Sokyo Omakase
Oh hello again Sokyo, I've missed you! Last time it was the a la carte, this time it was the omakase. Previously I've only had omakase at the Tsukiji fish markets, so I was excited to have one in Sydney!
And here is Sano-san! The omakase is limited to a few spots every night, and tonight, he was serving four people. The angle I had wasn't great for taking pictures of the cabinet or his work area, but I did get a view of some of the other chefs while they worked!
First up, there was a lot of tasting of the sauce before Sano mixed this up and presented it to us. Toro tartare with caviar. Super lovely delicious flavour!
This was a type of clam, not sure what kind, and was scored and marinated. That little dollop of black was its liver, and was oh so tasty! I love the texture of molluscs, this one was great and crunchy, just the way I like it.
Wagyu shortrib with assorted condiments was next. I can't remember what each of those little dollops were, but there was probably wasabi, yuzu garlic, radish, sesame seed and other tastiness. That's probably a rosemary leaf on there too! It was nice, but I like my seafood more.
Seared scallop muscle. They were pretty big pieces, so they must have come from some massive scallops. I love the flavour of scallops!
And now onto the nigiri. I managed to get mostly decent shots of each fish so I get to post them all instead of mashing or missing some. First up, New Zealand snapper. I only like super fresh snapper, most of the times in normal sushi trains it's not that great. The texture of this one great - slightly firm - and I would happily eat more!
Alfonsino was the next one up, possibly taken from the belly because it was much softer than the snapper.
An0ther clam thing! The first clam thing was tastier. I think there's a pattern here where I like firm/crunchy rather than soft!
A tuna trio! From top to bottom, yellowfin tuna, bluefin tuna, Japanese toro. All three were quite delicious, and the toro was just as tasty as the first time. However in terms of flavour and texture, the bluefin tuna was my favourite. There was something about it that was just nicer than the rest. The only unfortunate thing is that bluefin is endangered.
Next up, kohada! This one had been marinated in vinegar and was almost too sharp, but towards the end of eating this one, it wasn't so bad. Would have preferred the vinegar to be toned down just a tad.
Tempura spanner crab. Spanner crab must be in season right now; it's everywhere! The batter was light and crunchy, this was far better and tastier than the tempura bug tails we had last time from the a la carte.
Back onto the nigiri. Salmon belly with a seaweed type dab on top. I seem to have gotten bored of salmon sushi since there are so many other fish to try, but it tasted good nonetheless - kind of familiar in a way!
Now that's what I'm talking about. Mackerel that Sano cut (from fillet, not prepping the whole fish) before scoring it on both sides right in front of us. That was cool to watch! Since it's a fatty white fish, you could definitely taste the fishiness, but I was loving it!
A break from nigiri, and we end up with grilled kingfish, enoki mushrroms, asparagus and daikon. Very simple, but delicous!
This was a gorgeous piece of scampi that had been seasoned, then flamethrowered quite intensely! Yet it came out beautifully, and was so tasty!
Shio kombu squid. Nicely presented, but it turns out I'm still not a fan of squid. I love octopus, but squid still has a slightly too soft and slimy texture for me.
Rice in a scallop in a seaweed boat! My first reaction when seeing this was calling it a scallop sandwich taco!
Seared kingfish belly.
Seared salmon belly. Nice to end the nigiris on these two classic fish!
Then there was the hand roll with tuna mince in it. It was quite substantial and filled me up. Mine had a burst of wasabi that made me cry, but that was part of the fun! It must have just not been spread out properly.
And the final course, tamago!! Aren't they so cute! My brother and I received rice with ours, where as the ladies sitting next to us received only the egg. When we asked why, Sano explained it was because we were young, so this would help us grow. I loved that! And this wasn't any kind of tamago I was used to, instead of being like a "Japanese sweet omelette" this was more like a light, fluffy egg cake. Amazing and mind blowing!
After a satisfying dinner, we were then presented with a tasting plate of their desserts. I love that they still have the strawberry milkshake ice cream mochi! It's totally my favourite, and it was nice to sample the other dishes as well.It was a great night and didn't take too long - it was about a couple of hours all up. Funny thing though, is that had I not been taking 2-3 pictures of each dish, it would have taken about half as much time. It's amazing how photography increases the dining time by so much - I always knew it would, but it's so noticeable when consuming sushi because each nigiri represents a single bite.Luckily the other diners were also taking their time, so we all pretty much kept the same pace (one tiny bit in the middle where my brother and I were a course ahead), which was cool to see as well. Omakase chefs have to be so attentive!
He also has very shiny knives, so much so that I had to take a picture of them! I had never been interested in mirror finish knives because I thought they looked gimmicky, but in action, they were amazing to watch. Every flash of reflected light caught my attention and I couldn't stop staring.It was a fun dinner and at the end Sano even gave us his number so that if we ever had questions or needed a booking, we could contact him directly and he would book on our behalf, which was a nice gesture! I was kind of sad we didn't have any rare ingredients, but winter's probably a better time for that. It also meant that the dinner came out cheaper than advertised too, which I was thankful for.I think I've been so spoilt by good food in Sydney that now that I'm back in Perth, I can't eat most ordinary things anymore...
Sokyo
Oh Sokyo, whoever thought that you would be so amazing! Having previously had a mediocre experience at Sake, I wasn't sure what to expect here, especially since I've had sushi from Japan which is pretty impossible to match. That being said, Sydney is probably one of the best places to have Japanese, given the large Japanese population here.I totally didn't realise I could ask for the omakase when I made the booking, and it turns out a week's notice is required so that the chefs can age the fish. If I can't get into Raita Noda, I may as well put this on my revisit list!
There was a lot to choose from on the menu, and most of our indecision came from the fact that we wanted to try everything. To start off, we opted for oysters and the sashimi set. Those scallops! I love super sweet scallops, and I couldn't get enough of them. It was also cool that the platter came with dry ice, making for great presentation, but alas, I couldn't get a good picture of it. But that's okay because it's better to eat this than to take pictures of it. The selection of fish included marinated snapper, tuna, kingfish, salmon, bonito, Hokkaido scallop.The oysters had a plum wine and lime granita with a spicy ponzu sauce. I liked these oysters a lot!
The toro was a no brainer, though we agonised over how many we should get, considering they were $15 a piece. Four came in at $59, so we decided to order that way. No regrets! This was so good, so melt in the mouth and so well flavoured, and the biggest bonus for me was that I could actually taste the vinegar in the warm rice, and it was delicious! Never before have I had such delicious rice with my toro (except in Japan)!
Jurrasic quail robata with jamon iberico, endive salad, creamy ponzu and kalamansi teriyaki. The quail had a strong charcoal flavour to it, and the salad was great with a hit of bitterness. It wasn't particularly a standout though, I'd spend more money on the other items on the menu.Not photographed was a moreton bay bug tail tempura, mainly because it looked like popcorn seafood, served with two sauces - a pepper vinegar and a spicy mayo. Also not a standout, but I did like the acidity of both sauces.
The "DengakuMan" miso cod, on the other hand, was amazing! There was a line of spicy Japanese salad that was prepared with precise knifework, and cucumber salad. That miso cod! The flesh fell right apart and had the perfect flavour! I thought Patagonian Toothfish was unbeatable, but this gives it a run for its money!
More scallops, in a wasabi shitake pepper sauce. Not as awesome as the sashimi version, but tasty all the same! The broth was also rich and tasty.
Sokyo spicy bouillabaise. I originally wasn't sure about ordering this since I can't handle spicy, but after being advised it wasn't too spicy, went ahead with it. I wasn't disappointed! Both my brother and my friend smelled yuzu straight away, but since I don't really have a great sense of smell, I just had a slightly burning tongue through the whole thing. I actually would have preferred less white fish in this simply because I was getting full, but the soup was amazing! Now I need to create a seafood broth again at home.
Sure, I was getting full, but I needed more toro. And some uni. It was a great way to finish off all our savouries!
When there's a souffle, and it's yuzu flavoured, it has to be ordered. I've never seen one served in glassware before, so it was a first for me. It was very fluffy and tasty, and one of the better fruit flavoured souffles I've tasted, as a few have been too eggy. However, I don't think anything will beat the Vue de Monde chocolate souffle I had!
Mochi ice cream! I don't really like ice cream, but I do like mochi! I would love to try mochi ice cream, as this was simply ice cream and mochi. It was delicious and the mochi was so soft and flexible. The strawberry milkshake ice cream worked really well with this and I enjoyed it!If there's a place that tops Sydney sushi, I'd say it's currently Sokyo. One thing I also need to mention is that I really wanted to try a cocktail, mainly for the name - "Chasing Kojima". Maybe one day! In the meantime, I'll just make a punny character name in my story.I definitely want to go back for the toro, the hokkaido scallop, and the omakase! I actually liked the uni dish at Sepia better than here, mainly because over there it was marinated and had other flavour elements which enhanced the dish.I need to learn more Japanese!