Kazu ▪ Montréal

1862 Sainte Catherine West
Montréal, Québec
514.937.2333
website

I had visited Kazu once before to try out their ramen noodle (only served at lunch time). I had been itching to go back but going to Kazu takes a bit of organization as they're very busy and don't take reservations. They open at 5:30 PM and the best way to get in is to get there half an hour or so earlier and wait in line. We were lucky (back in October...) and were the last people in line to be seated at 5:30 PM. This meant the poor people right behind us had to wait for the next seating.

Kazu.

Kazu is probably Montréal's original izakaya. It offers a variety of Japanese fare on their menu and on white and yellow paper posted on the walls. Elle, our friend E and myself decided to share different plates. We started with the homemade tofu kimchi salad ($5). Anything with kimchi will get my attention. This salad was packed with flavours between the pickled vegetables and dressing, piled on the soft tofu.

Tofu kimchi salad.

We also shared a tofu hot pot soup. I really enjoyed the savoury soup, especially after waiting in the cold for half an hour.

Tofu hot pot soup.

The sea bass salad ($25) consisted of a piece of fried sea bass with a sweet and sour sauce, and topped with all sorts of crackly items.

Sea bass salad.

I had really been wanting to try the shrimp pancake salad ($10). It's pretty much the shrimp burger with less bread and topped with a salad. You can't go wrong with a homemade shrimp patty.

Shrimp pancake salad.

The food at Kazu is totally worth the wait although arguably it would be nicer to wait in the summer than our cold winter months. The small restaurant makes it cozy and you won't be able to find food like this anywhere else. I also recommend ordering one of their ponzu drinks; we all really liked it.

Nobu Waikiki ▪ Waikiki

2233 Helumoa Road
Honolulu, Hawaii
808.237.6999
website

Another evening in Waikiki, another restaurant at a hotel. We decided to have dinner at Nobu, which I have heard of from celebrities coming out of the LA and London locations. We picked Nobu for its happy hour special, the Nobu "Three-some": any three food items and dessert for $32. Unfortunately, we either came in on the wrong day or too late. If you want to take advantage of the deal, call ahead. We still decided to stay in the lounge area so we could order off of the tapas menu, which is not available in the main dining room.

Nobu.

The tapas menu is broken down into hot and cold sections. We ordered from a bit of both. We decided to share the Wagyu beef and foie gras gyoza ($10) from the hot section. It was a treat of a dumpling due to the richness of the filling and we all loved the squash purée underneath each gyoza.

Gyoza.

E decided on a threesome of her own. She ordered the yellowtail sashimi with jalapeno ($9), the sea bass tempura ($9), and the pork belly kushiyaki ($10).

Sashimi, sea bass tempura and pork belly skewers.

Cee ordered Bigeye tuna sashimi salad ($26) off of the main menu. It included generous slices of tuna.

Tuna sashimi salad.

I ordered the black cod with butter lettuce ($16) also from the main menu. I have been obsessed with black cod ever since I tried it at Imadake. This one also did not disappoint, even though the two pieces were pretty small. I liked that it was served in lettuce adding an element of freshness. The steamed clams with pancetta, kale in a miso dashi broth ($9) was nice and hot. The broth was extremely savoury. It was a light dish that warmed me up. Once I ate all of the clams, I slurped up all of the beautiful dashi broth.

Black cod and Steamed clams.

I'm sure the main menu at Nobu is just as good but I enjoyed my meal at Nobu mainly because of the tapas menu. Small plates always win in my book. It gives me a chance to try a variety of dishes without breaking the bank. The dessert selection was ho-hum so we skipped it. (We gained a habit of walking down Kalakaua, the main street in Waikiki full of stores and stopping by Honolulu Cookie Company. There are several and each store has samples of their shortbread cookies. I just needed one piece of the dark chocolate dipped one and I was happy for the night!)

Sansei Seafood Restaurant & Sushi Bar ▪ Waikiki

2552 Kalakaua Avenue
Honolulu, Hawaii
808.931.6286
website

While researching restaurants in Hawaii, I stumbled upon a blog post featuring crab ramen at Sansei. It immediately was included on my ever growing long list of foods to try in Hawaii. Sansei is another Waikiki restaurant located in a hotel, the Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort.

Sansei Seafood Restaurant & Sushi Bar.

We decided to get starters. I ordered the seared sea scallops ($10), that was accompanied by local mushrooms and a foie gras truffle sauce (double whammy!). While I'm not the biggest foie gras fan, I do love both truffle and scallops. The starter was delicious but I'm still not sold that the scallops needed such a rich sauce.

Seared Scallops.

Admittedly, I don't remember what Cee and E ordered but clearly there was big love for raw fish. It looks to me like tataki, poke and sashimi. Might as well enjoy the fresh fish while in Hawaii.

Raw fish galore.

I stuck to the dish that got me to Sansei, the Crab Ramen with Asian Truffle Broth ($17.95). Crab ramen is always about the broth and this truffle broth did not disappoint. I also loved the noodles, the slight kick from the chili and Thai basil. My only complaint is that there could have been more snow crab; I would have been willing to pay more for it! A great twist on a classic soup!

Crab ramen.

Sansei is a fun place to eat if you're staying in Waikiki. We noticed there were tables outside, with a perfect view of all the action. The Japanese food is good and they seemed to also offer good sushi. I would definitely recommend the crab ramen.

Morimoto Waikiki ▪ Waikiki

1775 Ala Moana Boulevard
Honolulu, Hawaii
808.943.5900
website

After discovering that Iron Chef Morimoto had a restaurant in Waikiki, we decided that having dinner there would be our special treat of the trip. (As you will see in future posts, this clearly did not prevent us from splurging further.) After making the reservation, we kept wondering exactly where the restaurant was located while walking around Waikiki. We then realized that it was right across from the condo building where we were staying! Not just that, but there was an overpass on the second floor that led us straight to the restaurant, which is lodged at the bottom of The Modern Honolulu.

Morimoto Waikiki.

Upon our seating, I glanced over to the sushi bar; lo and behold, Iron Chef Morimoto himself was behind the counter making sushi. I told Cee and E, and we are all beyond excited. We inquired with our very friendly and knowledgeable server if we could take pictures with him. She informed us that he was in town for the Hawai'i Food and Wine Festival and that we could definitely approach him for a picture if we saw him walking around. Unfortunately, we never got a chance to take a picture but were so psyched to see him, that we all ordered the Morimoto Omakase, the tasting menu ($120). E and Cee even got the wine accompaniment.

Dining Room.

I wasn't so sure about the tasting menu because I was worried it would all be raw fish, but upon hearing the dishes that were included, I was on board too. The first course was a red and white tartare (toro and hamachi), served in a small recessed plank. In the middle were the condiments: sweet nori, sour cream, wasabi, sweet Maui onion, Morimoto guacamole and rice crakers. We were provided a tool to scrape the fish and were encouraged to drag it across all of the ingredients, then dip the fish in soy sauce. Cee mentioned that she saw a similar dish on Iron Chef. It was a fun and interactive dish. My favourite was the rice cracker balls, even though it was hard for them to stay put. I unfortunately lost a lot of them in the soy sauce.

Toro and Hamachi Tartare.

The second course was a hot seared carpaccio of Kampachi with hot oil, ginger and yuzu soy. The fish was seared but still raw. I think I'm learning to enjoy raw fish, and a bit of sear really helps!

Hot seared carpaccio.

The third course was one of my favourites: a deconstructed bagna càuda salad. A bagna càuda is a hot dip that consists of olive oil, anchovy and garlic. It was served with beautifully coloured local vegetables, blanched rapini and pieces of focaccia. I loved the playfulness of the dish and also the way it looked aesthetically. Dipping the vegetables in the dip with was such a delight. The dip was savoury from the anchovies, garlicky and so smooth. This is definitely my kind of dip and I would love to replicate this.

Bagna càuda.

The fourth course was foie gras chawan mushi, an egg and foie gras custard topped with dashi and duck. The custard was beautifully silky and creamy. I loved the dashi running through the custard, adding a savoury note. There were two thin pieces of duck in case foie gras wasn't decadent enough!

Foie gras chawan mushi.

The fifth course was the sashimi course which include five pieces of fish. I noted down that there were tuna, local moi fish, sea eel and I'm missing two other fish. With my hesitation when it comes to raw fish, this wasn't my favourite dish, which I realize is completely sacrilegious at a Japanese restaurant in Hawaii.

Sashimi.

The sixth course was the surf and turf which consisted of lobster, Kobe beef and pork. The lobster was seasoned with Morimoto 7 spice. The spice was very flavourful with a good kick of heat; this was no bland lobster. The Kobe beef with ginger was so tender and juicy... yum! The pork loin as topped with macadamia nuts. I loved the Maui onion confit that accompanied this dish. I cleaned my plate even though I was completely stuffed!

 

Surf and Turf: lobster, pork and beef.

We made it to the dessert course, which was a squash soufflé, with a sweetened zucchini ribbon and Okinawan sweet potato ice cream. I really liked the mixture of unexpected ingredients in dessert form. Inside the soufflé was a sweet filling (of beans?). It was the perfect way to end the meal on a light note.

Squash soufflé.

Morimoto Waikiki is the perfect spot for a special meal while you're on holidays. If you don't know what to order,ordering the tasting menu is a good choice as you get to sample a wide array of dishes. It was definitely one of the highlights of my Hawaii trip.

Imadake ▪ Montréal

4006 St-Catherine West
Montréal, Québec
514.931.8833
website

My first outing at Imadake was a few months ago, after my friend Cee's return from Australia, for dinner dinner and catching up. I wanted to go to Kazu but they were closed for a few weeks for vacation. I guess even cooks have to take a break! After surfing different sites, and at Elle's recommendation we headed out to Imadake for an early Saturday evening dinner.

Imadake.

The restaurant was not too busy when we arrived but according to the waitress many of the tables were reserved. After staring at her table set up map, she sat us at a very large and long table, as long as we were out by 8 pm.

To start with, Cee and I shared the beef tataki with ponzu sauce and white fish carpaccio (which I no longer see on the menu). The beef was just slightly seared and sliced thinly. The white fish was topped with a bit of roe. Both made for great light starters.

Beef tataki and white fish carpaccio.

After reading about the black fish cod on La Bouche Pleine, we each had to order our own portion. Just as it was described, the fish was perfectly cooked and flaked in pieces that melted in your mouth. I loved the miso on the fish and the caramelized skin.

Miso black cod.

To accompany my cod, I ordered some grilled mushrooms which were mainly oyster mushrooms. Cee ordered a salad, which was accompanied by a decadent peanut dressing.



When my friend Tee came into town, I took her to Imadake for dinner (while her hubby stayed home with the kids). We ordered a few small plates to share, including the the black cod obviously.

The edamame ($3) was a nice salty snack. The vegetable tempura ($6) was well fried and crispy. I wish the pieces were smaller as they were not well sized for sharing. The pork gyoza were fried but still juicy on the inside. Finally, the karaage - fried chicken ($8) were nicely crispy, served with a wasabi mayo. I really liked the chicken but would have preferred less fatty pieces of chicken. I had to pull out some pieces of fat.




Imadake is a fun place to eat. Their menu of small plates is conducive to trying different dishes. It was busy both times I visited. Don't be startled by chants from the tiny Japanese waitresses of "when I say sake, you say BOMB, Sake BOMB, sake BOMB".