Fuku - Omakase and Teppanyaki

"Quality produce, Quality service"

http://thefuku.com

I was blessed to be invited by Milan Rai to dine in Fuku as a guest blogger.  Like the many blog posts that have flooded into Urbanspoon by bloggers, there is a common positive consensus. I will now put in my two cents, this will be a honest post, my opinions will not be influenced regardless of the invite in order to keep to my values and the integrity of my blog.

Few days before I recieved the invite, I was coincidently reading into Fuku in search for a place to take the bf on his bday. He loves japanese so I was contemplating on teppanyaki since we both have never experienced it before. When I think tepanyaki, I think a food show with a big price tag, hence it has always been on the "to do" list and under the authority of my wallet :(

On arrival we were well prepared for the intercom entrance, had I not gotten the information from reading blogposts before, I would've tried yanking the door open. After the intercom was pushed, the door slid open and we were greeted with a warm and welcoming dining area, numerous sake displayed on the wall, lovely soft instrumental music in the background, inviting waiters and a good looking chef HAHA! A+ for environment. We were seated and had a look at the menu which consisted of good, better and BEST which consists of luxurious ingredients like lobster, foie gras and truffles . We were informed that we will be having the better menu. *excited*

Calamari with Herring Roe and Antartic Ice Crab

 

First of 8 courses, simple, fresh and I loved the seaweed crackle giving a good contrast of textures to the dish. They were very  generous with the roe.

Smoked Wagyu, Oyster Tempura, Burdock and School prawn Kakiage

 

This was one of my favourite dishes. I am not a fan of oysters, I don't like the look of them and sometimes chewy but this oyster was big and juicy and so tender, the fact that it was a tempura made it look more appealing. Waygu with a miso sauce was delicious and the prawn kakiage was surprisingly not that hard to eat,  it's just like soft shell crab.

Sashimi

Unfortunately I didn't take a picture of the sashimi. Sashimi was very fresh and melted in my mouth. I'm normally not a big fan of sashimi but I gobbled this down easily.

I loved the quality of the service. The chef would prepare and present the dish on the bench top in which the waiters will come in and place the dish in front of us all so delicately.

Partridge

 

Never had partridge before but tasted like chicken *how amatuer of me* it being wrapped in crepe reminded me of peking duck, it didn't blow me away, but I still enjoyed it.

Scallop, prawn and crispy prawn head

 

This dish was another one of my favourites. Scallop was volumtious, juicy and perfectly cooked, prawn was well seasoned and also well grilled. Who knew I'd actually enjoy prawn head, it wasn't hard to eat and the chef said it was good for our skin. In that case, good skin is coming my way baby!

What I learnt so far is that tepanyaki is all about working with great produce and simple cooking to keep the natural flavours, in saying that I haven't seen any theatricals and was getting abit disappointed..UNTIL!

The chef started setting things on fire :O!

.........making a volcano

........ Juggling pepper and salt shakers

............... Doing some crazy chopping

............. Pulling out the flesh of the lobster and putting it back into the shell like nothing happened whatsoever

............ Juggling with knives, throwing eggs and cracking it on the knife, as well as picking up an egg yolk and cracking that onto a knife, though there was a couple of failed attempts and a big mess made, it's just all part of the fun.

Now back to the serious stuff..

At this point another chef came to cook, he was wearing a different hat. I think he was not as experienced as the first chef but he was more willing to try out the harder tricks which was entertaining. The experienced chef was left to serve the customers whom ordered the BEST menu. *rich*

Fish of the day

 

I didn't quite enjoy this dish, I found the fish over cooked and a little tough, I also didn't dare to eat the baby octopus, moved it to J's dish, he enjoyed that part. It also took awhile to prepare with the blow torching of the fish and the leaves, not sure if that added flavour to the dish with the torching of the leaves.

Waygu (full blood) sirloin steak. Mayura Station grade 9+, Fried rice with wagyu flavour

 

The chef went around asking everyone how they liked their steak, many chose medium rare. In the end he recommended waygu to be medium to medium well done so the fat can melt away to achieve the full tender steak. From then everybody changed their preferences on their steak. I enjoyed the waygu with the garlic chips, full of flavour. Unfortunately I found the fried rice lacking flavour and some rice was abit hard.

Yuzu cheesecake, chocolate drink and mountain peach

 

I was very excited for dessert and it didn't disappoint. Yuzu cheesecake was creamy and refreshing went well with the chocolate drink. A great end to a wonderful 8 course.

Overall J and I enjoyed our first tepanyaki experience. We can definetly tell that the produce is A grade and they strive for good quality dishes. I highly recommend this place for private parties, it only seats 16 people, but I think the experience would be more fun sharing it with friends and encouraging the chefs to demonstrate more tricks. I'm sure they'll be happy to give them ago knowing that everyone is willing to have some fun. It would definitely be a more interactive dining experience. I believe they have a new WALK-IN menu which I would like to try one day $75, just walk in and make your own menu.

Vons chicken

There is an invasion of Korean restaurants happening in Perth. In the future we will all be dancing and singing to K pop and dressing up like one. Oh wait. that's now. that's me *shame*. The BF have been going to alot of man dates to Vons chicken in which they all talk highly of including my workmate, so I decided to try this place out myself.

Vons chicken is a franchise restaurant in Korea serving mainly chicken from which you can opt for the roasted or deep fried. I stood aside and let the BF take the reigns for this one ordering chicken and rice, he chosed the roasted chicken with mild chilli sauce. You can choose your level of hottness. For me, i'm not that hot :(

We all sat down and got our plastic gloves which I think is pretty awesome! at that moment I was very excited, who wouldn't be excited with plastic gloves!...PLASTIC GLOVES!! *crazily waves them around* Each table is equiped with a chicken scrap bin and baby wipes.

The chicken arrived and as expected it was a bunch of chicken on a plate, glistening with sauce and a lovely brown, make you salivate colour. At that moment I thought, we should've ordered the fried rice or something, so it wouldn' t be so plain and repetitive, but I need to let the control freak that I am go and just eat. 

I slid on my gloves *excited fit* and started digging in, only to realise it wasn't what I imagined it to be, I thought in wearing the gloves I'd be able to devour the saucy chicken with my dignity still intact looking classy and all lady-like, but it proved to still be quite difficult, like I was better off eating it with my bare hands. It was difficult to eat the rice and have gloves too, so I only ended up using one glove. Chicken wise, they were delicious but I think they were too hyped up, I've been told they're better than KFC, KFC is pretty damn good. I think they're both equally good but vons is probably healthier and also pricier . I didn't end up eating my rice, just had the chicken so I guess the rice was really not that necessary nor would fried rice either since I was too busy handling the chicken and was happy with just chicken.

Overall, eventhough it's just roasted saucy chicken, it's still GOOD chicken. The next time I come here, I'd have a take away so I can devour it in my own privacy sauce on my face, clothes, hands and all. I also wouldn't mind a side serving of chips, it would be a great alternative to KFC, without the greasy, unhealthy feeling you get after a KFC meal. 

Jamaica blue

I usually avoid franchised cafes, just coz there's something impersonal about them, they lack character if you know what I mean. I guess you could call me a franchise cafe SNOB. Oneday C and I wanted to catch up but couldn't be bothered travelling out of the suburbs with the worries of finding parking and wasting petrol and dressing up and blah, first world problem. Anyways we chose to try out Jamaica Blue in Riverton Forum, a franchise cafe and lets just say I'm no longer a franchise cafe SNOB, just a SNOB :)

Upon arrival I noticed the beautiful contemporary wall paper which I loved and wanted to take a photo but didn't want to seem like I was taking pictures of all the people sitting in front of it. I know, being a food blogger why would I have any dignity left. WELL I REFUSE TO THINK SO.

I had a browse of the menu and decided to have the smoked salmon potato cakes which came with hollandaise sauce and caramalised onion. All the hot meals were displayed in the cabinet which I dislike, I don't like the thought that the dishes aren't prepared fresh on the spot, anyways I stuck with my order and also had a chai latte *of course*

 

Salmon potato cakes

First bite. DELICIOUS! Saltiness of the salmon, savouriness of the potato, creaminess of the hollandaise sauce and sweetness of the onions make a perfect dish, I don't know why I haven't seen this combo more often. Salad was pretty much salad with what I believe was store bought balsamic dressing. Chai latte was perfect, very creamy just the way I like it :) I will bring my sister here to show her how a Chai latte is done, she's been trying to make a creamy chai latte at home with many failed attempts. My friend wasn't very hungry so she had a cookie hahah! I dont' think that's worth blogging bout. I forgot to ask C how she thought about the coffee, so I can't comment on that aspect.

Overall enjoyed my meal though I have to admit, I was very surprised, perhaps my expectations were lowered since I'm a franchise cafe snob but it's definetly good stuff. Great environment, lovely food and reasonable prices makes a happy snob :)

Red Opium

“Hidden gem”

http://www.redopium.com.au

Photos courtesy of Emandy

Red opium is a new concept restaurant serving thai food but in modern tapas style. It is literally a hidden gem being located underground in a basement on Hay St. This restaurant was the chosen venue for a dear friend’s birthday. Walking down the stairs into the basement was exciting, we were greeted with red lanterns and draped curtains depicting a mysterious asian thai feel, there was even a little section to play chess and a lovely bed-like couch as one of the seatings. I was very impressed with the interiors.

Chess area

We were seated and greeted by the lovely waitress whom is the owner with her husband being the chef. My friends have read a critic review before going in and we decided to order some items he recommended and some from the owner. Items on the menu had very unique names, we ordered a total of 6 dishes.

Crudo tuna

Crudo tuna

Tuna was fresh and melted in our mouths, also had a hint of lemongrass which really gave it a punch of flavour. Everyone enjoyed this dish.

Ying and Yang Dips

Yin and Yang dip

Crackers served with creamy prawn and coconut dip and minced pork tomato dip. These dips was so unique and absolutely delicious, the crackers was so light and crispy and presentation was spot on. My fault would be more dips and more crackers please *I will just keep saying this throughout the post*.

Crying Waygu

Again another spot on dish, this reminded me of beef tataki but with a thai twist. Proabably a favourite amongst the group.

Son in law eggs

Son in law eggs

These eggs was exciting to eat. The owner recommended this dish as she told us stories of customers falling in love with it. Double cooked eggs, boiled then fried to give a crust on the outside and a sauce that tasted like the ones you find in maggie mee, packed full of flavour and abit on the spicy side. A rich dish we all enjoyed.

F duck

F duck

Roast duck in red curry. This is probably one of the best red curry I’ve had. So rich and creamy, packed full of flavour with lovely voluptuous duck pieces. This dish brought out the ugly side of me, I just didn’t want to share.

White bait

White bait

Unfortunately our lack of knowledge of what a white bait is led us to expect a big fleshy white fish, we were left disappointed with this dish. All the Malaysians referred to it as Ikan bilis. It was more a snack than a main dish. We ordered this as it was apparently one of the recommended dishes by the critic, but I’m sure there are better dishes than this.

All our meals were accompanied with fragrant white rice and we all left JUST full. We decided to have dessert elsewhere as they ran out of what we wanted, the dessert menu was still being refined at that time, I've recently seen the dessert menu and it looks promising. The bill came out to be just under $20 each which we were all very surprised. I think we could have ordered a few more dishes to bring us over the line in terms of feeling just full and FULL. I would have liked the dishes to be 10x bigger, but that’s just me being greedy and throwing the tapas concept down the drain.

I enjoyed dining in Red Opium and have been recommending the place to everyone I know since then. I have tried dining in again but they were fully booked so word has definitely gone out.

NB: The entertainment card offers a 25% off the bill to Red Opium
NB: They do private functions

Seoul Buffet Korean BBQ

"Jal meokkesseumnida"

One of my favourite Korean restaurants is Seoul Korean BBQ Situated on William st, Northbridge. I’ve tried many Korean BBQ restaurants but have always gone back to his one. I believe they have a sister branch in Victoria Park and I was told by the owner that their son opened a branch in Subiaco which I'm yet to try.

Seoul BBQ has a lovely environment which is bit more upper class looking compared to majority of korean restaurants, they provide floor seating which I’ve always picked but have accepted that the novelty slowly wears out after the knees start hurting half way.

I have dined in Seoul BBQ 4 times, for this occasion, I went with my family for my birthday dinner. For those who have not tried Korean BBQ before, it is basically BBQ your own meat concept, staff will change the hot plate over if it gets too charcoaled.

When I go for Korean, I always order a seafood or kimchi pancake and a mix platter of meat all eaten with rice. These are usually sufficient. In this occasion, we also ordered a seafood platter which I think the meat combo is better. I’ve tried the soups before but did not find them amazing that I’d order them again. Their steamboats are great but what keeps me coming back is their BBQ meat. I personally like my meat marinated unlike Tong86 which I’m not too big of a fan of, Seoul Korean BBQ has well marinated meat and all so tender after grilled. 

Meat combo, marinated and shaved

Seafood combo

Another plus side is the condiments that come with the dishes. I love the potato thing and the dipping sauces for the meat, I'm not sure what they actually are but one of them is probably just salt and butter? Whatever it is, it makes a big difference.

Condiments

Side dishes

The pancakes are crispy on the outside and filled with reasonable amount of seafood or kimchi, this is what I look for in a korean pancake. Many korean places can do a good pancake so it all comes down to how stingy they are with the fillings, the worst I've tried is Tong86 which was filled with spring onions and hardly any "real" seafood. Pancakes also come with a nice dipping sauce.

Seafood pancake

As stated in the name, this place also offers a buffet, I’ve never tried the buffet as I think a BBQ and pancakes is enough for me, but yes it’s definitely one of my favourite Korean joints in Perth. jal meokkesseumnida!

Cookies and donut

Best Apple Strudel!

I am going to spill information about my favourit-ist Apple strudel!

Presenting to you..COOKIES & DONUTS

In Southlands Boulevard Willetton, there is a little kiosk called COOKIES & DONUTS. Situated in front of Coles selling cakes, donuts and pastries, it looks like the usual cake kiosk but no...they have the best apple strudel EVER! So good that it is always sold out by noon.

I was lucky enough to have the best mummy EVER whom went and bought me some apple strudel. The apples are always crispy, fresh and juicy, custard and cream all so creamy with volume sandwiched between a light and fluffy pastry, topped off with a dusting of icing sugar. Every component compliments each other. The cream and custard isn't like the usual ones you'd find, it's more creamier? with volume yet not overly sweet and does not seem fatty. *when it is?* ugh I don't know what I am talking about..it's just GOOD :)

I can devour the whole slab of apple strudel alone and not feel UGH from the fatty overload, instead I am more refreshed and sad coz it's gone :( I shall now showcase this apple strudel that I speak so highly of.

This slab of apple strudel will set you back $7

Sadly I have to share with my siblings :(

fresh apples, cream, custard what more do you want!

My whole family loves loves LOVES the Apple strudel and we believe it's on par with Corica if not BETTER. Give it a try and be the judge for yourself.

Southlands Cookies & Donuts
Kiosk 3
Southlands Boulevard
45 Burrendah Boulevard 
Willetton WA 6155