Happy Birthday my love! That's right, it was the guai lo's birthday this week! He had this tradition of going to Japanese restaurants on his birthday, and I wanted to keep this little tradition of his, so I took him out to a really nice Japanese restaurant called Shunji, which happens to be close to our place too. Perfect for a weekday night out!
It is a small restaurant, once again, I love small restaurants. Small restaurants are usually better than big restaurants in my experience. Anyways, there are counter seats, as well as tables, and we chose the counter seats because we wanted to see the sushi as it was made!
We ordered a couple of beers and umeshu, and their umeshu is super good! I tend to like sweeter wine, and that umeshu was just perfect! As for the food, I knew about their omakase, and I was thinking about that, but at the end, we decided we wanted to try more different dishes, so we just ordered a bunch of different things to share!
Yellowtail Sashimi
Serrano chiles, chive with daidai soy sauce
The serrano chiles gave it just the right amount of heat, and the cold fish itself balanced it off nicely.
Oysters!
Nothing beats a real fresh oyster!
Cute chopstick rest!
Nagareko (Baby Abalone)
Super yummy! The thingy on the left is the liver of the abalone.
Squid mix with black squid ink, uni, truffle, and quail egg
This is probably one of my favorite appetizers of the night! Must-try! Crunchy squid with hint of truffle, and creamy egg yolk, it is soooo good.
Satoimo Manju
Savory mashed taro potatoes stuffed with shrimp and shiitake mushrooms blanketed with a soy dashi gravy
A nice warm dish. The shrimp inside is cooked really well and the taro is perfectly seasoned.
Agedashi Tomato Tofu
One of the Chef Shunji's original, signature creations.
Very interesting dish. They use 5 different Japanese tomatoes, pureed the tomato and add "the magic powder", and ta-da! Tomato Tofu! Very tasty! It's tempura fried, so there's a slight crunchiness on the outside!
Forgot the name of the dish, but basically a combination of sukiyaki and shabu shabu.
Japanese premium wagyu, napa cabbage, and shiitake mushroom in a sweet soy jus
Very good beef. Well executed.
Vegetable Tempura
Probably one of the best tempura I've had. Look at them! It's very lightly coated! This is exactly what tempura should be like! The batter is way too thick in other restaurants.
We also wanted to order Shirako Chawan Mushi (steamed egg custard with eggplant and bluecrab topped with steamed cod milt, truffles and thickened dashi ponzu), it sounds soooo good but they are out T_T
Then, the sushi(s)!!! This is what we ordered:
Blue Fin Toro, Kinme Dai (Golden Eye Snapper), Kamasu (Japanese Barracuda), Akayagara (Trumpet Fish), Nodoguro (Rosy Seabass), Sayori (Needle Fish), Bafun Uni (Japanese sea urchin), Hotate (Japanese Scallop), Unagi (Fresh Water Eel). We wanted to order the Shira Ebi (White Shrimp), but they are out :(
I really like the variety of the fish they have, and you don't see some of them very often in other sushi places. Fish is really fresh and I can't tell you how good they are! You would really have to try it yourself! They brush the soy sauce on top of the fish, which is exactly how I like it. I always feel like too much sauce when I dip my sushi into the little plate of soy sauce. They solved my problem! My favorite is the golden eye snapper and rosy seabass, MUST TRY!!!! The golden eye snapper tasted really sweet! The fish has an inherent sweetness that makes it very memorable. I mean, they are ALL really GOOD! I really don't think there is any bad choice.
Excellent dining experience. Great service. Quality food. Can't ask for more! The birthday boy is very satisfied, and that's all that matters! Although my heart did jump a little when I saw the bill, it was all worth it!