I’m so excited to be back at Omakase@Stevens, a restaurant that promises intricately prepared unique dishes that hit all the sweet spots perfectly on the taste spectrum. And Chef Kazuki Arimoto has up his game again with the exploration of new harmonised tastes and textures that make me go “wow”. And together with host Jose and team, they has again made the dining experience here a wonderful one.
Scallop with Wasabi, Vegetable Consommé makes such an exciting start with its simulating, dynamic flavours. The distinctive briny sweetness of scallop takes the center stage, transformed into an awesomely unique, clean and clear taste when soaked with the pungency of capsicum and shiso.
Squid, Caviar, Monaka nicely shifts the taste profile of its exciting predecessor to a softer, richer type. This dish is creamily sweet with hints of complex excitement.
Wagyu, Egg Yolk, Salted Pepper takes things in a differently good direction to feature juicy meat that actually tastes light and clear, completed with a super meaty sweetness that is highlighted by the pepper. The homemade pastry shell adds a good crunchiness to contrast with the texture of the meat.
Inaniwa Udon is beautiful dish topped with the Treasures of the sea, such as snow crab, bafun uni, ebi and caviar. Every thin flat strand of udon is soaked with briny sweetness galore that is full of complexity. The bafun uni sweetness is beautifully tempered with a savoury goodness for a well-balanced taste. Usually when the treasures of the sea cone together in a dish, it tends to be heavy and rich in taste, but the Inaniwa Udon here is amazingly light in taste while packing lots of subtle flavours. I’m thoroughly impressed.
Shirako here tastes so amazing too. Cod Milt with Balsamico, Hollandaise Sauce and a pretty biscuit sprinkled with seaweed powder is the custard of the sea. It is creamy and super, super, unbelievably sweet that amazes me. The hint of briny savoury taste adds on to the awesomeness. The shirako was meticulously prepared, with all the veins removed to yield a smooth silky texture that makes it so good.
The Abalone here is the most tender abalone I ever have. Cod Fish sandwiched with the abalone further enhances the texture. This dish packs a lot of harmonised flavours from briny sweetness, milky sweetness, savoury sweetness and baked sweetness of the pie crust. It works beautifully. And the fishes swimming around the pool of sauces look so cute.
Signature Beef Cutlet tastes even better this time as Chef Kazuki Arimoto changes things up by doing wet aging on the beef this time. Paired with Red Miso and Madeira, the succulent beef features that lovely meaty, creamy sweetness, while being lighter in the palates yet is full of complex flavours. It also got a lovely extra smooth sweetness, most probably from the precise aging to yield the perfect balance of texture and taste.
Signature Donabe is as good as ever: the rice being starchy and smooth, packed with the briny sweetness of snow crab and balanced by earthy goodness of the mushrooms. I really love snow crab …
The first dessert is Mikan, Marigold and Coconut. And after a taste of this, I realise that mikan goes perfectly with the coconut snow! Who could have thought that? The nutty milkiness tamed the citrusy taste of mikan for a more well-rounded floral, slightly tangy taste. This is so good!
The next dessert, the beautiful Deconstructed Strawberry, making up of chopped pieces of strawberries packed with cream, genoise, candy shell and soufflé, works perfectly to bring out the flavours of strawberries without overwhelming the palates with the tart taste of strawberries. This is one good Strawberry dessert.
Intricately made petit fours here, which are Raspberry Macaron, Plum Wine Gummy and Seaweed Dark Chocolate, are so unique and good in taste. And the Plum Wine is aged for at least 3 months to yield a balanced sweet and sour taste in the gummy.
Lovely sweet wine that is perfect pairing with the dessert ❤️
Thoughts: Amazed all over again!