Waqu

Wednesday, 24 Dec 08

My mind still reels with the memories of this magic night, those brief moments before you spend the holiday season elsewhere. But I’ll keep a candle here waiting until you return.

Teee, new site! My gift pales in comparison to Tim’s gift to me, but I treated him to the five-course degustation dinner at Waqu for Christmas. After being a little nervous that the GPS couldn’t find it, and having forgotten the address, we arrived safely and entered. 

The name, Waqu, combines the Japanese words for harmony and atmosphere, and indeed, it was a relaxing and harmonious night. There were a few groups, but generally rather intimate. Dinner by candlelight (and the tiny dimmed lights around the room and above the bar) typically isn’t the photographer’s best friend, so excuse the photo-quality. It was perfect for a night out with the special someone though. Service was observant, polite and helpful, while maintaining a certain discreetness – they were there when they were needed.

We were seated at the bar, and spent some time watching cocktails being skillfully shaken and poured.

 I was curious about whether all the male bar staff had earrings, while Tim simply shook his head in amusement. I think one day, he’s going to get sick of me checking out all the guys ;)

Lemon-Lime Bitters – But where is the lemon…?

Cocktail – vodka, watermelon liquer, lime juice, salt, fresh watermelon – This tasted very much like watermelon candy. I thought the salt added a nice contrast (being familiar with eating fruits with salt), but Tim thought it was a bit much.

Course 1: Amuse

The first course arrived swiftly, and was beautifully presented. Waqu has a fixed menu, which is changed a few times in the year. The waitress explained the components of the plate and how to eat each part with a smile.

Asparagus Flan with Prosciutto Creme

Chris: I found this to be delicate and light, certainly different from any preparation of asparagus I’ve tried. The creme was smoky and went well with the asparagus, while the texture was like an extremely soft-custard. A nice pre-cursor of things to come.

Tim: Not being a fan of asparagus in the first instance, this didn’t win many favours from me.  Although, it might have gone some way to explain why the next dish was so good…

Spicy Soft-Shell Crab Taco

Chris: This was so good (I sound like the actress on Iron Chef). The crispiness of the crab, spice mellowed by mayonnaise and leek(?). It was a touch oily, but really, I could just eat these for dinner. The waitress explained to us that this was to be picked up and eaten, rather than using any utensils. And it worked – not one crumb anywhere! Tim didn’t hear what was said though, so when I explained to him that he could pick it up and eat it like a sandwich…

Tim: Best sandwich ever.  No, seriously.  I’m not sure if it was straight mayonnaise, or whether there was a cheesy hint to it (could have been my imagination – think like those KFC fillers or whatever they’re called), but it was great.  If you think about it, 5 courses, $11 bucks each, that means this little guy has a street value around $3.30, meaning he’s probably a great value sandwich as well.  Yes, it was that good.

Sliced Wagyu Beef Rolls

Chris: After the heaven that was the soft-shell crab taco, this didn’t seem very special. The beef was soft and the sauce was good, it just wasn’t…revolutionary. They were filled with vegetables, but I couldn’t distinguish what they were.

Tim: Wagyu is nice, but nicer as a steak, suffice to say.  You don’t get the same feeling of indulgence when it’s sliced up like this and wrapped around a bunch of veggies.  Not quite the same.

Course 2:  Sashimi – ocean trout and kingfish sashimi carpaccio, lemon mustard soy sauce, ume-shu jelly

Chris: We both mistook this for salmon when we had it, so I’m not sure why. Nonetheless, the fish was deliciously fresh and the sauce complimented it perfectly. But it was the plum-wine jelly that stood out for me. I could happily have a few shots of it. I was sad when this dish ended…

Tim: The plum-wine jelly was a bit much, but I agree, the sauce was awesome.  It’s been a long time since I’ve had kingfish made this good (although Chris was more enamoured by the ocean trout/salmon wannabe).  Has anyone else noticed that kingfish generally is getting firmer nowadays, and that the quality of tuna is getting better?  Just an aside.

Course 3: Entree (choice of 3)

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Chris: The kingfish was perfectly grilled, bordering on crisp on the outside, with deliciously tender white flesh. The marinade and sauce both suited the kingfish perfectly – I especially liked the touch of whole-grained mustard and tiny shiso leaves adding spark to the dish. I’m not a fan of radish, but I did eat it. 

Tim: Very nice.  To be honest, I thought the other dish was nicer, so I didn’t actually pay this one much attention…. ^^;; 

Roasted Duck Udon – Roasted duck, ina-niwa udon noodles, steamed seasonal vegetables, sweet soy sauce

Chris: Tim made me photograph this one first, because it smelt so good and he wanted to tuck in right away. The slippery udon noodles, especially drenched in the sweet soy sauce, stood out for me. I thought the duck was a little tough, but all in all, a very pleasant dish.

Tim: It’s just a pity that the photograph doesn’t do the taste justice.  Also a pity that I seemed to have hogged all the nice bits of duck for myself – either that, or Chris has much higher expectations than I do!  The vegetables were a bit disappointing – I personally don’t believe that they complemented the duck and the udon very well – they would have been more at home in a Chinese stir-fry.

Course 4: Mains (choice of 3)

Beef Tenderloin Steak – red wine sauce, slow cooked potato, shiitake mushroom, cha-mame beans

Tim: Chris wasn’t impressed, but she didn’t give it enough time.  Or, it was medium, when she likes her steaks medium rare.  The red wine sauce was just flavoursome enough to complement the food, but not overpower it, like so many sauces can do.

Chris: I had a couple bites of this, and turned back to my own dish. Not bad, just not ‘Wow’ for me.

Miso Cod – baked sweet miso marinated cod fillet, japanese pickles

Chris: My mouth is watering in memory of this dish. Where to begin…? The pickles weren’t to my taste, but that is just my quirk, I think. The sauce was creamy, the sticky rice cake a little on the drier side, but still perfectly seasoned. The cod was the real star of the dish though. It practically melted in my mouth, as though it had been injected with butter, and each mouthful was flaky, tender and so rich and flavoursome. Definitely a huge fan of all the fish dishes at Waqu.

Tim: The same reason that Chris liked this so much was the reason I didn’t, actually – each mouthful did feel like it had been injected with butter, and was just too fatty for me.  But it was very nice, don’t get me wrong.

Course 5: Dessert

By this time, the restaurant was almost completely full, so we weren’t too fussed about the slight wait on desserts. Besides, it gave me time to digest and recover a bit of my stomach to enjoy these sweet treats.

Azuki Creme Millefeuille

Chris: As is typical of Asian style treats, this wasn’t too sweet, with hints of bitterness provided by the matcha powder. It worked, but didn’t thrill a non-lover of red bean paste like me.

Tim:  Is it wrong to just say ‘ditto’?  That summed it up entirely for me.

Chocolate Cake

Chris: Yummmmmmm…. but I was so full by this point! The cherry sauce suited it though. The mango icecream in the background wasn’t intense, but still better than most stuff widely available.

Tim: The chocolate cake worked entirely well on its own without the sauce as well.  Some of the melted mango icecream gave it a little bit more of a moist feel without ruining the chocolate sensation.

 

All in all, it was a fantastic night, and we’ll definitely be back. For $55 each, plus the cost of drinks, it’s a good deal and one of the cheaper degustation meals up for offer in Sydney. We were well satiated, but not fit to burst, which was perfect for us.

1 Comment

1. Ooh wooww your photos are so much better than mine!! Reminds me that I should post Waqu up too haha
   I really want to go back again nooww drooollll

   and haha I check out some guys :P did they have earrings in their right or left ears?

   Comment by FFichiban — February 16, 2009 @ 7:04 pm

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