11 Course Degustation @ Tetsuya, Sydney

Hello! Penguin here ^^~ since I was a little, I've always dreamed of going to a degustation, haha well actually not really, but I must say that it has been on my mind for a very long time now...

If you've never heard of Tetsuya, it's an upmarket restaurant that serves an eleven-course degustation menu with Japanese and French inspired flavours. Being a 2-chef hat restaurant, my friends and I immediately jumped at the opportunity to experience the unique cuisine.

A confession I must make that all of my friends know is that I'm not that great with raw fish, or any meat that is not your average chicken, beef or pork. Thus, when I saw the sample menu online, I was startled of what was on offer and thought twice about having an early dinner before. However, I'm surely glad I didn't, because honestly by the end of it, I was definitely struggling to eat each bite!

I'm here, I made it!

Sourdough dinner roll

Tetsuya's Black Truffle Salsa Butter

My goodness, this stuff is GOLD! If you've ever had anything with truffle in it before, you'll know what I mean.. it just tastes.. s o o o  g o o d. Actually, they have a very similar condiment at The European in Melbourne CBD. I pretty much had a deja vu moment, noticing that the sauce plate was scrapped clean, but then this time we requested another serving..

Apple, mint & ginger beer mocktail

Orange juice

Out comes the very first dish!! For me, this was the best savory dish.. the only problem with it was that there's wasn't enough of it =(!

 Warm chestnut soup with smoked cream

So, here comes the start of the raw stuff, I did hesitate to eat it, but I must say that it was seasoned so well that I barely noticed that the Kingfish was raw!

Sashimi of kingfish with blackbean & orange

I really enjoyed the tofu and found the junsai (clear-like jelly, water tasting items) in the dish were abit strange.. 

Marinated NZ scampi with curd & junsai

  

Alright, now at that point I was beginning to realise the taste of the raw scampi, and also while having flashbacks of my friend eating one that was still in tact of its shell at Sushi Hotaru, so this got me shuddering and I decided to reach out for another bread roll flavour on offer..

Italian white dinner roll

So it was time for Tetsuya's signature dish which of course had to be raw, but I did like it. At first my friends and I thought that the top was soaked in black pepper, but actually, and I quote "Don't you guys think that it tastes like the  sachets of flavouring that those Indomie noodles come with?" haha, honestly it actually does!!

Confit petuna ocean trout with konbu, celery & apple

 Side Garden Salad

oh em gee, finally! A roasted fish dish! *relief* The sauce was extra nomcious =)

John dory with AJO blanco & pil pil

oh noes, did the waiter just say OX TAIL.. back to square one.. but this is no ordinary ox tail, it was wagyu ox tail, so I decided if I was ever going to try ox tail, it had to be now as it was Tetsuya's Wagyu Ox Tail. haha. It came with lotus root, and sea cucumbers. Have you ever seen sea cucumbers before? they ain't pretty. Have you ever touch a sea cucumber before? well, they are incredibly slimy! Yes, I didn't eat it having experienced what they look and feel like at Sea World before...

Braised ox tail with sea cucumber & lotus root

They definitely achieved 'unique' in this dish, my friends and I have never had duck cooked this way before.

 Slow-roasted breast of duck with smoked eschallots & foie gras

Haha. Now at first I thought lion? are you for real? carazy! but, no it's actually deer.. oh gosh..

 Seared loin of NZ venison with salt roasted beetroot & beetroot jus

Now comes time to my favourite part of the degustation, D-D-DESSERT!!  Look at all the cutlery lined up for it.. you know you're in for a treat!

First up for dessert, involved an icey sorrel granita and when mixed in with the icecream, it was really nice and refreshing! I don't know why the goat's milk icecream tasted like honey flavoured ice cream to me.. must be all the raw fish and odd meats I don't normally eat stirring up my tastebuds =P!

 Goat's milk icecream with sorrel granita

When I first saw this dish, I was thinking 'Oh lookie what we have hereeeee... is it creme brulee?? well, it's definitely something brulee'd =D' I would have to say this was my favourite sweet dish ♥ it was really nice overall, make sure if you ever go for Tetsuya's degustation that this is on the menu!

Bread & butter pudding and tarte tatin

I would say that this nearly came first place for dessert, however I really didn't like the cream cheese icecream, that was the let-down for me for this dish... It just didn't really gel with the rest of the dessert. However, the carrot cake was divine and the nuts gave it that extra kick =)

 Spiced carrot cake with cream cheese ice cream & salted peanuts

Last of all, we were offered these.. 

Chai Mochi

Yes, yes, I realise it now that carrying around an iPhone to take my food photos is ridics and that I really should take on @omggimmenow's advice on that micro 4 thirds! Please excuse me for the lack of quality photos =)~

Location: 529 Kent Street, Sydney NSW 2000

Web: http://www.tetsuyas.com/index.html