Morsels of Délice: Omakase @ Stevens - Astounded All Over Again

Sunday, February 23, 2025

Omakase @ Stevens - Astounded All Over Again

Omakase @ Stevens has always been one of my favourites among favourites, as evident by how I make it a point to come here every season. I always so look forward to coming here because Chef Kazuki always has lots of gastronomic surprises in store for patrons.

This time, the Winter menu is as magical as ever that it feels like loving in love all over again.

Hassun of Hokkaido with Karasumi (premium Japanese dried caviar) and Shiso is a beautiful marriage of sweetness and pungency with so many nuanced flavours spellbinding the palates. It also has a unique warmth that makes me feel a kind of bliss when savouring this. Such excellent, amazing start.

Another form of bliss comes from Miyagi Wagyu with Egg Yolk Sauce. It is unbelievably refreshing for a meat dish due to the cream, and when I dig deeper into the egg shell, I’m greeted with beautiful surprise of meaty intense sweetness that gies perfectly with the cream. The fine cubes of lotus root added yield perfect texture for this dish.

Foie Gras from France topped with Plum and Parmigiano is like the ultimate umami creaminess. So well balanced in taste, exciting and complex due to the kick from parmesan cheese. And I absolutely love the display.

Hokkaido Hotate with Caviar, Wasabi, Cucumber is the best hotate dish I ever have. The refreshing, slight spicy taste of wasabi, plus the mild savoury broth, all highlights the natural sweetness of scallop. The bouncy texture of scallop juxtaposes so well with the crunchiness of cucumber.

Hokkaido Shirako Tempura with Hollandaise Sauce is the best shirako dish. Yes, another best dish! This dish features excellent varied texture due to the crispy tempura. And the creaminess of ahirako is cut by tart taste of hollandaise sauce for a well-balanced complex taste. I never know shirako can taste so good until now.

Wando Awabi baked with mashed Cod Fish in Pie Crust is another winner. It showcases a good balance of flavours and texture to elevate the mild earthy taste of abalone, which is a perfect match with lovely taste of the buttery crispy pie crust.

Amadai, with the pure vlean briny sweetness of Hamaguri, meaty umami of Prosciutto and texture of Lily Bulb, is so comforting in taste. It is full of clear umami and the pliable juicy flesh of amadai soaks up the goodness of the broth for a more complex taste.

The beef cutlet here is the juiciest beef I ever have! So juicy yet retaining that lovely meaty good bite. Perfectly prepared. The Truffle, Chou Fraci, Black garlic elevates the meaty goodness of the beef further. I’m not a beef person, but I’m absolutely loving this.

Niigata rice is so starchy, smooth, fluffy with a good bite: hallmark of perfectly cooked rice. With creamy oysters, this dish is excellently savoury sweet, wowing the palates.

Tochigi Ichigo with Crèmet d'Anjou, a mix of fermented cream and meringue, and Biscuit Joconde, is redefining the taste of strawberry dessert. This is full of layers of nuanced flavours, where the tart taste of strawberries is softened by the richness of Crèmer d’Anjou to yield one amazing dessert.

One of the best, and well-thought-out petite fours. The chestnut macron is earthy in taste, followed by the refreshing gummy made from Japanese orange, and finally the dark chocolate tart that makes me go, “Wow!” This is the first time a petit fours incites that reaction out of me. The rich chocolate is complex in taste and is molten in texture, which really surprises me.