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| - We came here for a early mother's day dinner.
I just have to share that my mom did not eat most of the items but she did enjoy herself for the most part. She generally loves sushi but due to recent events and older age has become quite pragmatic about eating and has never really enjoyed big bold flavours.
We got the Sakura Aburi Prime Menu on it's last day.
Let's go through the run down of the menu and how I experienced them.
The Foie Gras amuse bouche was fatty and buttery, salty and with crispy, and the sweet cherry jam helped to balance the whole dish. The accompanying barley on the bottom added some body and texture with a bit of a bite and almost a pop but kinda difficult to eat off a flat plate with chopsticks.
The Kaiseki Trio was presented in a dome like dish which came apart and presented its own fun presentation. The sashimi was fresh, the hamachi had more body and ate really clean with that sweetness of the fish you get, and the tuna was much softer on the tongue and they had an accompanying traditional soy and sweeter soy to accentuate the fish.
The sable fish is buttery and sumptuous, well seasoned with the miso allowing for a subtle, yet prominent enough sweetness, but also a balanced saltiness that awakens the palate. The accompanying carrots and parsnip puree added a good balance of earthiness to the dish.
The carpaccio was probably my least favourite of the trio and not really for taste but for the difficulty of how I wanted to eat it. The beef stuck together but was beautifully presented. The slight pop of the mustards seeds excited the palate as the notes of bittersweet from the earthy green helped to round out the well seasoned beef. The whole dish became one big glob in my mouth which limited my ability to enjoy the thinness of the beef.
The aburi prime plate was a beautiful plate of 9 individually crafted pieces of sushi some not as good as others as the strong flavours battled a little too much in my mouth. The crab one in the middle was difficult for my family to eat due to the connective cartilage or whatever you call it (really made it messy to handle and remove so that you can enjoy without having to pick them something out of your mouth). Like I said the crab leg, anago, and, maguro with foie and sumomo were not as good for me. The highlight are the soft wagyu beef which my partner confused for fish, the creamy and sweet uni, kobujime offered the most textural delish with the snap pea, the other zuke maguro ate more clean, and the Saba ate without the fishiness or usually meat texture, which for me was a pleasant surprise.
The dessert was a fantastic finish to a delicious and very enjoyable meal. The mint ice cream was subtle and when eaten with the panna cotta gave me the image as if I were eating a whole Sakura blossom. The subtle floral notes of the panna cotta along with the gelée, and the mint ice cream gave almost like a grassy note as if you were eating the leafy bits of a flower. I know it sounds weird but it actually pretty tasty and the calamasi sauce accompanying add a punchy tartness to reawaken and refresh you palate. The bits of nuttiness and the meringue crisps added sugary sweetness added texture and the bit of sugar to a dessert that wasn't too sweet for those who like a sweeter dessert.
The service ate a bit slower that night because the POS system was down and the servers needed to make an adjustment to written orders which also slowed the communication with the kitchen. So our sever can be forgiven for be less than existent that night.
My partner also wanted to add a note here for diners that the overall experience could be improved with some pickled ginger for the aburi prime plate to cleanse the palate between pieces.
I ate here for winterlicous and I can say that the menus on their winterlicious and sumerlicious menus reflect the true menu of what this restaurant has to offer. The presentation of all the dishes has that elegance that even an amateur with a camera can capture above average photos.
I gave this place 4 stars because the price is quite high but you are paying for an experience here and this night though understandable was met with many different hurdles. And with the food being exceptional as it was could always go up another level at least for my taste. But always a wonderful experience dining here and looking forward to coming back.
Any photos of food not mentioned in the review belong to my brother who ordered from the menu. I'll caption those photos.
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