Had a completely packed day on Saturday last week. First thing in the morning I had the privilege to shadow the super talented FoodieAdam in a photoshoot, I definitely learned a lot there. After our hard work, we headed over for a lazy lunch at Zutto Bento after receiving a very gracious invite from Chefs John and Ryan. It has only been open roughly six months and has taken up the lodgings of Casamia, along Nash Street in Rosalie. Having read wonderful feedback from a few of my favourite reviewers, and my absolute devotion to Japanese food I was super excited and knew we would have an amazing time.
The waitress was super attentive and menus were provided and we were seated most promptly. As the name of the restaurant suggests, their main attraction was their bento boxes, which come in a large assortment of toppings. They also had main size dishes, salads and an interesting selection of sushi dishes. There is very little doubt as to what I chose to have.
Tasty hot green tea and sharing plates were provided almost instantly. I for one, absolutely love quick service.
First up we shared a plate of Large Mixed Sashimi. It contains nine pieces of salmon, six pieces of tuna, two prawns, three pieces of scallop as well as two oysters. At $36 for 22 pieces, this is fairly good value for the very fresh fish that we got. The salmon was wonderfully smooth and had a good texture when we bit into it. The scallops were particularly fresh and had an almost sweetness to them. Although I'm not usually a big fan of oysters, I really liked that they were served with a topping of tobiko and green onions. Needless to say we loved this dish, which made for a perfect starter.
While we were enjoying our sashimi platter, our sushi feast came out in quick succession. It was a sight to behold and brought me so much joy simply by looking at it alone.
The main attraction for us was the highly popular and very instagramable sushi donut. Of the five options on the menu, I chose the three that contained fish of course. They were so beautiful and I almost couldn't stand to dig into them, but of course, I did.
First donut was the Crunch Sushi Donut. Topped with salmon, tuna, prawn, avocado, tempura crisps and fried onion, it was an amazing flavour hit that was as tasty as it was pretty. Although I am a self proclaimed sushi purist, I couldn't deny that the addition of onions and tempura crisps really added an amazing flavour to the dish that you don't usually find in traditional sushi.
Next was the Aburi Salmon Donut, the simpler donut with seared salmon, aburi sauce and tobiko. The salmon was seared perfectly with a nice red uncooked interior but a delicious chargrilled almost crispy exterior. It was warm and comforting to bite into, but the added tobiko gave it lots of much needed crunch while the slice of lemon added depth to the flavour and cut through the strong smokey vibes.
Our last donut was the Rainbow Sushi Donut. It was almost the same as the crunchy doughnut but instead of onion and tempura, it was topped with tobiko and daikon. I loved the fresh slices of fish which were super fresh, the rice was well seasoned, the avocado ripe. I found the daikon to also add a freshness of colour and taste palate to the sushi roll.
Our first sushi roll was the whole sized Spider Roll, comprising of Softshell Crab, Avo and cucumber topped with crisps. It was as crispy as it looked. The rice had a good texture to it with a smooth exterior and a nice bounce, it was well seasoned with sushi vinegar. The soft shell crab was also crispy and well seasoned, avocado was ripe, cucumber was crunchy.
Next was the highlight for me, the Niagara, a roll which contained tempura prawn and avocado, crab meat topped with crisp and fish roe and then topped with cheese which is then seared to produce a melting Niagara effect. This was by far the best roll in my opinion. The melty cheese acted like a delectable glue that binded the ingredients together. I thoroughly enjoyed the crispy tempura prawn, which was further accentuated by the tempura bits on top, which provided a good contrast to the very tender avocado, crab meat and saucy gooey cheese topping. A definite crowd pleaser in every aspect.
We also had the Aburi Roll, crab meat, avocado, cucumber topped with grilled salmon and fish roe. Like the Aburi Donut, the salmon was seared wonderfully and complimented the avocado and prawn wonderfully, with cucumber and tobiko contrasting by way of texture.
Not wanting to have too much (not like we already didn't have too much), we had half a roll of the Dragon roll. It contained tempura prawn and cucumber topped with eel and fish roe. The highlight of the roll was undoubtedly the eel which was super tender and saucy. I loved how the sauce absorbed into the rice.
To top it all off, we had the Volcano half roll. This was made from Panko Prawn and avo, cucumber, topped with spicy fresh tuna ball and crisps. Of all the rolls, this was the only spicy one, and it definitely set itself apart from the others with the heat and crunch stealing all my attention at once. My only suggestion would be that the amount of sauce needs a slight reduction, otherwise it was entirely enjoyable.
Coming from a self proclaimed traditionalist, this was an innovative and contemporary take on Japanese food which I thoroughly enjoyed. Can't wait to go back again.
Espresso and Matcha were invited guests of Zutto Bento, but as always, our opinions are solely our own.
Taste: 9/10
Value: 8/10
Service: 9/10
Environment: 8/10
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