restaurant – Sunny Side Up With Siri

Hey Sunny Siders, I am so excited to share this as I got to live out a dream of mine! I recently went to a Japanese Omakase tasting dinner where the chef specially crafted a 17 course menu for us! So naturally I’m going to share all 17 courses with my thoughts!

1. Kumamoto oyster with yuzu jelly and smoked trout roe

I had never had an oyster prepared in this way before! I usually only ever add cocktail sauce and horseradish to my oysters, but this really changed my perspective! The addition of yuzu jelly added such a nice acidity and almost made the oyster sweet. I really enjoyed this preparation and it’s inspired me to get more creative when I have oysters.

2. Cobia crudo with raspberry vinaigrette, Asian pear cured in blueberry ponzu and spring mix salad

This was such a fun dish. The fish was wrapped in Asian pear which created such a great balance of salty and sweet. I loved the blueberry ponzu sauce that accompanied the fish, such a great summer flavor combination.

3. Tuna tartar with osetra caviar on milk bread toast

I’ve never been a fan of tartar, but this dish changed that for me! The tartar was so flavorful. It had a very garlicky flavor but there was no garlic in it so I have no idea how they got such a depth of flavor. The milk bread toast complimented the tartar perfectly and all in all I loved this dish!

4. Japanese monkfish liver garnished with cucumber, daikon radish yuzu ponzu jelly and blueberry ponzu

This was super out of everyone’s comfort zone, but I gave it a try anyway! It honestly had no resemblance to fish whatsoever, it really was like eating foie gras. The shizo leaf felt similar to mint, and complimented the blueberry very well.

5. Saba – Japanese Spanish mackerel with fresh ginger

This was our first piece of nine absolutely phenomenal nigiri! Every piece came with rice and fresh wasabi, not the fake stuff we are accustomed to. My words can’t do justice to how good these nigiri were, so I’m just going to share little details as I can!

6. Kinmedai – Japanese golden eye snapper with nikiri soy sauce

This golden eye snapper nigiri was my favorite piece of fish for the evening!

7. Kamasu – Japanese brown barracuda with chili garlic oil and yuzu Kosho

The chili oil complemented the barracuda exceptionally well and added a nice spice.

8. Akami – dry aged back loin of bluefin tuna

All the tuna were dry aged for 7 days which I had never heard of before, but wow did it make such a difference in the depth of flavor!

9. Chawanmushi with truffle, Maitake mushrooms, and dashi glaze

This dish was like eating a warm egg custard soup and wow was it amazing. This is the epitome of comfort food, it was warm, savory, and delicious!

10. Chutaro – medium fatty belly of bluefin tuna

This was my favorite of the 3 tuna nigiri it had a great balance of meatiness and fatness, also dry aged for 7 days.

11. Hokkaido Hotate aburi – Japanese scallop seared

This was the best scallop preparation I’ve ever had. Essentially it was scallop nigiri, but they drizzled brown butter over top and then torched it. The depth of flavor that this had was beyond words, my mouth is watering just remembering it!

12. Ootoro – bluefin tuna belly with ossetra caviar

This was the fattiest tuna we tried, it literally dissolved in my mouth which was crazy! It had tons for flavor and the caviar added a nice saltiness to cut the fat.

13. King salmon with Shiso aioli

This nigiri was phenomenal once again it literally melted in my mouth. The shiso aioli added a nice tang as did the charring from the torch.

14. A5 wagyu with ossetra caviar, Hokkaido sea urchin, and 24k gold flakes

This was literally the most boujee thing I’ve ever eaten, I mean it even looks expensive! It was A5 waguy nigiri with sea urchin, brown butter, and gold flakes! This bite had a lot of rich flavors going on, and it was my first time trying sea urchin. To me, sea urchin was like eating seafood cream cheese. Overall, this was a super luxurious piece of nigiri.

15. Sweet miso Chilean Sea bass

This was the only item in our entire tasting that is part of every tasting. This is the chefs signature sweet miso Chilean sea bass and wow was it phenomenal. I totally understand why this is a menu mainstay because the flavors on this sea bass were exceptional.

16. Akadashi miso soup with enoki mushroom

Our last savory item was the fanciest miso soup I’ve ever had. It was the basic broth with A5 waguy, enoki mushrooms, salmon, and sea bass! Talk about a melting pot of all the most delicious sea food flavors!

17. Sweet corn crème brûlée

To end our tasting we had sweet corn crème brûlée. What was so funny about this is that I had treated my dad to this tasting experience for his birthday… and my dad HATES corn. We were both laughing at how of all the things to end our meal with it was CORN crème brûlée. But, in all honesty this was amazing! The corn added such a fun flavor to the crème brûlée and we both ended up loving it!

Hey Sunny Siders, today I’m sharing about a new restaurant that I tried that may just be my new favorite. It’s an authentic Japanese restaurant called Genki Izakaya and the experience was absolutely incredible. It was so much fun in fact that I actually filmed a video and am sharing in this blog so you can feel like you were right there with me!

Genki Izakaya Video!

As soon as you walk in you are transported to Japan! All of the art and furniture is resemblant of the Japanese culture, adding to the experience. The menu features so many Japanese classics, from katsu to sashimi, and even features A5 Wagyu!

Ube Colada – a Japanese spin on the piña colada

We started off with drinks and appetizers, I had an ube colada, which was essentially a piña colada with ube instead of pineapple! We then ordered Okonomiyaki and Karaage for appetizers.

Okonomiyaki – a savory Japanese pancake dish with vegetables and dried bonito flakes

The Okonomiyaki was amazing! The pancake was cut into 8 pieces so it was easy to share and serve up. The flavor was super umami with a varying degree of textures that added a nice depth.

The Karaage was amazing! The exterior was so crunchy while the chicken stayed extremely juicy and tender. We dipped it in the spicy mayo as well as soy sauce, which really brightened up the dish.

Gyu don – a beef rice bowl with a poached egg and pickled ginger

For dinner, I had the Gyu Don, which was a beef rice bowl with a poached egg and veggies. Everything about this bowl was insanely flavorful. The beef was perfect, the pickled ginger added acidity, and there was this super savory element coming from the poached egg which I loved. My boyfriend splurged and tried the A5 Waguy! The waiter came table side and prepared it over a hot stone. The production was so much fun and the waiter did a phenomenal job preparing the steak.

Taiyaki and Ube Ice Cream – a Japanese street food filled with red bean paste

Finally, we ended with taiyaki and ube ice cream. Usually I don’t like red bean paste, but it must just be because I’ve never had it prepared properly. Think of the taiyaki batter as having the texture of funnel cake with some caramelized sugar on the exterior. The difference is that instead of just being the dough, the taiyaki is filled, usually with red bean paste. The warm taiyaki pairs so wonderfully with the creamy and subtly sweet ube ice cream.

Honestly, I had such a wonderful experience at Genki Izakaya. It’s been a long time since I’ve loved a restaurant this much, and I hope I’ll get the opportunity to dine here again! J

Tag: restaurant

Living out my dream – going to an Omakase dinner

Genki Izakaya (Blogmas Day 11)