Bites: Sushi with a Modern Touch @ The Modern Eatery: House of Aburi Sushi, Fremantle

Sushi is a dish for all.  Regardless of status or culture, the love for sushi is global.  But with sushi places all over the town opening their doors to the gullible, how much actually serve substance on a plate?  I would have to say very few.  Guided by my curious foodie friend Jordan and review of my fellow Perth blogger the Ministry of Gluttony , I travelled a little further beyond my comfort zone to the city of Fremantle to the Modern Eatery: House of Aburi Sushi.  

The Modern Eatery’s decor as it’s name suggests is simple, modern with the bar counter sporting a clean neat line from start to finish.  The look is almost contemporary without the necessary clutter of the furniture.  Then comes the menu which offers a decent range of sushis with most offering the option to have it done as a normal nigiri finished as is or aburi.  The appetiser for the night was the Creamy Crab Croquettes.

Creamy Crab Croquettes ($7) - Simply fried, crisp on the outside and creamy on the inside finished with a drizzling of chilli mayonnaise.  The flavour of crab was present but did not carry a biteable piece of crab flesh.  Regardless, this was one the best Croquettes in town for $7. As a matter of fact, it was probably the best appetiser one could get for $7.

Signature Combo ($20) tells a lot about the concept the Modern Eatery tries to apply to their sushi.  The concept of aburi is to “blow torch” the sushi prior to serving.  In the Signature Combo we have the salmon, tuna and scallop along side 2 pieces of pressed salmon and prawn nigiri topped with their special aburi sauce.

The basic salmon, tuna and scallops were extremely fresh with no questions asked.  The flavours were good with the little toppings to finish.  But I really question the benefits of having them torched.  From past experience, only the fattest parts of the fish are normally blow torched so as to enhance the fatty layers in the fish often resulting in a melt-in-your-mouth feel that is serenaded by a smokey aroma.  At the Modern Eatery the Aburi noticeably produced a more tender finish but lacked the smokiness.

Then comes Modern Eatery’s pressed Salmon and Prawn Nigiri topped with the Signature Aburi sauce.  Looking at it, I felt impressed, with it simple appearance finished with the little grilled marks.  Very nice!  Taste wise it was even better thanks to the Aburi sauce.  It was slightly smokey, creamy and zesty all in one which complemented the seasoning and lightness of the sushi rice.

Itachou Nigiri Combo ($20) is a Signature dish for people who are not a big fan Aburi and want their sushi left “untouched”.

Everything on the plate was impeccably fresh.  From the bright red tuna to the squid, it was all bloody good.  Even the little tuna rolls were phenomenal.  Jordan and I despite using the word fresh so many times, still could not help but repeat it again over and over.  Not to mention, he loved the Unagi Nigiri which had the largest Unagi slice ever.

After going through the classics, our stomachs felt like it still had space to go the extra distance and so we decided to try some of their Craft Roll which employs their kitchen’s modern touches to the classic sushi dish. My choice was the Kamikaze Roll ($12).

Each bite here was to the joy of confusion.  There were so many things to like in this roll.  You had the crispy tempura prawn, the sweetness of the shredded crab meat, decadent Aburi sauce and the list goes one.  With so much happening in the little roll I was enjoying it it but did not know why.  One thing for sure though was that it took an expert hands to wrap that big roll without squeezing the rice flat.  Even the ever popular Mr Munchies in Mount Lawley is known for overly pressing their rice resulting in a gluggy finish.

Fry Me to the Moon was Jordan choice and it was a good call.  I had a very bad experience before in another restaurant where the fried sushi literally absorbed all the oil and tasted absolutely disgusting.  But this one at the Modern Eatery is far from that.  It was yummy!

Biggest like factor?  The perfect frying means the cream cheese was brought just below melting point with a crisp outer.  Coat with the chilli mayo & sweet soy on the plate and enjoy.

The perfect sushi to me is all about acing the rice, and ingredients whilst finishing it off with an “X” factor.  As trivial as it sounds, experts will tell you that there is a lot more to it than meets the eye. At the Modern Eatery: House of Aburi Sushi the rice is delicious, the ingredients extremely fresh and environment really nice for chomping down decadent sushi.  Their Aburi sauce is also worth mentioning thanks to its sparing use unlike other places that drench their sushi in sauces.    Oh and the price for this meal? A very decent $78 including a pot of green tea.

WenY

Bites: Artezen Espresso Bar @ Naturaliste Terrace, Dunsborough.

The last thing one would expect is 2/3rds of the brunch places in the touristy town of Dunsborough to be closed on a long weekend.  But that was exactly what happened.  Thankfully, none of those closed cafes were my  intended destination.  My sister’s skilled recommendation for breakfast was Artezen Cafe.  Needless to say it was really busy.  Before ordering, the waitress reiterated the situation with the huge weekend crowd and informed us that there is a long wait for food or coffee and it might take up to 30 minutes.  We agreed as we were on our way home and had breakfast earlier in the chalet earlier so we were in no hurry anyway.

First up to share with a round of hot drinks was a slice of carrot cake to keep the boredom at bay. Rich in nuts, my main criticism was how the cake felt too dense for my liking. Its like biting into a mud cake except that its a carrot cake.  I personally preferred something dense but not quite as dense. The layer of cream cheese was mediocre at best because it lacked the citrusy notes that usually strikes a balance with the sugar.  It might be a really small issue but it distinguishes a fantastic cake and one that feels cloying in a few bites.

Putting cakes aside, the first dish to reach the table was the Spanish beans with Pita and Fried Egg.  It was simply a joy to look at with its deep red colour looking ripe, and robust.  Even the thought of how squeezing the wedge of lime would enhance the dish already brings a sense of excitement to the table.  True enough, the dish unfolded really well.  It tasted really good!  It is simple but every bit comforting.

The Big Breakfast makes its appearance twice in 4 days! This time around I added a serve of Hollandaise.  I have mentioned before on how hard it is to draw merits from such a common platter yet so very easy to pick out its shortcomings.  It had to be perfect! This is precisely what I meant.  So few elements leave very little room for error.  But here, I got what I ordered that way I liked it.  Bacon was crisped to perfection, eggs runny and Hollandaise silky.  The flavours in the Hollandaise had a rich body of flavour with a mild acidity.  Nice! 

This was actually a Big Breakfast that worked out really well I would have to say. It is one of the better ones along side the old John St. Cafe and Sayers.

Artezen Cafe is a brunch spot that is godsend.  The brunch is credible and is something I am more accustomed to.  Was this a one off?  Possibly not considering my sister’s previous experience here.  A special mention goes out to the staff because despite the busy crowd that day, they were accommodative with my requests for cutleries and drinking glasses.  So, I can assume that they were really nice or their boss told them that all food critics have camera and so all tourist were probably suspects.  Regardless, for the purpose of this review I shall advance with the assumption that my camera played no part at all.  Next time if you are around town, definitely consider stopping by!  Artezen Cafe is a lovely place!

WenY

Bites: The Urban Bean @ Bussel Highway, Margaret River.

Breakfast on Sunday is pretty difficult meal to have in Margaret River.  In the ever popular cafe strip along Bussel Highway, most of the popular spots like Morries and Margaret River Bakery were not open which means we were left to the likes of mass produced goods like Dome and Brumby’s.  Thank god though, the Urban Bean which was one of the better cafes were open.  

To share around the table, the first dish that arrived was the Urban Bean’s Breakfast Burrito which came looking pretty good topped with a dollop of guacamole and some tomato salsa. 

Fluffy scrambled eggs on the crisp burrito skin was pretty nice.  It was probably the best of the lot.  The little pieces of sausages in there was a nice touch but the lot as a whole tasted rather bland.  But nothing some good old ketchup cannot fix. A good dollop of dipping sauce was all I needed to go form zero to hero.  Not a bad bite at all.

Mom loves her bread and takes very little meat.  From this aspect, the Breakfast Panini which had a good airy texture was her favourite that morning.  However, sis and I who would usually go for a bit more flavour found the bread dish a little bland and the filling were borderline sad.

Ham and Tomato Breakfast Panini.

The final dish to share was a big breakfast.   The big breakfast is something I would rarely order but in this instance, we were short of ideas and decided to go with a breakfast dish that was easily shared.   It is hard to draw merits from such a common platter.  It is however, very easy to get picked out on the shortcomings like the overcooked eggs and boring bacon.  Surely with no hash or homemade bean one would expect a crispy bacon at the very least no?  In their defence though, it was a very busy morning for Urban Bean.  Queues were out the door at the cafe that morning!

Big Breakfast.

The food at Urban Bean is  decent and honest but it is nowhere near special.  On hind sight, I also felt that the execution could be a little bit more refined.  Tough coffee critics, my sister and parents found the coffee art looking a little sloppy and even the coffee was a little burnt.  This made the Instagrammer very disappointed as it did not allow her to snap the “obligatory morning photograph”.  For me the pot of tea I ordered was simply a pot of tea.  Nothing can go wrong with this English beverage.  All in all, the breakfast was not despicably bad but it was not profoundly delicious either.  But considering the next option is a 24 hour time travel back in time to go to famous Margaret River Bakery or a 100km drive to Dunsborough, I would rather eat at Urban Bean and be appreciative.

WenY