Intro – A restaurant known for its small pieces of seasonal beef sushi. I would recommend getting a reservation. It’s a pre-fix menu that allows them to express seasonality.

Ambience – Elevated casual

What we ordered -Japanese Black Beef Temari Meat Sushi Course

• A peach liquor (left and middle) – My wife loved the peach liquor. It was really sweet and it was creamy almost like a nigori sake. The peach flavor was strong but not artificial and didn’t taste watered down at all, even over ice. Rating 8.5/10
• A lemon sour (right) – My lemon sour was so, so refreshing and beautifully tart, sweet, and bubbly. This was the best lemon sour of the trip. Rating 8.8/10

                                                 

• Beef Tartare – This was an amazing beef tartare. It had a sweet soy vinaigrette, with pistachio shavings, and whole pistachio, served with coarsely ground black pepper and sesame oil. It was creamy and slightly meaty, and the pepper gave it great spice. There was also a plum puree on the plate that was a nice sweet contrast to the savory tartare. Rating 8.2/10

• Arugula Beef Salad – I love arugula and this salad had generous portions of lightly seared beef, dressed with a vinaigrette and grated parmesan. The arugula was so nutty and paired well with the nutty parmesan. The vinaigrette had a great level of salt and coated the entire palate. Then the bites of high-quality beef just perfectly show on top of the foundation of these flavors. Rating 8.7/10

• Beef Temari Sushi – There were 10 pieces of temari (round) sushi and then 1 piece of seasoned rice. Everything was brought out raw (middle) and then torched on the table (right). The pieces were laid out as shown on the diagram (left). Each piece had a seasonal topping. The standouts were the scallop and the steak. I wish the pieces were a little more distinct from each other. I think there was a little too much rice was it was hard to taste the beef. The beef however was very nicely fatty. The torched beef still gives it a decent beef flavor but the pieces still melt in your mouth. These were good and cute but not spectacular. Rating 7.4/10

                                                                

• Red sea bream meunière – This was a seared white fish, skin on, served with a velvety butter sauce. This dish was probably the favorite of the night. The skin was crispy, the fish was tender and as meaty as white fish can be, and the sauce was just perfection. It was so buttery and super thick, not thin, just like how I like my sauces. It was reminiscent of a beurre blanc but it had even more butter than what I’m used to, which is what gave it the thicker consistency. I had to asked the waitress for a spoon to eat the rest of the sauce off the plate. The salt and acid levels were perfect. Rating 9.1/10

• Seared Steak – This was a really good A5 Wagyu steak. It was so fatty, and the sear made it so beefy. It was a skirt steak I believe. It wasn’t as tender as other cuts but it was still really enjoyable. It was served with salt and a sauce on the side so we could adjust the seasoning to our liking. Rating 8.8/10

• Cold Lemon Noodles – This was a cold noodle dish. The broth was light and refreshing bursting with citrus. The noodles were garnished with shaved radish to carry the flavor of the broth and whole sliced sudachi, which is similar to yuzu. I enjoyed the whole slices because the pith in the slice had bitterness that balanced out the acidity of the pulp and the broth. It was a great savory dish to end the meal. Rating 7.1/10

• Creme Brulee – The creme brulee was about average. The custard was nice and rich but the sugar coating was way too thick almost like a layer of caramel candy. I prefer a thin topping of burnt caramel but this topping was so thick it ruined the texture of the custard and the caramel overpowered the custard. Rating 6.8/10 

Conclusion – This was a unique dining experience to try the cute temari sushi. It is advertised to be the main attraction of the course but ironically it was not the standout dish. I thought the meal the structured very well, with raw iterations of beef gradually going into harder and harder sears of beef, thus gradually amping up the beef flavor. It was a good meal with some great bites. We probably won’t be back but we don’t regret going.

Overall Rating – 8.3/10