Amazon Flavors, A culinary weekend to savor! - Food

For weeks, I'd been looking forward to what's going to happen during the Amazon Flavors and thinking that I'll have to read about the reactions in newspapers, newssites and on facebook. And thanks to my friend Jill-Joy Landburg, I got the opportunity to take part in the activities of the final day.

The day started at 6:00 am. Seriously, it's after a very long time that I woke up this early on a sunday. I felt like a junior on the morning of the schooltrip. So I arrived at 7:00 am sharp at Krasnapolsky. Only a handful of guests that were also waiting for the bus that'll bring us to Berg en Dal. And as promised we got our breakfast package in the bus. Probably because I really hoped to see a cup of coffee in my breakfast package, but I was pretty disappointed when I saw a white box handed to me.
The breakfast package was a pretty healthy one: 2 slices of  bread with cheese, a cupcake, a cooked egg, an apple and a juice.

We finally arrived in  1,5 hours at Berg en Dal. This is the schedule for the day:

In the Seafood Master Class, we had a guest speaker Mr. Waldring, the owner of Walvis. Although I'm not a fish lover, I had to admit that it was very interesting. Not only did he give us some advice on buying fish and the differences between a Bang Bang (Yellow Snapper) and the King fish, it was amazing how his assistant filet a fish of about 1 meter in less than 2 minutes. We even saw a shark jaw and a shark fin. Some of the pointers he gave were:

* the drier a fish, the more neutral a fish taste ( for people like me who doesn't like the fishy smell)
* if the fish is frozen, press with your finger in the fish and if it jumps back up, it's fresh.
* the King fish doesn't get skinned.
As an extra, every visitor got a bruschetta with bangbang filet. It was a nice gesture, but after the snack, my mouth felt so sour and the onion in it was a bit too much.

And since it's all about culinary, a chef's demonstration can't be missed. Mr. Jeroen Robberegt  was part of the jury in the Amazon Iron Chef Challenge. If you'd like to read more about him and his masterpieces, please check this site: http://receptenvantopchefs.nl/introductie.php?chef=Jeroen Robberegt.
It's always something seeing professionals in their act. The way he prepared everything seemed as if it is so simple and easy to make.

 
 He made tuna sashimi, rolled in black curry and brocolli couscous with caviar. Just to have an idea how fresh he cooks. Even the kroepoek (cracker) was freshly made and the tuna was freshly rolled in the black curry. Wonder what black curry is? The chef made it mixing curcuma with coal. The flavor is very mild, not the aggressive curry we're used to in Suriname, with a smoky twist.

For me the curry, however mild, was still a bit too much. I hardly tasted any tuna flavor if I took a bite with the black curry. The brocolli couscous was supposed to be sweet and sour, which I couldn't taste in it.  The krupuk was very crispy, but mine was still a bit oily and a strong fish taste to it.

Next to that, there was a potato/cassave puree and crab.
The puree was very good. Super moist, so soft that it seemed to melt in my mouth. Not much was done to the crab though.

After this we took a break since the 12 o'clock wine tasting was only for chefs. I sat at the dining area and had a nice view on the river. It's so calming and looking at it, I can only sigh and admire its natural beauty.

Because I was part of a media group, I had to pay nearly SRD 100,- (nearly US$30,-) for lunch. I don't hope people get me wrong here. I do pay these amounts for food, but if I pay this much, I do expect food that's a bit special. And it doesn't need to be lamb chop or angus beef,  but I at least expected something more special than fried rice and fried noodle. Probably because for most guests the lunch is included, but for such a culinary weekend, my expectations were pretty high.

 

 

Moksi Alesi Strey

Last week was the first break-through in my food critic path. I got invited to the 'Moksi Alesi Strey' organized by the Suriname Chefs Association.  It was a real honour to have an inside peek into the judges' job. From here out I'd like to thank Michael Hermelijn and Marieke Visser for this awesome invitation. Before I start with anything, let me introduce to you what "Moksi Alesi" really is about.

Literally moksi alesi means mixed rice. Its existence dates back to the slavery time when all the slaves got was some rice, a handful of veggies and hardly any meat. Everything got mixed together, so that every one could at least get something out of the ingredients with their rice. But nowadays, it's a favorite among many locals and tourists. The best combination is enjoying such a dish with a glass of ice-cold ginger beer and listening to some great songs of our late King of Kaseko, Lieve Hugo.


It is even said that this dish is quite national, because every ethnic group has its own moksi alesi. And indeed, I remember whenever my mom  had some meat and veggie leftovers, she would mix it with old rice to make it some kind of a fried rice. But even that can be considered moksi alesi.

Back to the Moksi Alesi Strey = Mixed Rice Competition.
The cooking would start at 11 am, so I was there already at 10:50. Probably too excited to see what's all going to happen, but of course, way too early. Some participants were already busy with preparing their mise en place (is a word commonly used in commercial kitchens for washing, cutting and preparing the raw ingredients ).

Like I said before, it's my first time and I really didn't know where to go or what to do until the participants were done cooking. Luckily my invitor walked  towards me and introduced me to some of the key persons of the association as well as the organizers. Where initially I was wondering how I was gonna fill up my 2 hours, walking with the judges makes these hours hardly noticeable.

There were 7 participants: Krasnapolsky, Thuksa, Waaldijkschool, 2 x family Lont,  Heave, Berg en Dal.
The first thing that I noticed was how big the difference was in heads per team. It was funny how one team had only 2-3 members and one with more than 10 members trying to make it work in a 3x3 space.

From all the participants, there were some who really stood out.  These are my opinions:

- Krasnapolsky had the best decoration compared to the other participants. The orange cloth really pop out and they decorated with lots of fruit and decor items. It showed that they really put effort in making a professional but yet stylish appearance.

- the group Thuksa had some memorable accents. They had an old coal pot, a natural fruit bowl and the old Surinamese flag. These features would really pop out if they'd put them on a wooden stool or art piece together. And not to be forgotten, the lady cooking in the creole traditional dress, koto.

- the Lont family cooked as if it's one of their weekend family cook-outs. The atmosphere was relaxed and what was really a nice feature was that they had a print-out of their dish with a little history of moksi alesi, a small description of their dish and the uniqueness of it.

After some observation, there were some things that the organizers might take into consideration for their next event.

• For such a street event, the numbers of visitors might be huge, so it would have been helpful if portable toilets were arranged.
• I saw first aid medical assistance, but haven't noticed other emergency units like the fire department and police. It's always better to be safe than sorry.
• Extra garbage bins would have been helpful or assigning persons to empty the street garbage bins.

There were 2 groups of judges: the floor jury and the tasting jury. The floor jury had the job to observe, oversee and evaluate the participants on:

• hygiene
• organization of the activities
• originality and decoration of the stand

That means that the jury had to really use all their senses (except their taste) to evaluate how everything is going. And I do mean it. They have to oversee what everyone is doing, smell if anything had an irrelevant smell, hear how the team members are communicating with each other and feeling the hot sun on their skin since it's held in the middle of the Domineestraat.


And if you think the tasting jury had a nice job, think again. I had the chance to also take part in tasting the submitted dishes. And seriously, I never thought I would find a disadvantage for becoming a food critic and I actually found one. Being part of the tasting jury also means that you really need to taste all the dishes and give it a score. Doesn't sound that bad, right?? Believe me, it does if you have to judge 8 different kinds of dishes and some even looking totally different than what you ever imagined of moksi alesi.

The criteria for the tasting committee were: appearance, creativity, taste and originality.
For the tasting part, I'm gonna give my opinion about some groups but in numbers like it was in the blind tasting. It'll be the only way I can give my honest opinion and not let some groups feel offended. In Suriname, we're a very small community, so I'd like to prevent putting some people in an awkward spot.

#1- they gave 2 dishes. One with bokking (red herring) and one with pork ribs. From one of these, the rice was obviously burned. The stench of burned rice was so overpowering that I only took a bite because it was part of the experience of being a jury. The other one was better; really had the nice aroma of bokking, but still didn't impress me.

#2- the presentation was good, but it smelled sour to me and the texture of the rice was mushy

#5- this group presented a well-balanced dish. The rice was not too dry, it tasted good and had BBQ chicken and liver sambal on it. However, the sambal did make me think of a Javanese dish with BBQ on it.

#7- I don't hope the ones who can find themselves back in this dish will feel offended, but this one was really the worst. The whole dish was mushy. The texture was somewhere between porridge and soft rice. It was a mixture with black-eyed peas and some kind of fish. It didn't look appealing let alone smelling and tasting it.

So for those of you who thought a tasting judge's job is fun and easy, you really should reconsider.

However originality is one of the criteria, but secretly I had hoped that one group would still stick with the authentic Creole Moksi Alesi.

Which Moksi Alesi would really make your day?

Time to Wine

Red wine comes in many varieties and have a great range in body. From the light bodied Gamay Noir (also known as the Beaujolais) to the full bodied Cabernet Sauvignon, they all have their own sophisticated flavors and elements.


Red wine is said to be complex and that's the reason why most people prefer White wines or Rose, because it's simpler to taste. For me, they all have their own thing, but I gotta admit that my palate is prefering the red more and more.

Last night, it's Time to Wine again! And to give you an idea of how much fun such a night can become, I started the night feeling a bit under the weather. Probably some stress from work or maybe the November rain, but I really felt as if I wasn't even looking forward to the wine class. Even having a thought like 'just get it over with', but at the end of the class, I forgot all about feeling ill or whatsoever. It's always a nice time discussing with my winemates. Even if it's about politics, the subject I hate most!

Anyway, don't want to keep you guys waiting any longer. We had a sort of blind tasting again. The instructor put two bottles of red in a paperbag and we were poured both in two different wineglasses.


The first wine we had was very strong in flavor and tannic. I was really trying hard to taste what's inside, but still can't get any aromas out of it yet.

The second one compared to the first, was like day and night. Just to give you an idea, the first one felt like heavy metal head banging and the second one was like 'the swan lake'. Totally different in feel, in taste,,,,in everything except that they're both red.

And I gotta say, it didn't feel that uneasy this time to do a blind tasting. And the wines were:

1. Trivento Malbec 2010

2. Beacon Hill Shiraz 2008



And in addition, we also had another red wine, which is known as a Meritage. A Meritage is a blend wine produced of 2-3 Bordeaux grapes. For many wine lovers, Bordeaux is known as the largest wine grape growing region in France. It is known for their fullbody reds like the Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Carmenere, Malbec and Cabernet Francs.


So, this one is called 'Arte Valduga'.
This one is a meritage of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Francs. It was soft, easy on the palate and above all, we were all surprised that this great wine actually came from Brasil!
Most of all, I was so happy that I finally had a good read!! I tasted instantly the Cabernet Sauvignon in this! Yay,,,that's one step closer to becoming a wine expert! :D

Glam and Glitz in a bottle

This weekend is awesome! Three great things happened:

1. I receive a comment from Marieke Visser, that she'd like to recommend my blog in the Suriname HOT magazine, which is by the way the best tourism magazine. And no, it's not because of the recommendation that I'm saying this. Let me tell you why I believe they are the best:
- it's for free, so they have a broad coverage
- it's glossy, full color and lots of great pictures in it.
- all articles are in both english and dutch
- and the articles are easy to read.
So, Suriname HOT magazine  crew, you guys are doing an awesome job!! Keep up the good work!

2. My blog has finally hit the 1000 views. When I started in May, I really thought ' Hmm,,,,how long will it take before I get 1000 views'. But it's finally here.....! All thanks to you guys!! :D


3. And as if my wine course instructor knew I had things to celebrate, yesterday we did 'Champagne'!! It's a wine that people link with celebration, romance and all the glamour and glitter in the world.


Some facts about Champagne:

- it's only called Champagne if it's actually produced from grapes from the Champagne region in France. Otherwise, it's called sparkling wine
- this bubbly drink was actually created by accident. Back then, bubbles in your wine meant there was something wrong with it.
- and the the founder of this awesome drink is Dom Perignon ( Yes, the same as the most prestigious bubbly in the world)
- there are about 5 million bubbles in a bottle of Champagne. ( People actually did research this)
- Other names other countries uses for this bubbly:
* the germans call it 'Sekt'
* 'Spumante' is the name the Italians gave it
* For the spanish, they love their 'Cava'

For this evening full of bubbles, the instructor was really giving us a hard time. He gave us 3 different kinds of bubbly to sample, but without showing us the label of the bottle. Ohmigod...I never knew it felt so uneasy to not know what I'm drinking. The curiosity, the anxiety, it was really a reaction I didn't expect myself to have for blind tastings. But ok, so like the tasting, I'll give you guys my opinion first, before I tell you what drink it was.


1. the first bubbly was very light. Both in color and in flavor and as the fluid was in my glass, I hardly see any bubbles unless I shook the glass a bit.

2. the second glass was way better. The color was nearly the same as the first one, but it had a stronger flavor and it even tasted familiar. I could see some bubbles without moving the glass.

3. The third one was more acidic, the color was a bit darker, but for me a bit too acidic. Lots of bubbles for this one.

For me, the 2nd one is the winner!! Are you even curious as me at that moment to know which bubbly was which?? Here are the results:

1.  Villa Teresa Prosecco

2.  Moet & Chandon ( I knew it, I knew it)

3. Heidsieck Monopole


And if you think this was all, you're soo mistaking. We had some Kir Royale, which is a cocktail made normally with cassis and sparkling wine. We got the best of the best: Prosecco + Chambord.
Chambord is a raspberry liqueur in a very fancy bottle. It smelled so sweet and the aroma of raspberry lingers. It made me think of really sweet candy. And surprisingly, the cocktail didn't tasted as sweet as I thought it would.

But of course, it wouldn't be wise to do cocktails with the expensive champagnes. It's an option, and an outcome if you receive a bottle you don't like. If you're in the cocktail mood, try it also respectively with orange juice and mango juice.

As a last surprise of the evening, we even had a Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand. For those of you who don't know it yet: it is said that New Zealand makes the best Sauvignon Blancs. They have the best terrior for the sauvignon blanc grapes.

I gotta say, it's the best Sauvignon Blanc I've had so far. The flavor was very well combined. Nothing was too overwhelming. It was very well balanced, easy to drink and fresh, crisp.

But back to bubbly, which is your favorite and when do you prefer to drink it?

A glass of wine a day keeps the doctor away

This morning, my colleague actually made remarks in reaction to my blogposts. Her statement was:' So many blogs about wine. I would swear you're an alcoholic'. She means it well though. I gotta admit, only yesterday I posted about my wine course and today I'm writing about another wine event again. I think, it just so happen that in this period I have lots of wine events to attend and I enjoy it. And besides, in the wine catalog I got, it's stated:

" A glass of wine a day keeps the doctor away"

I quess in some way, I'm just trying to stay healthy! :D

So yesterday SAB had a wine tasting event, where most hospitality industry professionals were invited. The main idea is to get them acquainted with the wines SAB has to offer and since most were restaurant owners, the timeframe in which it was held was between 4 and 6 pm. And thanx to my wine course instructor, all participants also received an invitation.

I went there with a friend of mine, John, who has been in the hospitality business for many years. At the gate I also met one of my colleague wine course mates, so we started the wine journey in each other's presence.

The first thing that came into mind was:' Oh my god, it's in the garden!'. For those who don't understand where this statement comes from, it had been awfully hot the last couple of days. Even in the nighttime hours when it's supposed to be somewhat cooler, everybody's still complaining about the heat. So when we saw that it was held in the garden, that automatically means we'll have to enjoy wine under the heat of our Tropical sun.
 
But nonetheless, it was a great event. We were like 10 minutes late and I already saw many red faces, don't know if it was from the sun or the wine ( I believe the latter). And it was like a scene out of "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory". I felt like a kid in a candy store and everything was for free. The decoration team did a great job with the setting: they set up a tent in the garden, with all the wine brands on different tables, a table with a variety of cheeses on the side and lounge chairs
in-between the tent and the terrace, where Lavazza coffee was being promoted.

We didn't know where to start and Ivo, one of the SAB employee's, came immediately to greet us and explain to us the how, what and where. So we all took a glass and started our wine tour at the Frontera section.


Frontera is a Chilean wine. This is from their site: www(dot)fronterawines(dot)com:

"Frontera is the best selling Chilean wine in the World, born in the fertile Central Valley where the vineyards are naturally protected by the four frontiers (Frontera in Spanish) of Chile".

I've had several encounters already with Frontera wines and till now, they haven't disappointed me yet and I don't hope they ever will. It's actually the only brand, which we tried all their varietals.

This is my opinion of all the wines I've tasted:

Brand	Frontera
Varietal	Introduction (translated from dutch)	My opinion
Sauvignon Blanc	wine with aromas of ripe peach and citrus. Ideal to combine with stewed fish, light sauces and salads	acidic and dry
Chardonnay	wine with fresh apple flavor. Ideal to combine with poultry, seafood, creamy sauces and salads	it was a bit too acidic for me
Merlot Rose	light and soft wine with a natural palate of cherries and floral aromas. Ideal to serve with Asian dishes, fruit and cakes.	light, dry, but I did smell the cherry flavor in it
Frontera Blush	(Cabernet Sauvignon):                                                  Clear rose with hints of strawberry, raspberry, cherry and apple. Delicious with dishes from the Latin American kitchen or as a aperitif	this one was very fruity. It was like having all kinds of berries in my mouth with every gulp. This sure is a winner.
Late Harvest	(Muscat or Alexandria):                                                  Gold colored wine with aromas of dried flowers and the sweet flavor of honey. Great with cakes, flan and fresh fruit.	The first time I had this wine some months ago, I liked it. But for this tasting, it was too fruity! It even tasted like overripe fruit. But my friend actually told me that she loves it in such hot weather and with some ice. Maybe I should try that next time.
Brand	Casillero del Diablo
Varietal	Introduction	My opinion
Shiraz	Fullbodied red wine with surprising variety of intense flavors like black currant, ceder and oak. Ideally to combine with spicy seasoned dishes and red meat platter	I was kinda confused with this one. It was smooth, but at the same time strong aromas and tasted lots of tannin in it, but still fruity. This was really a complexed wine for me.
Cabernet Sauvignon	A bodied wine with an intense bouquet of cherry, plums and vanilla aromas. Heavenly with peppersteak, lamb chops and pot roast.	This was very strong, dry and I do believe it would go very well with a good steak!
Pinot Noir	Lightbodied red wine with delicious aromas of strawberries, raspberries and hints of oak. Ideal wine to go with BBQ, but also great with vegetarian dishes.	This one was very oaky and didn't like it so much. Probably I had too much flavors in my mouth already, but I do believe I got to try it again.
Brand	Concha y Toro
Varietal	Introduction	My opinion
Demic Sec	a sparkling wine	This was the last one I've tasted. It was very good. Not too sweet, but still fruity. Very crisp and I could've had another glass of it.

Of course, there was still the cheese stand from Keurslager, where they had cubes of spicy cheese, olive cheese and all kinds of other cheeses I've never had before. Unfortunately with the heat, they went all soft and the softer cheeses kinda sticked to each other.
 
Don't forget the Lavazza coffee. It was smooth and something else than my daily cup of coffee, but unless my employer buys such a machine, I think I'll enjoy it whenever I'm at one of their outlets. Yeah I know, I'm complaining about the heat and still I'm having hot coffee. But after all the wine I had, I sure needed it!

Sorry guys that it turned out to be such a long piece. I hope I didn't bore you guys, but I think I'm finally getting the hang of it!

Blush or Rose? They are just the same

Last saturday, my friend messaged me why she still hadn't seen my blog about the 2nd wine lesson yet. And you know, that really felt good. The knowledge of people really enjoying what I have to say (write). So from this blog out, I would like to thank all my readers for enjoying my posts.

So last friday, I had my 2nd wine lesson and it was about blush or rose. It's not white nor red, and many believe that winemakers actually mixed these two to get the pink color. However that is a possibility, but most winemakers use other techniques. Two of the techniques are:


1. leaving the grape skin in the pressed juice for just long enough to get the pinkish color. This will not only add color to the juice, but some tannin as well.

2. putting the pressed juice in a barrel that was used to hold red wine. Mostly they will keep it for several hours, a day max so that the juice will get the color of the red wine, but not getting influenced by the flavor that was still on the wall of the barrel.

For that evening, we had 4-5 different wines. ( Yah, kinda seem like the numbers of bottles are increasing, right?):

The first one we had was: Rendez Vous
It's a blend between Merlot and Grenache. However many winedrinkers will know the Merlot as a red wine, but this one's a blush/rose. The flavor was somewhat dry and like most rose's I know, you can smell the fruitiness as soon as it was poured into the glass. However I still can't distinguish the different aromas yet, but I do know I like the way it smells. Unfortunately I can't find a picture of the bottle to show you guys, but as soon as I find one, I'll post it. I promise!

The second one was a lightbodied red: De la roche
This is made from the Gamay Noir grape, also known as Beaujolais.

Year: 2010

Grapes: Gamay

Tasting: A harmony of small red berry flavours with delicate aromas of ripe fruit. The wine is full and fresh with a complex bouquet from traditional bananas through to ripe raspberry flavours. To drink whilst young.

Food matching: Best served at 65 F

 

This was my favorite of the evening. With this wine, we also got introduced to the magic of the wine aerator:

Like most hobbies has their gadgets, this one is really a magic tool for wines. We got two glasses of the same one to taste, but one without the aerator and one with the aerator. And you wouldn't believe those two glasses actually comes from the same bottle. The first one was stronger in flavor, but it fade away as soon as it hit my pallate. The second one tasted smoother, easier to drink and the flavor lingers for some time before it actually faded. For all winelover, I really would recommend having one of these gadgets to increase your wine drinking experience.

 

The 3rd wine of the evening is the Queen of Hearts

This was the favorite of the group and this is what I found online:

 

"This lovely Pinot was fermented in small batches, aged in oak barrels, carefully blended and bottled at the peak of quality. This vintage has aromas of ripe blackberry, black cherry, and cola with smooth fruit driven flavors of plum, strawberry and warm spices."

 

For me, it was a bit too sweet. It does have a familiar taste to it, which is probably the cola. The only aroma I could've guessed was that there must be some kind of berry in it. Which one,,,that was the big question.

 

The 4th one is my kind of my wine: Beringer White Zinfandel

 

This is a really fruity wine. It's a California wine, easy to drink and I love the fruity aroma. But probably my pallate is changing and somehow it seems too sweet for me now. But I know for a fact that this is a favorite for most Surinamese people. It's a wine that they can drink with everything and it's sweet. (Yeah, I'm supposed to say 'fruity', but I think this is easier to grasp).

 

As a final surprise, we were given a glass of red wine. It tasted light, but smooth and to all our surprise: it was a Carlo Rossi!!

I've always known Carlo Rossi as a cheap wine and I can drink it, but not very fond of it. And I've learned a new phrase: 2 buck chuck. It's a Charles Shaw wine, which is sold for $2,- ( 2 bucks), so every cheap wine was then called 2 buck chuck. Quite interesting story though.

But since no one was aware which wine it was, everybody was surprised that the Carlo Rossi came out so smooth and tasted not bad at all. Maybe it's the aerator, maybe the ambiance, but we all enjoyed another wine lesson from Mr. Edward Cabell and his wife Hortence.

 

 

 

Sushi? Yaaaaaa!!

This blog will be about my personal experience in the very first Sushi restaurant in Suriname: Sushi Ya. They started their business several months ago and I wanted to go since then and actually got the chance to do it so last night. 2 friends of mine, Sahieda and Yasser, and I already made plans since some months ago , so it was really about time we did it.

I got to say, Yasser really suprised me. He acted  really very gentlemen-like, picking me up, opening the car door for me and paying for dinner,,,,the whole nine yards. It actually kinda felt a bit weird since I'm not used to it that guys still do that. However my boyfriend does that too, but somehow I think I just take that for granted since it seems to me that he does it as a automatic thing and it feels as if he should do it. I know, however, that many guys don't do that for their girlfriends, but the point I want to make is....that it really felt good that there are still gentlemen out there doing the right thing. So, an advice for guys out there, ladies dig the oldfashion gentlemen service from time to time.

Anyway....getting a bit sidetracked here. The place is redecorated from a Chinese restaurant that I used to know and I do admit that I expected more Japanese influences in the decor. They painted the walls really white, so that the big paintings really popped out. Secretly, I hoped that there would be a hostess, wearing a kimono, greeting us at the door and saying: "Konichiwa" or something, u know. Even if she was not asain-like, it would have added to the feel of a real Japanese restaurant.

For a tuesday night, I got to say that it was pretty crowded. We chose a table near the wall, where I have a good view of the sushi bar. The sushi chef was actually pretty stereotypical. Asian, looking real serious and with a toothbrush moustache or also known as the Hitler moustache.

I checked their prices already way upfront at their fb page and some people even complained that it's too expensive. Personally, my motto is if the food and service is good, I'm willing to pay the price. We ordered quite a lot and I have to say that the service was very good. We hardly had to wait for our drinks, neither the first dish of California rolls, which at the end I conclude as my favorite.

It is known as a uramaki or an inside out sushi, which means that the outer layer is rice, on which they sprinkle sesame or a kind of orange looking crumbly thing on it. I just googled it and saw that it's supposed to be tobiko or masago, some kind of fish egg or so. Hmm,,,interesting.

What I like about it is the crunchiness of the sesame on it and that the used ingredients really combined to a delicious flavor.

Next to the California roll, my friend picked some other types of sushi he wanted to try and I was dying for some tempura. I love tempura simply because it's fried, but it's still light and non-greasy. It's like eating fried food and not feeling quilty,  you know what I mean.

Initially Sahieda apologized for not being able to make it, but there she was in front of us. The place where she should be was not open yet, so she had to wait for several hours. Actually I don't even know if she still went, but was happy she could join us.

My personal opinion of the other sushi's is that it was good, but the vegetarian roll was a bit too big though. It was hard to take it with chopsticks and when you finally manage to do so, it falls apart.

   The wasabi was a bit weak for me. I really had to put a dab in my soy sauce before I can really get that kick, but probably because normally I already eat lots of pepper with my food.

And of course, we had to order sashimi since it's part of the Japanese cuisine and we heard that their sashimi is very good. We ordered one with 4 different kinds of sashimi: marinated tuna, red snapper, salmon and another fish, forget that one. I have to admit, I'm not fond of raw things. The thought about it alone gives me the creeps, but of course I have to suck it up and taste it for you guys, right? :p. Nah,,I did enjoy it. One, they plated it very colorful and it appealing and second, it doesn't smell or taste like normally fish would. The pink salmon is very sweet, slippery and how salmon should taste like. The marinated tuna had a sweet marinate on it and sesame, but I'd recommend you don't eat that one with wasabi since the taste of the wasabi kinda predominate that of the marinated tuna. My personal favorite is the red snapper though.Unfortunately my friends didn't feel like drinking sake, because that would've made the meal complete.

To top it all off, I ordered the Green Tea ice cream for dessert. I'm not sure if it's supposed to taste like this. In the very beginning I thought they gave me a wrong one, because it tasted like normal Vanille ice cream, but just when I was about to say something about it, the green tea taste pops out. They added a piece of tempura banana in it, which really go well with the ice cream. If you like the crunchiness of tempura, try to eat it as soon as you get it. If it stays too long in the ice cream, it tends to get soggy and lose its crunchiness.

Good food, good service and great company really does it for me. I know these friends for not that long as friends, but you know how sometimes it just clicks? It kinda does it for us. We are all persons with an outspoken character and share a common devotion for sushi and wine. Even though it's a bit pricey, but I can't wait to do it again!!

If you want to try it out, don't forget to make reservations: