Jitsu

I have to admit that I haven't been to The Jitsu in quite some time. These pictures were taken in February. Since then, I have been infatuated with Jizo and the infatuation is only wearing off now. I am at that point in the relationship where the rose tinted glasses have come off and I've discovered that there are some things that they don't do well. And, there are some things they don't do at all, like Unagi Don or Prawn Tempura.

Enter The Jitsu. Whenever we needed a sushi fix (and to whine and unwind), S and I used to go to The Jitsu and order a couple of sushi rolls, Agedeshi Tofu and Age or Yaki Gyoza. There's nothing like good food and great company to put me in the right mood again. It's my 'reset' button. If I am agitated and tense before (as I usually am at the end of a work week), I am mellow and relaxed after. It's a fail-safe formula.

I digress. These are the dishes that I like the best at The Jitsu:

Yaki Gyoza: These are the best that I've had in Dunedin. The bottom of the dumpling is crispy, which gives it a little extra bite, and the filling is juicy and delicious. I get lucky sometimes when I bite into them and there is (what looks like) a spoonful of broth or juice in the dumpling and I get to slurp up the juice before gobbling the rest of the dumpling. Yummy. The deep fried Age Gyoza is also good (crispier and just as tasty), but I prefer the pan fried and steamed Yaki Gyoza.

Agedeshi Tofu: It's tofu with a nice, fried, crunchy coating in a soy sauce mixture. I love it but there isn't much to say about it. Not the best that I've had but still pretty decent.

Unagi/Unaju Don: I don't know why they call it Unaju here when it is Unagi everywhere else. Regardless, I love the grilled eel on rice, especially when the soft, slightly chewy eel has been grilled well so that the edges are just a little bit crisp and the sweet glaze is caramelised. Like all fatty fish, this is delicious when warm, but not so much if you let it get cold, so wolf it.

Prawn Tempura Sushi: As I have mentioned numerous times, I love prawns, so of course, I love Tempura Prawns. What's not to love? Stick them in a a sushi roll? Great! These are particularly good if they are freshly made and served hot (i.e. the prawns have been fried to order). Some places make it with cold tempura prawns that have just been lying around, and it's usually a big disappointment, but I don't think that I've experienced that here.

Salmon Jitsu Plate: I've only had this once. I liked it but the glaze was a little too sugary sweet (as opposed to a more natural sweetness like the sweetness of honey or fruit) for me and picking out the bones from the salmon steak was a real pain in the butt. On the plus side, the mango salad was really tasty and although the dish is probably not an authentic or traditionally Japanese dish, at least it's something different.

Verdict: The Jitsu may not be the most authentic Japanese restaurant in town, but the food is decent and some dishes are, in my opinion, among the best in town. Hmm, now I feel like some Yaki Gyoza and Unagi Don.

Edit 29th June 2010: I may have to take this back. Ate at Jitsu last night and was very disappointed. The Yaki Gyoza, in particular, was nothing like what it used to be and the Unagi Don was just alright. I also tasted a little of D's Yakiniku Beef and was not impressed - meat wasn't charred enough and the sauce was too heavy and sweet and there was too much of it.

The Jitsu

133 Stuart Street

Dunedin

Pier 24, Again!

As I have previously confessed, after my first visit, I concocted a cunning, selfish plan to use S's birthday as an excuse for another indulgence at Pier 24. Even though I have made my birthday present to her sound purely selfish, I did in fact want her to share my latest, exciting dining discovery - so that we can enthuse and gush about the food together.

Starters

Roasted tomato & fennel puree soup, with monk fish and smoked prawns, mint & lemon mascarpone & parmesan crackers: S's comments - The soup had a smooth tomato flavour, with just a hint of fennel. Was pleasantly surprised at the flavour of fish and smoked prawns, which had good firm texture which made them nice to bite into.

Crisp, slow cooked pork belly pickled ginger & red cabbage slaw with toasted cashews, sweet tomato chilli jam: This was amazing! The pork was succulent, tender, juicy and bursting with flavour and the skin was crispy and savoury. I loved the way that the refreshing, acidic, sweetish-sourish pickled ginger and red cabbage slaw complemented the savoury unctuousness of the pork belly and just elevated the dish to another level. I have had cravings for this ever since! The only, not necessarily critical, thing that came to mind was that, though probably the best executed Western style pork belly that I've had, the skin was still a tiny bit sturdier than what would have made it perfect. I don't know how they do it, but the skin on good Chinese style roast pork back home is very light and crispy and is the highlight of the roast pork eating experience.

Mains

Braised Cadrona merino shank croquette, grilled double lamb cutlet, tomato braised fondant potato, caper & port jus: S's comments - Oh so yummy!!! Well cooked and so flavourful. The best (and most surprising) part of the dish was the lamb shank croquette, which I was aware of because I read it on the menu but totally forgot about until I cut into the croquette. The softest and juiciest lamb shanks I've ever tasted.

Roasted mahi-mahi fillet with crisp potato scales, sautéed green beans & asparagus with rocket aioli dressing: They didn't have mahi-mahi so it was actually kingfish and the potatoes were different too, but I can't recall what they were. This is what happens when you write about something you had two months ago. I really enjoyed this boldly flavoured fish. As soon as I tasted the savoury crusted fish, I felt that the flavours were very familiar but I didn't realise what it was until S pointed it out - it tasted like the southern Indian fried fish that we get back home when we have 'banana leaf rice'. When I order this again next time, I won't start with the pork belly because both dishes have intense flavours and are quite savoury. If I had started with something sweetish and more subtle like the 'prawns in wasabi mayonnaise', I would probably not have noticed the savouriness of the fish quite so much (I only 'noticed' the savouriness of the fish halfway through the dish).

[Edit 8th August 2010: The kingfish is now on the menu with the following description - Roasted King Fish fillet with masala spice dust, sautéed green beans & fennel crisp potato scales with horseradish & lemon cream sauce.]

Mixed leaf salad, parmesan & basil dressing: Loved the taste of the delicious, mellow basil dressing, interspersed with the occasional nutty, fuller flavour of the parmesan shards.

Desserts

Warm dark Belgian chocolate cake served with a tart plum puree, vanilla mascarpone: S's comments - MMmmmmmm :) The cake was so soft, moist, and chocolatey.

Bitter chocolate ganache tartlet, strawberries in burnt honey & raspberry syrup, vanilla bean ice cream: Oh. My. God. This was beyond divine. I don't know why I keep thinking of this but if a gold bar tasted like chocolate, this is what it should taste like. Luscious, silken smooth, soft but solid, decadently rich, seductively shiny and potently chocolate(y?) - this is one of those things that tastes so amazing your brain switches off, you go stupid for a while as you do nothing but savour it and groan with pleasure. A chocolate lover's kryptonite. I don't know what else I can say except, try it.

Verdict: The second visit surpassed the first so I am looking forward to a third visit. Hopefully I won't have to wait too long. I already have a few things in mind that I would like to order.

Pier 24
24 Esplanade
St Clair Beach
Dunedin

Mei Wah Takeaways

Critic Issue 14 - Num Nums

Soy Sauce Chicken

Everyone has a favourite takeaway shop, and mine is Mei Wah Takeaways. Since fish and chips and the like have been covered in the Review Issue (issue 9), I am going to focus on ‘the other stuff’. The two things that I order the most at Mei Wah are the ‘BBQ Pork and Tofu on rice’ and the ‘Soy Sauce Chicken on rice’. They taste great and you get quite a decent portion for $8.90. Now, if you are one of those people who are grossed out by the texture of tofu, do not order the BBQ Pork and Tofu – duh. The tofu used in this dish is the really soft, smooth (silken?) kind and of course, when stir fried with barbecue pork and vegetables, breaks up. The end product isn’t particularly pretty but is quite tasty. The barbecue pork pieces are sweet and tender and the sauce that everything is stir fried in is savoury, garlicky and slightly spicy. Perfect hearty, comfort food for a cold day. If you can’t stand tofu, you can simply order the ‘BBQ Pork and Vegetables’ instead.

BBQ Pork and Tofu

The ‘Soy Sauce Chicken’, which is my favourite Mei Wah dish, is absolutely delicious. The chicken is delectably tender and moist and very, very tasty. Most of the time, the actual flesh of the chicken is quite bland and it’s the sauce or the flavour from seasoning on the skin that makes a chicken dish taste good. Soy Sauce Chicken, however, is traditionally made by steeping the chicken in a soy sauce mixture for quite some time, which allows the flesh to absorb the flavours, making it extra tasty. I don’t know if that is how they make it at Mei Wah, but whatever the recipe is, it’s a good one.

Half Honey Chicken

The ‘Honey Chicken’ is another, quite spectacular Mei Wah speciality. Basically it is honey flavoured deep fried chicken and you can order half a chicken, the whole chicken, with or without rice. The caramel brown skin is beautifully thin, crispy and savoury, with a light honey coating to give it that mildly sweet, honey flavour. Biting into a piece and tasting the salty sweetness of the skin coupled with the juicy, mouth-watering chunks of chicken is bliss, particularly when you have that ‘fried chicken craving’. I prefer this to KFC when I need my fried chicken fix.

Chicken and Cashew Nuts

I also like the ‘Chicken and Cashew Nuts’ dish, which, besides the chicken, comes with loads of cashew nuts and vegetables. The serving is such that I always have to split it into two meals. I realise that I have written about mostly chicken dishes, but generally you can order the same type of ‘stir fry’ dish with lamb, beef or seafood. I also really appreciate that most of the stir fry dishes come with vegetables, because then I can be lazy and not worry about my vegetable intake for the day.

Finally, if you’re on a budget, you may be interested to know that Mei Wah, which is just a little over a block away from the St David lecture theatres, offers really cheap lunch specials such as, a variety of fried rice, meat and vegetable and sweet and sour dishes for only $5.90, seven days a week. I think that these would fill you up a bit more than fish and chips or burgers.

Mei Wah Takeaways

660 Great King Street

North Dunedin

Pier 24

Sorry this is long overdue. We visited Pier 24 at the end of March and it's now June. I shall endeavour to write within a couple of weeks of visiting a place from now on, but there are still a few places from months ago (and some from last year) that I haven't written about. Bear with me.

I fortuitously first heard about Pier 24 a week before D's birthday. We were at a pot luck at M and H's (the same potluck for which D made the Triple Choc Brownie) and M, who always makes it a point to tell me about any interesting dining experiences, mentioned that they recently dined at Pier 24 as a large group and it was great. H even said that "the steak was like beef flavoured butter". That settled it.

Ideally located at St Clair Beach, the glass panelled exterior walls of Pier 24 allow patrons to enjoy a view of the esplanade and the water, no matter where they are seated. The interior décor is sleek, modern and polished, as was the service and the food. We ordered the following:

Starters

Mille feuille of prawn in wasabi lemon mayonnaise, with avocado, roasted cherry tomato dressing wonton crisps: Clean tasting, subtle and refreshing. I enjoyed the creamy, faintly wasabi flavoured mayonnaise and the crispy wonton skins but wasn't blown away. This brings to mind something that I've had back home and I think perhaps it would be interesting to serve this mayonnaise with whole, extremely lightly battered, fried prawns, for little extra texture and flavour.

Hummus & green olive tapenade, crostini: D ordered this because he had something before we went to dinner and he wasn't very hungry. He said it was all right.

Mains

Char grilled beef fillet, confit portobello mushroom, purée potatoes with truffle oil, caramelised onion glaze, parmesan & pepper crisp: This was D's main and he was very happy with it. I deciphered this from his nodding and his "wow, that's pretty good," as he savoured the meal, and believe me, that's about the most that I ever get out of him when it comes to commenting about food. I had a bite of the beef and concurred that it was indeed very good.

Grilled venison medallions, roasted garlic butterbean mash, maple roasted pears, pickled ginger and sherry vinegar glaze: This was fantastic. The lovely, melt-in-your-mouth tender venison was perfect, as were the accompaniments. I loved, loved, loved the way the mellow sweetness of the roasted pears and pickled ginger melded with the natural savouriness of the venison and the smooth, subtle mash rounded off the glorious symphony of flavours that was going on in my mouth. There is nothing else to do except make uncouth guttural noises and go "Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm"!!!

Steamed spring greens, soy & sesame dressing and Roasted seasonal vegetables, honey mustard vinaigrette: Both were well done but I particularly liked the steamed spring greens with the soy and sesame dressing. The green beans were just barely steamed and so were still crunchy and had a raw freshness to them. I really enjoyed the soy and sesame dressing, which was light and faintly savoury, sourish and sweet, all at the same time. That, together with the nutty, smokiness of the sesames, turned plain ol' broccoli and green beans into something quite special.

Desserts

Chocolate fondant, orange poached pear, dark rum & berry coulis, vanilla bean ice cream: D is a chocolate fiend and will usually order the chocolate dessert, no matter how good other desserts sound. This was his. I thought it was good, but he is not a fan of desserts that are served warm.

Ginger & lemon tart, fresh strawberries with limoncello syrup: I am a fan of all things citrus. Although I was expecting a 'tart' to be more dense, not have quite so much height and not be at all creamy, I still liked it. The filling was subtly citrus-y sweet, smooth, creamy and cheesecake-like. If I had no expectations at all of what I had ordered, I would probably have been a little more enthusiastic about it.

Verdict: I was happy enough with the experience to use S's birthday (which was only two weeks after D's) as an excuse to return. My self-serving birthday present to her was a dinner at Pier 24, and it paid off. The meal we had on D's birthday was very good, but the meal we had on S's birthday was amazing. To be continued...

Pier 24

24 Esplanade

St Clair Beach

Dunedin