Bites: Kuza @ Victoria Park

A new Japanese place never fails to tingle my excitement, but dining with such expectations always lead to mixed endings.  Late last year, Kuza opened along the busy Victoria Park Café strip but I was warned by a few friends that the price it charges is no less than my much hated Sake Bar in Northbridge.  Since then, the Entertainment Card recently added Kuza onto their list, so dining there now comes with a 25% discount.  Walking on a Thursday night, the restaurant was not busy and did not require any bookings.  Waiters quickly served us and offered the four of us a larger table meant for six.  Soon, they found other patrons to fill up those seats.  I really found this weird as other 2 person seats were still very much available.

 

I quickly scanned fellow blogger reviews rather then the menu as it is probably good to know what is worth sharing around the table.First starter for the night was the ceviche of salmon.  For me, this was delicious.  While to call it a ceviche feels not quite correct as the acids in no way cooked the fish before it hit the table,   finely shaved onions and a delicious vinaigrette made this a delectable experience!

 

The mock chicken salad was the next dish we ordered.  Hoping to relieve the crispy chicken salad from Bonsai @ Northbridge, I found my enjoyment quickly diminishing with the bitter greens over powering the rest of the ingredients.  Mock chicken is a vegetarian chicken which as really crisp.  One odd member which seemed lost on the plate though, were the little diced bean curd.

 

The next shared plate we ordered were two served of Kuza’s assorted aburi nigiri.  Aburi is simply blow torched sashimi but the winning question really is, does all sashimi torched make good aburi?     Simply NO.  Aburi for me is a technique reserved for the fattiest part of the fish like tuna or salmon belly.  In fact most oily fish would do fine.  Simply blow torching delicious seafood like scallops rarely works for me.  Its original sweetness that mellows with good sashimi rice is already an appealing dish.  So why blow torch and dry it out?  An even bigger issue for me was the fact that the lean fish was blow torched too.  If you have a thing for dry, tough fish, it might be your cue, but this was just totally disappointing.  But no problem beats my biggest issue which was the Aburi nigiri’s  burnt rice.  I really think this was a horrible thing because although it smelt pretty nice, but bitter burned rice with my fish?  Sorry, I would rather not. 

 

Our next dish was the gyoza serve on a capsicum coulis and drizzled with a reduced vinaigrette.  Visually spectacular, these gyoza continue its journey to make the taste buds happy.  But really, how hard is it to make a delicious gyoza?  Nevertheless, a perfectly executed dish deserve recognition. 

 

New can be a good thing.  But calling yourself Kaarage only to be something else?  It was mehhhhhh!   Kaarage to my friends and I is more than just fried chicken bring crispy.  It is also about the good flavors in the marinade.  The slightly pungent flavors of the garlic, ginger and onions is definitely a must.  So when one serves me peppery crispy chicken drizzled with mayo and a side of salsa, YOU MAD BRO?  This was definitely a fail.  It would be nice to try blend the delicious flavors of the kaarage with the salsa, but not bland tasteless chicken with the salsa.  NOPE.  For me this was even a bigger fail compared to the aburi.  Probably because even places like Taka pack good simple flavors into their $8 el cheapo lunch.

 

This brings me to the conclusion that Kuza despite its effort and pricing still have many areas it can work on.  Yes, they did show a certain level of innovation and creativity, but the food really must have taste before looks.  A special mention also goes to the confusion caused by us being seated with another couple.  Foods we did not order came to us.  In fact, every single dish the couple ordered probably landed on our side of the table before travelling up to the couple’s.  WHY SO STINGY WITH SPACE?  For reasons only known to them.  Over all, yes it was hip and cool with all that funky interior, but when it comes to food, it is back to the basics.  Substance before form.  Rather unfortunate but it seems that the gullible little Asian in me took the better side that night and fell trap to the discount.  Total damage that night was $130 with tap water.  Not bad I reckon but neither is it the best value in town.

 

WenY

South Korea: Jeju Island Pt. 2

Waking up early the next day, we enjoyed complementary breakfast of eggs and toasts before setting out to meet our taxi driver for the day. Our first stop was the teddy bear museum which boasts to a huge collection of bears of various Themes. The little darling decided to become a bear too!  She was beary beary happy! Wedding Bear!

Naughty  X Terracotta Bear!

Did a little traveling and we stopped by another tourist site but I was not sold by the stone formations. I preferred eating more :)! So it was fish cakes and hot radish broth along with some sweet red bean filled cakes along the way ;)! 

Delicious fishcakes in radish broth are everywhere! And that includes some or most 7elevens too!

One of the catchy tourist spot I enjoyed most was the mysterious road. An optical illusion where cars roll uphill and water flows upwards. A  bloody amazing sight. Or at least much more impressive than stones xD. Views of the terrain also caught my sight. The driver explained that the bulge were actually graves caused by the effect of the volcanic ground. Other places were flat because live stocks roam freely, applying pressure and keeping the ground flat. The graves were unaffected due to the rock perimeter preventing livestock from entering.

Next was a UNESCO heritage site. A waterfall site which looked good but fell way short of majestic. Nevertheless, the rock sculptures formed out of volcanic rocks in the area were really eye catching yet so symbolic of knowledge and bravery!Waterfall!  Told you it was not much… :(

We then went on to the Sunrise Peak but not before a lunch of locally caught mackerel cooked in the simplest manner on the grill.

  While the cooking was simple, it freshness was unbeatable!  But we got ripped off! Jeezus!

It was a gloomy day and it shows from this picture! But it was a good thing.  It was not really too hot or anything :)!

Sunrise peak!

But believe it or not, the amazing part of this place was the “lady divers”.  People who carry on the tradition of catching seafood by diving despite this horrible winter chill!True story!

As you can see, the ladies are pretty old! Even the youngest is about 60 years old.  Thus they joked the “between us, we share more than 300 years of experience!”.

Me and live octopus.  And only moments later….

Abalone and octopus sashimi.  ACHIEVMENT UNLOCKED.  Almost died there… @@!

On the way down, I really enjoyed the views of this little town.  Despite this trip being more than 2 months old now, I feel a growing sense of attachment.  South Korea really is a beautiful place :)!  Oh btw, the tent was setup for the first sunrise of the year event.  An event celebrated every new year’s eve!

My last scenery shot before we headed back to the city area.   It was extremely pleasant!  Our taxi driver commented that n summer this place is full of chicks. NOTED.

And the most important part of the day, a delicious meal to end the night on a high!Another meal of fantastic barbecue.  This time, even the cabbage and bean sprout kimchi goes on!  Not the healthiest thing, but as the belly crisps, its oil cooked the kimchee even more, giving it an unforgettable aroma.  All then gets wrapped in a lettuce.  ENJOY!

When we were close to finishing, the owner came out and cooked the remaining pork belly and kimchee with rice.  Cheekily, he made a love shape out of the rice.   Hospitality in South Korea is unbelievable.  Everyone here is so helpful and caring right from the start till the end.   Even from the start, an old aunty has been keeping an eye on us making sure we were alright.  Consistently asking her helpers to bring more food to us.  What can I say?  It was lovely.

<3! While I wish I know the name of the place in English, I do not :(! Nevertheless, the owner left us a card:

Took this with my iPhone ;)! Hope this helps anyone who needs a good barbecue place in Jeju Island!

After that the little darling and I walked a bit more before settling down to relax over warm drinks @ Tortini café.  Just the perfect way to end our last night in Jeju! Green tea latte, hot chocolate and….

A delicious slice of moist baked cheese cake! :)!

  Both the drinks and the cake were yummy. I do not drink coffee at all and luckily for me, green tea latte has no coffee.  Just really delicious matcha stirred into frothed milk! Delicious! The hot chocolate that darling had was not any lesser too.  It was creamy, rich and sweetness just at the right amount.  The biggest surprise for the night was the baked cheese cake which was so yummy.  It put most cheesecakes in Perth to shame!

Next stop?  Mount Sorak!

More soon :)

WenY

South Korea Trip: Jeju Island Pt. 1

Late 2012 the little darling and I embarked on a journey to South Korea and Hong Kong. I have to say, the trip to South Korea despite its language barrier and differences in cultures, was every but enjoyable. Food wise, it did not disappoint either. Finishing the Hong Kong trip late at night we flew to Seoul in the wee hours of the morning. Awesome flight on the a380! The highlight was probably Korean airs very demure looking ladies which the darling agreed!

First stop of our trip was Jeju Island! 6am and no place to check-in gave us the opportunity to experience Korea Jijinbang where we slept in the common hall to regain some strength. Never quite slept with that many people around me before! Maybe around 100 plus beds in that hall? Other levels had spas for men and women. But woke up to the most awkward moment with the little darling when there were no one else but us.  Must have snored too loud! *oops*!

Random bike shop

 

Jeju on hindsight felt like a dead town at first. But walking into their fish market famed for sashimi grade produce, it was super lively.   But we were so hungry we decided to hunt for lunch first and ended up eating the best bowl of Tteokbokki during our trip.  It was filled with delicious Mandu (dumplings) and Odeng(fishcakes). This was absolute joy for $3! Other snacks we had was the doughnuts which were pretty good. They had plain fried ones, some filled with red bean paste and savory ones with vegetables! Pretty damn nice when the weather is 0 degrees!

Later on we walked through Jeju Island’s underground shopping areas which felt more like an emergency shelter due to the size of it! Oh and facial products were everywhere! A girls heaven for sure.

Walking out of the shopping place, we soon found ourselves at a little traditional government house turned tourist attraction in the city :)!

The entrance

Main building grounds

A few pics of the building features :)Pretty good workmanship!

CRaftyyyyyyyyyyy!

And to finish the night, the famous black pig barbecue! The highlight typically revolves around the superior quality of the pork which is identified by small little black pores on the skin but for me, it was the discovery of a new leafy vegetable that carries a beautiful fragrant and buttery taste when ate with the pork. That for me was spot on.

Obligatory Korean Barbecue.  Pictures is the La Galbi of beef ribs!

Does anyone know the name of this heavenly vege? :)! It was superb!!

Keep a look out on this space for part 2!

WenY