A Food Experience – Tetsuya’s

On the night of Wednesday, July 11th, my loyal food buddy Nick and I crossed off one of a long list of food experiences on what could be called our own “bucket-list”. Being the intelligent fellows we are, we decided to also use this opportunity to celebrate one of my Japanese-anime-culture friend’s 18th birthday as well. This was our experience at the world renowned restaurant, Tetsuya’s.

Tetsuya Wakuda (head chef and owner) was born in Shizuoka, Japan, and moved to Australia at a young age. He spent years working as a kitchen-hand, slowly making his way up in ranks, and eventually opened up his own restaurant Tetsuya’s, in 1989, and eventually his current establishment in the heart of Sydney’s CBD along Kent Street, in 2000. He has become one of the world’s most influential chefs, and his restaurant has continued to receive acclaim internationally for his work with French and Japanese cuisine.

Warm Soup of Field Mushroom and Truffle.
The first course of ten for the night; A beautifully rich, velvety smooth soup that had a wonderfully earthy flavour to it.

(Me about to try a wine that I’ve forgotten what it was…)

Savoury Custard with Avruga.
Texture was similar and tasted similar to an egg custard soup (Chawan Mushi I beleive it is also known as) and were flavours I am very much accustomed to.

Salad of the Sea.
After demolishing this piece of art, I related it to a somewhat-glorified deconstructed sushi-roll. Comprised of some delicate Kingfish, Scallop and Cuttlefish(?) as well as a little rice hidden under the winter vegetables.

New Zealand Scampi with a Chicken Liver Parfait and Walnut Vinaigrette.
A wonderfully simple, yet stunningly complex little piece. I love how it was presented, and loved the taste. The highlight of the seafood dishes for me. (Better than the next coruse)

Confit of Petunia Trout with Fennel, Unpasteurised Ocean Trout Caviar.
Tetsuya’s signature dish. That trout is absolutely mesmerising. I had no idea that such a texture was acheivable. The Konbu crust was a little too salty for all three of our’s liking. The fresh green salad helped balance it out a bit, but it was a little dissatisfying.

Steamed Tian of Queensland CEAS Spanner Crab, with Curd, Foie Gras and Junsai.
This although piece is indeed very pretty, it left all three of us confused and it really messed with our heads. It’s hard to write a description of this given our experience. We suspect the Junsai.

Roasted Breast of Duck with Eggplant and Almond.
They say if you make it right, you can make anything taste good. I still don’t like eggplant, no matter how much Nick enjoyed it. Duck is always delicious.

Slow Based Wagyu Beef Cheeks with Bitter Greens and Winter Vegetables.
Best. Bloody. Beef. EVER. If I had a choice for what my last meal would be, it would be this. (Of my food experiences so far)

Pear Sorbet, Apple Tart Tatin.
Cute little glasses, and the sorbet is a perfect palette cleanser.

Floating Island with Praline and Creme Anglais.
An intriguing dessert with a little chocolate and raspberry surprise amongst the meringue “island”. Beautifully light way to end the course.

And lastly, a cup of Earl Grey, and a Piccolo for me to finish the night with. (and their lemon macron and almond meringue petit fours)

Overall, another amazing food experience that I’ve had the pleasure of having. I will admit that it’s not easy for many to warrant paying $200+ for just one dinner, but I have to say, it is an amazing experience. You could say that it’s one of my philosophies, that food is life, and therefore it must be treasured and enjoyed. Testuya treats food with respect that it deserves, and although has fallen in ranks as of late, it is still a mesmerising five-star dining experience, especially for those who don’t get a chance to experience food like this very much in their lives. If you ever get the opportunity to, and have even the slightest appreciation of food, it’s a must go-to experience.