Hakata Mizutaki Toriden, Fukuoka

I've talked previously about meals where you just have to write about them the minute you leave the restaurant, and I was so excited to have one of those encounters at Toriden in Fukuoka. It was a spur of the moment just-book-and-fly trip, and without doing much trip or food planning, I was fortunate enough to stumble across this website and the description for Toriden caught my fancy. The stars further aligned when I gave up a sushi reservation for our final night due to a combination of disrupted schedules and weak stomachs. So off we went in search of Toriden, which we found easily thanks to google maps. 

We knew we were in the right place when we saw the bird

We couldn't speak a word of Japanese and they couldn't speak a word of English. Fortunately it was obvious there was a set course meal, and we ordered one 3800Y course and one 4800Y course.

I had a cold sake from somewhere near Kyoto which cost about 750Y.  

All the tools being set up. The yellow stuff for dipping was fresh yuzu kosho - it was simply incredible.

First up among the appetisers - this boiled egg which came on what appeared to be a bed of savoury and slightly spicy miso. 

A beautifully cooked egg with a perfectly semi runny yolk, infused with a tinge of soy. 

The next appetiser was a katsuo sashimi with sweet onions topped with a vinegary agar like substance, with finely sliced spring onions. The flavours together were fantastic.

Super fresh fish and even more amazing with the seared outside

We also got to see the chef at work behind the counter.

This was about the most exciting moment of the meal - having an entire pot of thick, rich, collagen filled chicken stock and pieces being placed in front of us, with the chicken aroma filling the room. 

The waitress started us each with a small bowl of chicken broth and it was incredible how sensations of happiness, warmth and incredible contentment could fit all in one small bowl. I can't even describe how amazing the experience was. 

The waitress took out the chicken pieces inside the pot, and then put in thinly sliced spring onions and negi to be cooked. 

She looked pretty happy doing her job

The chicken was, well, boiled chicken. But it was tender, tasty and I was already in a very forgiving and exhilerated state of nothing-can-be-wrong-with-my-dinner, so I possibly wasn't very objective when I thought it had to be the best boiled chicken ever.

Our lovely server came out with a bowl of minced chicken and proceeded to shape meatballs for cooking

All the veggies being cooked in the pot - the aromas were starting to get quite incredible

The next round of appetisers came up, namely fish sashimi for the 4800Y course and chicken sashimi for the 3800Y course - at least that was what I understood, although I couldn't quite understand why the more exciting chicken sashimi was served with the cheaper course.

The chicken sashimi looked like it had been boiled lightly on the outside. I was slightly nervous but figured it had to be reliable. It had a scallop-like texture and flavour, although not quite as sweet. 

Some chicken tempura, which was all right. 

The meatballs were finally done by then, and so were the vegetables. We had cabbage, carrots, tofu, enoki mushrooms and what appeared to be sweet potato noodles. By then, the broth tasted even more amazing. 

The vegetables, we were told, were free flow. I was getting pretty stuffed after finishing my third bowl of meatballs and veggies, and sadly, couldn't manage any more. 

Right at the end we were asked if we wanted rice or noodles, and decided to go for the porridge. 

After the rice went in, the chef beat an egg and poured it in

This was perhaps the best chicken porridge on the planet

The meal ended off with green tea panna cotta

Fortunately this was a small serve...we were completely stuffed by then. It was absolutely delicious. 

As we were walking out, I noticed a Fukuoka/Saga Michelin guide with a bookmark in it, and then only I discovered that Toriden had been awarded 1 star. It was just about the most amazing meal of my trip, and I found it so, so reasonable. Given the quality, it was fantastic value for money and I would so definitely go back if I was in Fukuoka again. 

Website: http://www.toriden.com/

Truffle Takeover at Chiara Restaurant - Truffle Melbourne Festival

The husband and I found out about the Melbourne Truffle Festival quite by accident; we were sitting at Market Lane Coffee one morning and came across the flyer. After a schedule check and quick phone call, we were happily booked in for a truffle degustation dinner with wine pairing at one of the new restaurants in the Docklands. The part that got us really excited was having Guy Grossi prepare some of the courses at the dinner. 

It was at a restaurant we'd never even heard of, but appeared decent according to Urbanspoon ratings. Chiara had opened only the month before and was helmed by someone who formerly worked at the Fat Duck. 

The registration process was pretty easy - we gave them our names and were ushered to the bar for canapes and prosecco to start the evening. I couldn't get a clear shot of this initially - it was a cone of bottarga cream with truffle shavings and chives. 

The other canape was pork cracking with spiced pear, an egg yolk and truffle shavings. 

We felt, like, too cool hanging out by the bar sipping our flutes of bubbly. Definitely not something we're used to, but we tried our best to look the part. 

Pretty tasty prosecco.

Finally a better shot of the cones

They were pretty generous with the food, and the bubbly

The menu, which we had seen online. But seeing it in the flesh got us really excited 

And the best surprise ever - when we got to our tables, we found out that each diner got to go one with ONE TRUFFLE EACH. It was like, walking into a candy store and realising the back door opened directly to Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. The truffle farm dude told us the best way to use them would be for scrambled eggs. I tried it, and it was amazing - that's a story for another post. 

The first main course was a slow cooked egg with mushrooms and a duck liver parfait. With lots of truffle shavings! This was paired with a crisp Clare Valley Arneis which we had never heard of before, but which matched the dish perfectly. 

It was a nice way to start the meal, although I found the liver taste slightly overwhelming. 

The next dish, by Guy Grossi, was the standout dish for me. Comprising of veal sweetbread, marron, smoky potato and sugo grasso, it was an incredibly enjoyable dish with so many different textures and flavours coming together in one dish. I loved how the smoky mash worked with the sweetbread. And the marron was super fresh. Interestingly, it was paired with a Yarra Valley Rose. 

A closer look. I couldn't get enough of this dish. 

The next dish was a ravioli with veal, sage and butter. I thought this was slightly too dryl and could have worked with a traditional sage and butter sauce, although the intention could have been not to have a sauce at all. The standout part of this dish, however, was the wine. 

Possibly the singular most important wine discovery of our year in Australia, just slightly ahead of the Gerwurtztraminer and the Blaufrankisch. It was a simply incredible and versatile wine. 

So good that we begged for more. 

Then came the main course of a 72 hour rib, with bone marrow pudding and poached quince, matched with a nero d'avola. 

The aromas from the bone marrow pudding were incredible 

The short rib was melt-in-the-mouth tender. 

Grossi came out to say a few words midway

Then there was a palate cleanser of sweetened truffle cheese with iced mandarin soda. 

It was so odd to have a mixture of savoury and sweet citrus flavour, with truffle in between. Surprisingly, it worked. 

The dessert was banana caramel with chocolate honeycomb and truffle ice cream. 

Serious truffle overload by now. 

Ending off with petit fours, which were chocolate truffles. 

At $190 for everything, including matched wines and a take home truffle, I dare say we thought we got a pretty good deal.