Fumiki's Sushi Kappo - Robertson

I may have mentioned in 2022 that it felt like the year of Omakase. It would seem that in 2023, the trend hasn't let up and there are more openings on the way. Bright and early after the new year, I saw an ad for the newly opened Fumiki's Sushi Kappo, located in Robertson Village, near QEII. After seeing a few photos of their offerings, I was intrigued. I did however wait until it was Dr L's birthday before booking, to ensure that we had a sufficient reason to go. A word of note, they only take bookings by way of email, and the email is prone to fall into the spam folder. As of Feb 2023, bookings are relatively easy to come by. A further note, there are a considerable amount of rules stated on their website and you definitely need to get across them before committing to a booking.

 

For those of you who may ask, why I decided to go to Fumiki's before trying out the other openings in town (Sushi Room or Komeyui), I am undoubtedly a sucker for traditional cooking and when I saw the open kitchen kappo setup, I knew I had to go.

 

The drinks menu was largely sake based and we didn't see anything we were particularly interested in. Unlike Black Door or Katsuya, we weren't given complimentary still water but rather had tap. It was regularly topped up by our friendly waitress.

 

I loved sitting on the bench and we were able to appreciate Chef Fumiki's work during the night.

Starting off the meal was a dish of red clam with seasonal vegetables and a light vinegarette, garnished with a string of sea grapes. Light and refreshing, the veggies were fresh and crunchy. The flavours struck a good tone and it balanced well with the chewy red clam. Although tasty, I would say that it was a little underwhelming for a first course, and I had expected that at this price point the first course would have blown me away more.

Second course was a Queensland Cod soup with beetroot and king pearl mushroom in a light dashi base. Having been to Katsuya and Black Door now, I can say that one of my favourite places to be in the world is on a sushi counter engulfed by aromas of dashi. Unfortunately this was not the case tonight. The dashi was tasty but the room didn't smell of it like I've experienced in other places. As for the soup, I enjoyed the firmness and sweetness of the cod, but found the dish to be overwhelmingly sweet when carrots and beetroot were added. 

Next course was the far more exciting sashimi of the day. We had red clam, seared king george whiting, snapper and kinmedai. It was served with a small amount of sashimi soy sauce and some freshly grated wasabi. My favourites would have been the kinmedai which was very sweet, although the skin was a bit chewy, and the snapper which was refreshing and crisp. I wish there would have been a bit more soy sauce though, and although non-traditional, Dr L was fairly put off with being told that he couldn't mix his wasabi with his soy sauce.

Our next dish was a classic, chawanmushi with spanner crab and house cured salmon pearls. You can't really go wrong with chawanmushi and the texture was silky smooth. There was a generous amount of crab to go with the egg, but again I wish the dashi was more fragrant.

The next course was one of the most intriguing to me. I had seen this on a few photos before I went. Described as Foie Gras of the ocean by chef, this was a piece of monkfish liver, served with a light ponzu. Compared to foie gras, the taste was a bit lighter and it was a bit less creamy. It did come with the same powdery texture of foie gras and this was expertly cut into with the light ponzu. In my opinion, although similar, it's no substitute for foie gras.

 

Moving onto the nigiri courses, to the left we have Kinmedai and to the right we have Kingfish. Again, I really enjoyed the fresh sweetness of kinmedai, which was contrasted by the chewiness of its skin. As a regular consumer of kingfish, this was smooth but firm. Both pieces were done well and the rice texture was also on point with a smooth finish.

 

The scallop nigiri was a highlight for quite a few in our group. It was fresh and plump. Lightly seared it was seasoned with a pinch of salt and a dash of lemon to highlight its sweetness. The prawn though was a let down for most of us because it was well cooked to the point of being a bit tough, and it tasted more or less like the salt water cooked prawns you can buy in bulk from the shops.

 

The next two took a little while coming, due to technical difficulties (I presume with the rice cooker, given context), and it was around 20 minutes before the next two pieces were served. Chef was gracious throughout the waiting period and made conversation with us about his extensive experience at some very notable restaurants locally and abroad. Anyway, the wait was worth it, because the next two pieces were my favourites of the night, toro and scampi. The toro was rich and buttery, I would have preferred it a bit more chilled but it was rich and creamy with a melt in your mouth texture. I also loved the umami of the caviar on top. The scampi wasn't buttery but it had a refreshing sweet taste and a crunchy texture, it paired well with the scampi caviar on top.

Next rounds were the mackerel nigiri and uni nigiri. The mackerel was alright for me, it was quite strong flavoured, potent and topped with a thin slice of kombu for an even bigger hit. What wasn't ideal though was that a friend of mine found a bone in his fish, which really detracted from his experience. We also had an uni ship, the uni was a bit wet though, but didn't have an overly fishy taste to it and it did have a creamy custard texture to it.

 

The uni was also found in our next hand roll, Chef said that it was the first time he made it. It was essentially a negitoro mixed with a small amount of pickles and minced sea urchin, enveloped in some hand made nori. The nori was fragrant and delicious, but the minced uni was quite wet and sloppy, which detracted from my enjoyment of the negitoro sadly. Our last nigiri of the night was Anago, a salt water eel. Compared to it's fresh water cousin, Unagi, it is lighter in fat and lighter in taste, making for a more delicate and refined flavour. This was seared and lightly doused with soy sauce before serving. I really enjoyed this piece and it's probably the first time I've been able to enjoy it in Brisbane.

Rounding off with a miso soup with some locally grown mushrooms, this was light and wholesome but I would still have enjoyed a more fragrant dashi smell. 

Our dessert for the evening was Kuzumochi, expertly made by Chef Fumiki with a side of genmaicha. The Kuzumochi was slippery and chewy, topped with some brown sugar syrup. It was light and crunchy, making for a delicious summery dessert. The genmaicha was also fragrant and strong, pairing well with the dessert.

Overall we had a good time at Fumikis. As you will have read above, there were a few solid hits as well as a few misses. I appreciated Chef's remarks that he likes to purchase local seasonal ingredients to demonstrate the skill of his cooking, however given the price point and other options available at that range which are far superior, so I don't think that I will be back unless there are improvements made. Having said that, I am a firm believer that Brisbane needs far more Japanese food and omakase and if you don't want to wait for a booking at other places, Fumiki's is still worth going to for an omakase experience.

 

Price Range: $220pp as of February 2023, to rise to $245 in March 2023 and onwards

Taste: 7.5/10

Value: 5/10

Service: 8/10

Environment: 9/10

JoHoJA - Sunnybank Hills

For those who are unaware, one of the places which didn't make it through the covid lockdowns was David's Sizzling, probably the only place that did authentic Taiwanese steak in Brisbane. I was really sad to see them close, and now we have no alternative for our hot plate protein fix. It took a couple of months, but eventually JoHoJa, which had initially been sharing space with Fish Cafe in New Farm took up lodgings in the spot. At least it was another authentic Taiwanese restaurant, and they're now far more accessible for me.

The shopfront is small, but turnover is relatively fast. I'm not sure they take reservations, but we were able to get a table for a weeknight dinner without too much hassle. 

  

Despite the tangible menus, ordering was done via QR code, although paying came after the meal. Prices weren't too expensive but they weren't cheap either. Having done my research beforehand and heard the complaints about portion size, I ordered accordingly.

First to arrive was the traditional Taiwanese braised pork mince with rice. The taste was fairly spot on with a deep soy flavour to the pork which was adequately but not overly fatty. I do think that the mince to rice ratio could have been better, but we had other food to go with the rice. The rice itself was quite delicious with a smooth texture that I really like of Taiwanese rice. 

Next up was a dish of cold braised beef shank. It was not particularly big for the price but large enough for a snack size. This was done really well and very tender, to a point where the meat was almost falling apart. With the added dipping sauce, it went well with our extra rice from the first dish.

Next up was Dr L's all time favourite oyster omelette. The omelette was fairly big and there was a generous amount of oysters in it. The sauce was tangy, with sweet and sour elements to it. I almost had to fight Dr L to get a decent portion of it, otherwise he would have eaten it all. He said it tasted like home, which is quite compelling.

My favourite of course was the braised beef and tendon noodle. The portion was generous, and there was a lot of very tender meat and tendon on top of the standard wheat noodle. The broth was flavoursome, infused with soy, tomato and carrots. The noodles tended towards the softer side, pleasing me but upsetting Dr L. Although the price wasn't cheap, it was fairly large, making it not too bad value. Overall we had a fairly good time at JoHoJa. No doubt we will be back to try more dishes, given how close and convenient it is.

Price Range: $20 - $30pp

Taste: 8.5/10

Value: 7/10

Service: 8/10

Environment: 6/10

My Mistress - Albion

First brunch of the new year and a friend of ours asked to hang out while he went through some drama that was happening in his life. We wanted somewhere we could hang out for a longer period of time and catch up. A friend suggested My Mistress as the perfect spot, so off we went.

 

Bookings are recommended, especially for hot summer days when there is high demand for inside seating. We were lucky to get a seat. As with some more modern places these days, the menu was available via QR code, allowing us all ease to order and pay separately.

 

Drinks didn't take too long to come out, I had an iced long black given the hot weather and Dr L had his usual iced chocolate. Mine was cool and refreshing, but could have been stronger. The portion was generous though. His was rich and delicious, coming with the requisite ice cream scoop which he adored.

Dr L and I shared our breakfasts to try more. This was the Eggs Marilyn. It was an eggs benedict on a toasted croissant with wilted spinach, poached eggs, house made hollandaise sauce. I had it with smoked salmon. For a full sized breakfast, this was a little small, as you can see, all fillings could comfortably fit inside of the croissant. In retrospect, I probably should have picked bacon for the protein as the salmon was cooked through and had a fairly fishy taste to it. The croissant was crisp though and the eggs were done well. 

Our other breakfast was the Strip Tease, which was made up of southern fried chicken, waffles, smashed avocado, Russian dressing, and topped with maple syrup. I ordered the maple syrup on the side and an extra serve of fried eggs. The chicken tasted fairly processed and seemed like the store bought supermarket variety that didn't have much meat texture to it. It was however crispy and well seasoned. The waffle was a little burnt. The eggs were cooked well and with the extra addition, it made for a fairly filling meal. Overall I found My Mistress to be a fairly standard cafe offering in terms of food, it was good but didn't stand out above the rest. Given the prices of going out to cafes these days, short of catching up with a friend, I would prefer making my own at home.

Price Range: $25 - $35pp

Taste: 6.5/10

Value: 7/10

Service: 7/10

Environment: 5/10

 

Etna - Fortitude Valley

Readers may have noted that there had been a flux of Italian restaurants open in the second half of 2022. Etna, created by the owners of Rosmarino was one of them. As someone who can never really turn down pizza, I was interested the moment I had heard about it, and especially intrigued by the unique, albeit pricier pizzas on the menu. I was particularly thrilled when a good friend of mine coordinated a group dinner to allow us to try more varieties of their pizzas.

 

We were very promptly seated and the place was dark and moody, much like Rosmarino, with exposed brick walls and a deep mahogany theme. Service was prompt and friendly. The menu comprised mainly of pizzas but there were also starters, pasta and mains as well. The pizza was definitely different from the norm, with bases that were neither red nor white and we tried a selection of those. Prices average roughly $5 more expensive than other specialty pizza restaurants.

 

Drinks were served almost immediately after ordering, our rose was crisp and appetizing.

It also didn't take too long for entrees to arrive either.

First up was the burrata abbamele. This was rich and creamy, I liked the sweet honey that it was doused with, but couldn't really taste much of the promised truffle. The burrata was rich and creamy though, going well with the pizza bread we ordered.

The schiacciata was a fancy name for pizza bread. It was light and airy with parts that were fairly crisp and a strong garlic flavour. Although the taste was fairly good, the for the price of $10, we were given four small wedges, which was quite insufficient for our small group to share, and definitely bad value for money.

 

To go with the schiacciata, we also had some mortadella and black angus bresaola. These were thinly shaved but deliciously savoury and meaty. I particularly liked the creamy, buttery black angus with its light peppery taste. Again though, with only five small slices per serve, it represented bad value.

Our pizzas didn't take too long to arrive. This was the diavola, topped with fior di latte, Riverine buffalo blue, hot salami, olive, red onion, olive, parmesan and hot smoked paprika. We don't usually go for spicy pizzas and this was quite delicious. I liked how meaty it was, with a zing from the smoked paprika. The base done quite well with a fluffy crust, but the centre was a little bit wet and floppy.

Our next one was a unique pumpkin based mantovana topped with fior di latte, taleggio, sausage, rosemary, parmesan and amaretti dust. Compared to anything else I've had before, the base flavour was quite sweet. The sausage was also quite mincey and not savoury enough. Of all the pizzas, this would have been my least favourite.

Of course my favourite of the night was the trentina comprising of fior di latte, truffle pecorino, mushrooms, speck, radicchio with parmesan. The truffle flavour was strong in this one and I loved the generous amount of speck and radicchio. If the base was less moist, it would have been one of the best pizzas I've had.

Dessert was the Hazelnut Pizza Fritta. This was a small tart made of deep fried pizza dough, topped with hazelnut creme and hazelnut. Portions were small and not really worth the price, but it was fairly tasty, but the pizza base could have been a bit less oily for my taste.

All round, we had a reasonably good time at Etna. Prices were steep for what we got, and in retrospect they missed a side that we ordered (but this remained on the bill), but the food was quite nice and I wouldn't hesitate to go back if any friends asked me to, but I wouldn't be making plans on my own initiative.

Price Range: $40 - $50pp

Taste: 8/10

Value: 4/10
Service: 7/10

Environment: 8/10