. The pumpkin puree wasn't really needed, nonetheless it was delicious to eat!

Crispy Skin Duck

Bonsai is definitely one of my go to places for nice Japanese dishes that doesn't break the bank. The staff are friendly and are always rushed around. The ambiance is relaxed, a little loud, but cosy. The dishes are packed full of flavours and they use quality produce. It's a bonus that it's also on the entertainment card! What more do you want?

Sake Bar Restaurant

**UNFORTUNATELY THIS RESTAURANT IS NO LONGER IN OPERATION**

To celebrate the end of JJ and mine Photography short course we headed out for dinner at Sake Bar Restaurant on Francis street in Northbridge. The exterior and interior of Sake Bar Restaurant takes me back to Takayama, Nippon (Japan). Walk across the bridge and you enter an area that is like a ryouken, the "wooden" exterior and wooden furniture, Japanese style booths, "paper walls" is very much like what we saw in the town of Takayama and the ryouken that we stayed at. So lovely.

Sake Bar Restaurant offers sushi and makimono rolls that are made to order, fresh sashimi,  an array of teppanyaki dishes, but their signature menu is the omakase bridge, which is an assortment of sashimi, nigiri sushi oysters, sushi rolls on a wooden omakase bridge.

As it was just JJ and me we didn't get the omakase bridge, but from what we can see from our neighbours it looks amazing. We decided to have a small entree, mains, dessert and then JJ was craving gyoza (as we were having Japanese) so we ended up having a side of that as well. 

We started with something a little light by ordering the Maguro Tataki, which is seared tuna with finely diced tomato, cucumber, red onion drizzled with sweet miso sauce and lemon oil. The tuna was lovely and fresh. The salsa flavours were refreshing and zesty and complemented the delicious sweet miso sauce. The only downside to this dish was how thinly sliced the tuna was. If it was just another half a centimeter thicker (and decreased the amount of tuna pieces on the dish by making it thicker) it would be perfect, as you would be able to taste the tuna a bit more. Nonetheless, the flavours of the dish was fab.

Maguro Tataki

For the mains JJ ordered the Beef teriyaki. Charcoal grilled beef, the aroma was amazing, it makes your mouth water just inhaling it. It was covered in beautiful homemade teriyaki sauce. Cooked perfectly, it was tender, juicy and the hints of charcoal taste through the beef gave it that nice twist to a very Australian-Japanese dish. The serving was also very small and we didn't expect the meat to be cut up like it was.

Beef Teriyaki

I went for the Tooth Fish Chilli Misoyaki. The tooth fish was lightly pan fried and drizzled in Sake's homemade chilli-miso sauce. The fish melted in my mouth (literally), the texture was heavenly. The chilli miso sauce was sticky and sweet (more than chilli). It hit the right spot.

   

Tooth Fish Chilli Misoyaki

If we weren't full enough, we ordered a side of gyoza. Usually with these I find them a little too oily and not enough fillings with the skin being too thick. Sake's gyoza on the other hand, had plenty of filling of pork and vegetable. It was lightly pan fried and wasn't as oily as others I have tried. The Ponzu sauce it came with had the right balance of vinegar, lemon, and soy sauce and cut through the slight grease from the gyoza. 

Gyoza

Of course, celebrations cannot end without having some dessert. And we are both such suckers for homemade matcha and black sesame ice cream it was a no brainer. 

I was lucky to try a bit of JJ's matcha ice cream. I love it how the taste of matcha was plentiful and evident in the ice cream. It was sweet enough and the strong matcha flavour however didn't over power the ice cream. With a dab of red bean paste on top it was just lovely.

The black sesame ice cream was just delicious. I love the texture of this black sesame ice cream, it's creamy, indulgent and didn't have that sandy texture like some others do. BUT you can tell the black sesame has been in the freezer for too long as occasionally I would get pieces of ice through the ice cream, which was a bit of a let down.

Of course, the place also has an extensive drinks list, after all it is a bar too. It has a few Japanese beers - Asahi, Sapporo, Kirin Ichiban, some imported beers and of course Australian beers too. As the name suggests, Sake Bar Restaurant also has a nice selection of sakes along with a sweet list of shoyu. Pity I had to drive so didn't get a chance to try a couple of the sakes and shoyu. 

The staff at Sake Bar and Restaurant are lovely, friendly, accommodating, and attentive. The quality and flavours of the food at Sake Bar Restaurant is delicious. Compared to the other up and coming Japanese places, it is priced nicely, although the servings are small, it is no different to the serving sizes of other Japanese restaurants. Having the entertainment card will further decrease the cost of the meal, but it really isn't that bad to begin with. If you are in Northbridge and wants Japanese that's a little more than sushi head into Francis street and cross the bridge into Sake Bar Restaurant.

 

Nine Fine Food

It's been really hard for bf and I lately, with me working so much (head down bum up), then when I'm not working I'm too busy trying to catch up with friends, have a date night with the boy, see my family, fit some gym sessions and then I'm exhausted. Neither of which really helps getting alone time with me myself and I or hey blog updates for that matter.

This is one of those rare occurrences, where I have managed to finish work on time, have a post-work paranoid panic attack, skip the gym (for the 10th or so time in the last 3 weeks - which is so bad, as I usually go 3-4 times a week), managed to fit in an interview with one of my favourite local shoe designer duo (if you follow my instagram @sprinklespice you would know who it is by now!) sort out some pressing house-related matters and omg look at that it's not even 9pm yet and I am now able to sit down and start blogging. Yes. It is very exhausting. It's a miracle I'm upright typing this.

 A couple of weeks ago on a week night where the wind howled and the skies cried bf and I braved the weather and greeted the middle of spring in style by going to an old favourite of mine, Nine Fine Food. 

I haven't been here for a good three years, due to the crazy list of restaurants I have had to tried. But in between all that, I have been more than happy enough to recommend this place to everyone. But having recommended it to so many people I had to make sure and check that one of my favourites is still up to scratch, or have the competition of it all gotten too much for them... have they slipped?

The one thing I noticed is how they have improved the lighting! (THANK GOD! We can now see what we are eating!). The layout of the restaurant is still a little awkward, but with the space that they've got it's done well, with an almost oragami like design (think corner, knooks, lines, squares, shapes), minimalistic, modern and yet cosy.

The menu as always gives attention to detail and flavours, with the usual suspects of fresh sashimi and tempura on show, but the most exciting dishes are the ones where the flavours and textures of food are explored and complimented together, which really is the heart of Japanese cuisine and cooking. 

Nine Fine Food have incorporated a couple of set menus (3 or 4 courses - $53 and $63 respectively) where there is a choice of 3-4 dishes per course, or you can go all out and have the degustation menu (24 hours notice must be given) or you can opt for the a la carte. 

Bf  and I decided that since we wanted 3 courses and all of what we wanted from the a la carte menu are the choices on the set 3 course menu, it only makes sense to get 3 course set menu (it also worked out to be budget friendlier). Oh and a side of soft shell crab as bf was craving it!

 Entrees consisted of bf's favourite meat dish - pork, the dish was aptly named pork and pork.

  

 

Pork and Pork

 

The pork meat was proudly displayed with the pride and joy, pork belly, twice cooked milk braised took centre stage. The crackling wasn't that perfect crunch, the pork belly had too much fat compared to meat. Along side it was the grilled pork fillets with tempura bacon, salad and this amazing sweet, tangy, chilli apple mango sauce. It wasn't outstanding by any means, but then again, you are at a Japanese restaurant so pork may not be the dish they do best in.

I opted for the agedashi toothfish soup. The patagonian toothfish was lightly fried, it was nice and crunchy on the outside, the fish melted like butter on first touch and the agedashi soy broth added a bit more flavour to the dish. Then there was the tofu, mushroom and wakame seaweed complementing the dish. The whole thing reminded me of Japan. It was very much a modern twist on a traditional Japanese style cuisine. 

 

Agedashi toothfish soup

We also opted for soft shell crab, as an addition to our entree or a side to our mains (however you look at it). It came with a lovely waisabi mayo sauce and salad. The crab were rather meaty and less batter which I liked, but I felt as though they left it out too long that it was a little soggy and wasn't as crunchy as it would've been.

Soft Shell Crab

I really have to remind you before we get to the mains that my bf's idea of Japanese is pretty much fusion Japanese. Think along the lines of teriyaki chicken. So for him to even like Japanese cuisine in its traditional form and ideals is a little too far-fetched. The closest he came to was at Fuku.

So it's not surprise really when he went for the duck. It was a confit duck leg on top of sweet potato mash covered in red wine and mirine reduction with beautifully grilled scallops, which had flakes of tempura onion on top. The duck itself was beautiful and sweet potato mash was just lovely (better than mash potato). A dish enjoyed thoroughly by the boy.

Confit Duck

I went for the Salmon and Scallop. The dish took me by surprise because it was something I did not envision. It was a beautiful deconstructed dish with so many elements, flavours and textures on the plate it was an exciting foodie journey. The salmon fillet was divinely sauced with this creamy rice wine vinegar reduction. The fillet also went superbly with the mash sweet potato. There was also grilled scallop with a slight passionfruit sticky sauce (which actually worked really well), a radish and pomegranate display when eaten with the fried seafood log cut through the oil nicely. I liked the dish with all the elements on it, but the salmon if eaten itself would have been rather dull indeed but with all the different textures, flavours complementing each other I enjoyed it. 

Salmon and Scallop

The best of the night would have to be dessert. I had been craving mattcha brulee for ages so I was excited about. Bf on the other hand ordered the tiramisu. When it came out, he realised he had forgotten to ask about nuts in the tiramisu and it looked as though the top might be sprinkled with it. So alas we did a swap (but lucky for me he shared!). 

The mattcha brulee is just amazing. It cracked beautifully. The mattcha flavour was throughout the dish without it overpowering the brulee taste. It wasn't too eggy either nor was it too sweet that there wasn't any mattcha flavour. Silky goodness.

 

Mattcha Brulee

I must say the tiramisu was a great interpretation. It was very creamy, almost mousse like and there was chocolate and possibly nuts (something crunchy) throughout it. I felt as though there wasn't enough espresso through it, but it was very much an asian-style tiramisu and not so much the Italian style. It wasn't bad, but it didn't satisfy my craving for a mattcha brulee.

 

Tiramisu

It was a lovely date night at Nine Fine Food. The staff were friendly, courteous and welcoming. The food came out in a timely manner, although it seemed like eternity in between ordering and the entree (partly because we were famished from not having eaten since lunch!). The price is just right. In fact, for what you are paying presently in Perth and for the quality of the dishes and produce used, Nine Fine Food is better than a lot of them. So I can safely say I can still recommend this little Japanese place on the corner of Bulwer and Lake streets.

 

Ohnamiya Nedlands

Cheap, over-filling, yummy Japanese food, just a walk away from my work. Ticking all the boxes here so far. Ohnamiya Nedlands is located on Hampden road and provides consistently decent Japanese.

They have different size dishes bento options. For example you can just have Karaage Chicken or Fish (where you will get a very decent size karaage chicken in a bento box and comes with Japanese mayo and bbq sauce) or you can chose to have it with their rice bento or better yet have karaage chicken or fish and sushi.

Karaage Fish + Sushi Bento Box

So basically you can have..

Chosen dish (aka Teriyaki Chicken/Fish, Karaage Chicken, Unagi, Agedashi Tofu) - Small, Medium, Large
or
Chosen dish + rice
or
Chosen dish + rice + sushi

My favourite however have to be their agedashi tofu. I am yet to find an agedashi tofu quite like theirs. The tofu is creamy goodness covered in very light tempura batter then covered in the sauce. Unlike other places, the sauce other covering the tofu, doesn't make the tofu go soggy, the tempura remains relatively crisp. The medium size is plenty to fill you up, but if you want some sushi with it you might as well have the tofu sushi bento. The price isn't that much different either.

Agedashi Tofu + Sushi Bento Box

Alternatively, there are things like udon dishes (which is also rather delicious - the broth is yummy and udon noodles are just so filling and you can't help but slurp up the noodles and make a mess). Although the udon is a little hard to eat quickly during lunch hour at work. It's too hot and you tend to burn your tongue.

For lover of sushi there is a decent selection of sushi on the board from your teriyaki chicken, salmon/tuna rolls, unagi, to vegetarian options.. Just take a pick!

They also offer sashimi plates and there is even this tuna and salmon sashimi bento. This is where the salmon and tuna cover a bed of rice. Their sashimi isn't great quality but for the price of about $12-15 it isn't bad.

Sashimi Tuna and Salmon bento box

OH also note that there is also free self-served Japanese green tea and refrigerated tap water.

The staff there are friendly, but the place can get noisy. But it's great value for money Japanese. It's filling, way too filling that you are more than likely to have food coma afterwards, which may be a problem if you have to go back to work. Nonetheless, I like it.

Also note that the place gets packed at lunchtime especially when university is on, so its worth getting there early. Otherwise, the other option is to give them a call and pre-order from their menu. This also saves you a bit of waiting time, which means more time to eat without scoffing your food down. Although it doesn't guaranteed you a seat in the tiny restaurant. Then again, you can always pre-order then get take-away. So many options of ordering and so many menu ordering options too.

Why not try it for lunch? OH a plus they have also started opening in the evenings, so good for those shift workers at the hospital or those stuck at UWA.

Fuku Omakase and Teppanyaki

I felt so honoured and delighted to have been invited by Brett and his team to one of Fuku's soft opening nights last Tuesday, 9th October at 7:30pm. There I was able to meet a few other bloggers I follow and love. Among them were PFE and Foodie Cravings! In fact, I was prepared with chiro to take the photos, only to discover half way to the restaurant that chiro didn't have her SD card! I was so devastated so you must excuse the quality of the photo as my dear Iphone had to do the work!

Fuku in Japanese means luck, fortunate, and success. Fuku is an Omakase/Teppanyaki restaurant in Mosman Park, owned by the guys that ran Tsunami Restaurant next door. It was very easy to find Fuku with it's simple black and white sign and yet it has a very discrete entrance, you have to ring the door bell to be let into the restaurant. How very private and intimate!

The door opens to a room with lovely printed Japanese images on glass, warm yellow and red lights and a wall filled with sake bottles (over 500 bottles of sake with Fuku exclusive sake bottles, with the most expensive bottle being $300). It's a small restaurant with only about 14 bar only seating, with the chefs cooking the dishes, right in front of you.

The menu bf and I were presented with comprised of 9 courses, a Japanese degustation! I was very excited when I saw it and couldn't wait to get started, along with distilled water and a glass of red wine on offer. Bf also grabbed himself this lovely granita drink ($10 unlimited and really it was unlimited, we barely noticed the waitstaffs topping it up!) which was so refreshing and almost like a mango smoothie.

Because of the nature of the restaurant - teppanyaki, chefs-preparing-your-next-course-while-you-eat-your current-one-concept, all of our food were cooked and prepared on the spot with the chefs showing off their knife skills and fancy hand work. It was a real pleasure to watch them.

Our first course was the Sashimi and sushi - toro, salmon, anago with tuna, salmon and snapper sashimi. The sashimi and sushi were so fresh and delicious and dipped with FRESH wasabi and soy sauce was just lovely. Even bf, who's not usually a fan of sashmi (or seafood in general for that matter) thought it was fantastic. To convert him says a lot!

Sashimi and Sushi - toro, salmon, anago with tuna, salmon and snapper sashimi

The next dish was the small morsels, we were presented with tsubugai (shellfish), octopus and a lobster meat and avocado salad, and wagyu beef  however, because of my unusual allergy to squid/octopus/anything in that category of seafood ONLY I didn't have Tsubugai and the octopus I gave to bf. The slices of very tender wagyu beef slightly seared and covered with this amazing sesame sauce. The lobster with avocado when eaten with the whole spoon have these wonderful bursts of tangy flavours from the marinate of the lobster, the creamy avocado and succulent lobster meat. This is completely different in taste and texture if you were to eat it as its separate elements. Bf said that the octopus was succulent and yet tender and refreshing.

 

Small Morsels - Wagyu beef, lobster and avocado salad and octopus and Tsubugai and octopus

The third course was the twice cooked quail with pomegranate sauce. Brett explained that the quails are the biggest quails in Australia and weighs 320g and was from a farm in the Hunter Valley ran by a husband and wife team. In fact it really was the largest quail I've seen and the breast meat was rather boneless as well. It was charcoal-ed and had that wonderful pomegranate sauce. It came with the edamame ratatouille side, a tangy/salsa side that went so perfectly with the quail it made us all go "wow".

Twiced cooked quail with pomegranate sauce and edamame ratatouille side

While we ate our quail, another chef was prepping up the teppanyaki plates to cook our jumbo prawn and scallop with uni butter. It was such a delight to watch the chef in action, using his artistic skills to grill our dish into perfection.

 

Japanese Scallop and Jumbo Prawn with Uni butter

 

This would have to be one of my favourite dishes of the night. Succulent, fresh prawns and scallops with this awesome crispy prawn head (almost like prawn crackers!) and the uni butter (sea urchin) was divine I was left licking my lips for any left over flavours.

Our fifth course of the night was the fish of the day - Kajiki (swordfish) with daikon radish. I love daikon radish and the fish was thick and meaty and was perched on top of the radish covered in miso sauce with a taste of tamarind. It was rather tangy and I'm not a huge fan of the tangy but it did complement all the elements on the plate. The long pink thing you see is the ginger, in which the end should be cut and eaten at the end of the dish for a palate cleanser effect.

Fish of the day - Kajiki and Daikon Radish with ginger palate cleanser

While we ate the Kajiki, Brett came around to talk to us and answer any questions about the restaurant. He was such a friendly, approachable and lovely guy. He showed us his awesome apparatus used to ensure that chilled sake is served at all times and explained where the produce that we were eating came from (from Japan and Australia depending on the dish).

 

As he was talking, one of the chefs was displaying his poweress at cooking fried rice. The eggs were tossed and acrobatically cracked and onion rings were lit on fire. It really was a sight!

The fried rice was cooked in butter and wagyu fat with diced wagyu beef tossed through the rice. It was probably the richest fried rice I've had, but I thought it needed a bit more salt and pepper. I did add a bit of extra soy sauce that was available to us on the bar and that made it perfecto, otherwise it was just buttery fried fried rice.

Fried Rice

We then had a palate cleanser, which was this tomato looking thing (OH I'm so so sorry I forgot what the waitress said!). But it was sweet and tangy and just washed away the butterness of the rice to prepare us for the highlight of the night - the Wgyu Sirloin Steak Mayura Station (located in Mount Gambier) Grade 7.

Palate Cleanser

 

 

Chef preparing our wagyu steak - I opted for medium rare while bf had medium.

 

Then the highlight of the night, in which bf squirmed in delight was the wagyu steak! Every bite of that steak was to die for. So tender. So succulent. So fatty without it just being fat (which tends to happen with bad quality wagyu - all fat no meat, good quality wagyu should have the fat laced throughout the meat that you can't taste the fat in it at all!). The sauce accompanying the dish had a little bit of spice and the fried garlic and grilled onions provided this sweetness and crunch to the dish. It was just perfect.

 

Wagyu sirloin steak

Of course the night cannot end without a dessert course.

  

Dessert - Genmaicha Pannacotta, Japaense Gaumkuchen and Mountain Peach with Kinako 

A Genmaicha (rice pudding with white rice tea syrup) pannacotta, Japanese Baumkuchen (layered cake) and mountain peach with kinako (soybean and icing sugar). I recommend you start with the mountain peach like I did. This is because this is the tartest and tangiest thing on the plate. Cover that with the soybean and icing sugar to ease it and it's beautiful. Next it doesn't matter if you try the genmaicha or layered cake. The layers of the Baumkuchen were individually baked and caramelised and was such a beautiful cake bf and I wanted more. The Genamicha pannacotta wasn't too sweet and was rather delicate and gentle in its flavours. It reminded me of cherryblossoms and my trip to Japan. Another highlight of the evening.

 Chef Tetsuya lovely carmelising the top layer of the Baumkuchen

I also have to compliment, the waitstaff for their amazing service. Friendly, obliging and non-intrusive and always with a smile! Everything was so smooth and pleasant and drinks were always topped up.

I have to also mention that typically there would be 3 degustation menus for your choosing (Good - 4 courses at $110, Better - 9 courses $160 or Best - 10 courses $260) each menu comes with unlimited complimentary sparkling or still mineral water, which is great because you don't have to worry about the cost of the bottles of water you are consuming. You can also have it with matching wine or sake if you wish for addition price.

Fuku is also unique in that all bookings are made online and not via phone so BOOK HERE. - It's suppose to be very Momofuku-like (and very Michelin star restaurant like) booking system. It's very intimate, seating only 14-odd seats so booking is highly recommended. However, you can take a risk and head to Fuku and if there is a little lantern hanging there with an amber/blue light on it, it means seats are still available. Otherwise you've missed out, better luck next time - or just book!

FUKU Omakase and Teppanyaki Restaurant was a wonderful experience which both bf and I myself immensely enjoyed. The concept is so unique to Perth and is an excellent addition to the Perth growing food scene. Extreme Japanese dishes lovingly made by Tetsuya and his team. The unique menu concept is only made better by the display of the chefs culinary skills. Bf and I would like to thank Fuku for the invitation, we had an amazing time and it was wonderful to meet many of the bloggers! And both of us highly recommend that you go and try it out!