Going out with some of my longest and dearest friends Queen Viv and Miss America is always an adventure. They’re adventurous enough and always appreciate a good meal, no matter how unusual it is or how far we have to venture. Tonight, we’re headed somewhere a little closer to home, Japaz in Neutral Bay. A Japanese version of Tapas with a Japanese chef and Spanish ingredients. The chef Hiro Takagi’s CV reads like a dream: Tetsuya’s, Bilsons, Ampersand and Restaurant Taillevent Robuchon.
We walk into Japaz, a newish establishment this Saturday night. We let the front of house gentleman know that we have a booking and he greets us with my name. We’re seated in the dark brown panelled room next to the sandstone brick printed wallpaper (an odd touch to me but one that Queen Viv likes) and are offered our menu. Tuesday and Wednesday it’s BYO whilst the rest of the week they’re licensed so they offer to stow Queen Viv’s bottle of wine for her so that it stays chilled.
White Anchovies in Rosemary Oil $7.00
Our dishes come out fast and in the order in which we asked for them precisely. The first dish, White Anchovies in Rosemary Oil has Miss America swooning. She’s in love with these plumped little critters, milder and sweeter and less salty than their hairy browny pink cousins.
Sobrasada on Sourdough Toast $6.00
The Sobrasada on Sourdough Toast is a tomato and sausage mix smeared onto a thick wodge of white toast. Despite its somewhat unamazing look, the Sobrasada, a pork sausage made from a porc negre (a black pig related to the famous Jamon Iberico), is flavoursome against the diced tomatoes.
Scallops with a Sweet Soy & Onion Butter $5.50 e.a.
We ordered three of the Scallops with a Sweet Soy & Onion Butter, one for each of us, and they come in the shell with the roe on. The delicate soy and onion butter is delicious and never overwhelms the delicate scallops which are cooked well and succulent. I don’t usually like scallop roe finding it too strong but it’s lovely against the sauce. We’re finally seeing a Japanese ingredient find its way onto a dish.
Twenty-Second Smoked Swordfish with Preserved Lemon Sauce $14.00
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| September 30th, 2008 by Not Quite Nigella
Anyone that knows me knows that I am a Kirrbilli markets fan and every month I make my way there to buy whatever takes my fancy. And since November last year, every month I’ve walked past Catalonia, stopped by the menu and wistfully gazed inside. Call it an infrequent OCD ritual. This month, I’ve booked it for a birthday dinner, my second of three.
With a successful pedigree (the two owners are ex Salt Yard in London and Victoria Rooms in Darlinghurst) they serve not your run of the mill Spanish Tapas but a more modern, exotic and sumptuous version with ingredients like Wagyu, Zucchini Flowers and Truffle shavings. It seems that servings are a little bigger than the Tapas I’ve had in Liverpool Street although of course as they’re Tapas they’re not large by any definition.
We’re seated on a Saturday night upstairs in a rather cozy, very dimly lit, warm sunset shaded room with a lovely Pomegranate coloured wallpaper on one wall. Tables are a little small but given that the plates of tapas aren’t that big, it’s not so much of an issue. I wish some restaurants would give bigger tables, indeed a friend of mine always books for 1-2 more people than are coming as she hates being squished. And as the light was so low, I must apologise for the pictures, we did our best but didn’t want to use the flash too much so as to disturb other patrons.
There are 5 vegetarian Tapas meals and a good selection of meats including delectable sounding seafood. Indeed one of the vegetarian meals sounds so lovely that it makes it way onto the meat eaters order: the Zucchini Flowers with blue cheese mousse and honey.
Zucchini Flowers with blue cheese mousse and honey $14.50
Being tapas, the food arrives pretty quickly and in a timely fashion, with waves of 3 dishes so that it doesn’t overcrowd the table. The Zucchini flowers, 4 per plate with batons of deep fried zucchini underneath are as good as they sound. Actually, scratch that, they’re even better. Crunchy with tempura batter on the outside they are fried to perfection with an oozing mousse of blue cheese inside. If any dish could convince someone to turn vegetarian, it’s this.
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| May 15th, 2008 by Not Quite Nigella
Opposite the Manly Ferry wharves is a restaurant that we’ve passed many times but never noticed. It’s only when A books a table here for her birthday that we discover this restaurant, a Spanish Moorish restaurant and tapas bar.
The staff are patient, and for us they need to be as half of the party is more than half an hour late, some 45 minutes late which can send a restaurateur round the bend with precious table space being wasted. When three quarters of the people arrive at the table, the owner recommends that we order some tapas to start and then our mains before the rest of the table arrive as the wait for our mains might be long as we’ve hit the 8-8.30pm crowd. We’re rushed into choosing a little but we assume it’s all in the name of making sure that our orders are served in a timely manner. Vegetarian dishes are plentiful and clearly marked which makes ordering easier.
Bissara broadbean dip $13
We order a mix of tapas which comes out within 5-10 minutes. The first to arrive is the Bissara Dip $13.00 described as “A rich puree of baby broad beans cooked gently in olive oil, garlic and cumin served with flat bread”. I scoop some up on the bread and it’s not particularly flavoursome and appears very watery if anything. Not a promising start I must admit.
Potato Aioli $9
The second tapas dish to arrive is the Potato Alioli $9.00, described as “Crispy fried potatoes with homemade garlic and parsley mayonnaise”. The small potato chunks look delectable and holding back on eating them while taking photos is an exercise in patience. We are rewarded with crispy, delicious potato chunks with an aromatic garlic aioli which makes us for the Bissara Dip nicely. This gets much contented murmuring from the table. In the middle of eating these, curiously my main arrives. The owner apologises for this and removes it and tells me that it is for the wrong table and that a fresh one will be made for me once I finish my entree.
Moorish Meat Balls $11.00
Our third tapas dish is the Moorish Meat Balls $11.00, “Minced beef balls simmered in a spicy tomato, red wine and coriander sauce”. There are 4 1/2 small sizzling balls to this plate and they are made of very finely ground beef, if anything the texture is much like that of a felafel without being bright green. They’re something that I wanted to try as I haven’t experienced Moorish cuisine before but I don’t think I’d order these again. My husband comments that the four-and-a-bit small balls hardly represent good value. It seems the only thing I can recall about the Moors is of course a Seinfeld reference of the Bubble Boy episode where George calls them “The Moops”. See, Seinfeld is really relevant to everything.
Cheese & Spinach Balls $13.00
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| April 9th, 2008 by Not Quite Nigella
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