Japango

I've just had the most incredible meal at Japango. I've been to this restaurant in the past and thought it was quite tasty, but a little pricey. A friend recommended going tonight so I did a little research and found critics raving over the Chef's Selection. It's pricey at $70 a person, but completely worth it.

So the four of us decided to splurge and try it. O.M.G.
I wished I had my camera!! You're just going to have to rely on my descriptions and use your imaginations. There were 7 courses (not counting the edamame), but all very small. Presentation was beautiful - I felt like a judge on the Iron Chef.

Course 1:
The most tender slices of duck in some gravy soy sauce. Next to it, was a shooter. Inside? Raw oyster, uni and a raw egg yolk (maybe quail? it was quite small). It looked strange and exotic and tasted divine! It was just so smooth with so many different tastes.

Course 2:
Clams steamed in sake, onions and butter. It came in a sqaure bowl with a big wooden spoon so you could drink the amazing broth. Loved it.

Course 3:
Some sort of thin noodle (looked like angel hair) with bits of crushed nuts (I think?) and lobster sauce? It was very subtle the taste, but good.

Course 4:
Scallops and mushrooms. The flavours were so rich and aromatic. All served on a large scallop shell.

Course 5:
Shrimp and mushroom soup. Served and cooked in individual tea pots. The chef came to teach us how to drink it. Remove the lid and use that as your little tea cup. Smell the soup (and I kid you not, it smelled like heaven) and pour some in your teacup lid to drink. Use your chopsticks to pick out the mushrooms, red snapper and shrimp. oooh, the broth was soooo good. I think this was my favourite course.

Course 6:
Sashimi. But not salmon or regular tuna. The guy had a really, really heavy accent, so I don't know exactly what types of fish we had, but I do know one of them was blue fin tuna. And that was something I've never tasted before. I understood that it was a highly coveted fish and very expensive. YUM. Two slices of that. Plus 2 slices of a white fish with some garnishes and then 2 pieces of a fish hidden under a pile of spicey jelly he said they made themselves. I was blown away. Oh, and a deep fried crab (about the size of a toonie) that you were encouraged to eat whole (shell and all).

Course 7:
Sushi. 3 pieces, to be exact. Two types of tuna and one butter fish. All marinated for 4 hours. All seared for probably 1.5 seconds. Again - never tasted sushi like this before.

And then we had ice cream (I had mango and my buddy got black sesame, which was surprisingly good).
All in all, the perfect meal.

It sounds like a lot of food, but you don't leave feeling full. You don't leave feeling hungry either. But I must recommend going at least once and trying the Chef's Selection. He told us that we usually have to order this meal 24 hours in advance so he has time to go and buy special fishes and stuff. So it amazes me that he cooked four of those meals with just what he had in the kitchen! Imagine if we gave him time to prepare!!

I'm going back - who's with me??