Wednesday, July 22, 2009

The Yuu 一遊

My first impression of this place was that the overall decor resembles very much like The Mon @ CWB. Once I looked at their menu, it just further reinforced my assumption due the the series of similarities between them. (I am still not sure by the way.) Let's go back and talk about the decor. The environment looks very much Japanese in my opinion and the ambiance (ie: lighting) was great as well. Not too dark but very soft and mild. Such an atmosphere is great for light meals after work with a few friends and chat over a few beers.




(1) A very fresh fish / Sashimi (Daily Special)
I forgot what was the name of this fish but it was very fresh indeed. (I only know it was not 池魚) There were various condiments in the center of the plate for you to mix with the very thinly sliced sashimi but I personally preferred it the way it was, plain fresh sashimi with just a bit of the sauce.



(2) The Yuu Salad 一遊沙拉
Interesting use of ingredients for this dish. In addition to the normal greens, there were tapioca (those bubbles form in Bubble Tea) and plain mini dumplings (aka "tong yue") as part of the ingredients. These two items provided an interesting texture to the salad. However, the dressing was a bit too watery in my opinion.



(3) Yellow Tail Belly Sashimi (Hamachi) with Geoduck 油金魚/象拔蚌
According to the staff, both the yellow tail and geoduck were daily special and arrived that afternoon. The staff explained in such detailed on their freshness that we might as well give it a try. The Hamachi belly was very nice, the fish oil / fatty part of it slowly melted in the mouth. Of course Toro is still the best in terms of the melting effect/sensation but the one being served was above average already. The geoduck on the other hand was very disappointing. Not only was the portion smaller than expected (we order a whole geoduck expecting a bigger one of course), but it was not that fresh at all. It was chewy but crisp but taste -wise it was not very appealing because it did not taste very fresh in my opinion.



(4) Robatayaki Selection
(Grilled OX tongue 牛舌 / Grilled Salty Fresh Eel 鹽燒鰻魚 / Grilled Minced Chicken 免治雞肉 / Grilled pork with Eggplant 豬肉茄子 / Grilled Quail Eggs 鵪鶉蛋) We ordered a selection of various grilled items. The ox tongue was fair, would be better if grilled a bit longer. Salty Fresh eel was surprisingly delicious but seemed to have too many tiny fish bones in my opinion. (I know eel has many but there were too many ... ...) The grilled pork with eggplant was another surprise. The softness of the eggplant together with the tender pork slices wrapped around was a good combination both in terms of taste and texture. As for the Minced Chicken and Quail Eggs, both were alright, no surprises.





(5) Omelet with crab meat 蟹肉厚燒玉子
I mentioned it many time, whenever there is anything similar to tamagoyaki, I would order it. There was not difference this time. I am not 100% sure if these are traditional way of doing it in terms of having different fillings for the tamagoyaki, but I enjoyed it very much. The egg has been slowly cooked / grilled but not being overcooked. The texture and taste of the crab meat complimented the texture of the egg nicely. I only wished the egg layers were thicker to give it a better "chewing" sensation. One thing I really liked was the way how it was served. The entire tamagoyaki was served as a whole piece without being cut into slices. Thumbs up!



(6) Soft-shell crab Maki 軟殼蟹卷
A fair dish with freshly deep fried soft shell crab but flavor-wise was a bit weak. I think the hand roll option might be a smarter choice but hard to share.




Likes:
  • Atmosphere & Decor
  • Omelet with crab meat 蟹肉厚燒玉子, very good.
  • Grilled pork with Eggplant 豬肉茄子 robatayaki, the combination of these two ingredients is worth a try

Dislikes:
  • Service was a bit slow in general
  • Very disappointing "fresh" geoduck (象拔蚌)

The Yuu
4/F, Prosperous Centre,
1 Knutsford Terrace, TST
Tel: 2366 2999

2 comments:

Babedolphin said...

It seems like the trend nowadays that the Tamagoyaki is deliberately slow-cooked, not charred on the surface and comes out as a whole block?

63 degree eggs have caught on with Japanese Izakayas!

Truth be told - some people might have a problem with it. We might desire this texture with slow cooked eggs and also the runniness on top of Omelette rice, which doesn't have much 'layering' texture either. So is there anything wrong with doing Tamagoyaki this way? I can't decide lol! ^o^

Jason said...

LOL, you know what, I can;t decide either. (btw, I am sure we can all handle the truth and nothing bu the truth ... haha) I always welcome new ideas and new cooking techniques but maybe I am just too fond of the traditional Tamagoyaki. I am perfectly alright with the 63 degree slow-cooked eggs but I think they should make a new / special name for it and leave the Tamagoyaki the way it should be ... at least the way I like it ... haha ... wishful thinking indeed right? ^_^

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