Tora Fugu

> Location : Kanda, Tokyo, Japan
> Cuisine : Fugu (Puffer Fish)
> Tel. # : N/A
> Website : http://www.torafugu.co.jp/

Ever got a chance to watch the American favorite Simpson's cartoon episode where Homer ate the poisonous puffer fish sushi? We all learn from such cartoons or from minor knowledge elsewhere, without proper expertise of the chef, the consumer of the sushi won't have a very pleasant after effect, haha. But what I've learned from my visit to Japan is that puffer fish is not only made into an item you can choose from in sushi restaurants but into a cuisine entirely!

So, it's poisonous, that's a lot of risk for the business wouldn't it be? Well, this is not true entirely. Some puffer spices are NOT poisonous (e.g. Takifugu oblongus) and the ones who are, if they were raised in captivity and without proper contact of a certain type of bacteria through food, their "tetrodotoxin," which is the name of their toxin, can not be created.

My puffer fish experience (or as the Japanese call it, "Fugu") was split into a few sections. Actually, before we start, Tora Fugu, the restaurant that hosted my experience translates into "Tiger Puffer Fish." So, okay! What is for dinner?

First up, we have an appetizer served in a little bowl with fugu skin mixed with chopped up green onions and marinated radish. This is served more as a salad dish to start the meal off! Fugu skin has a chewy texture to it. The salad is served in this sourish sauce. A very common salad dressing used in Japan.

Second up, we have fugu sashimi. Mashed radish, some fugu skin in the middle, lime and other compliments are served with the dish. Fugu is usually sliced very thin when served since it's so expensive. The texture of the sashimi is flexible kind of similar to that chewy sensation from the fugu skin but not as "rubbery." The taste has this light fishy flavor kinda of like "white fish." Nothing unique like yellow tail or salmon.

Third up, fugu shabu shabu served with tofu and other vegetables. This is as you would expect, fugu boiled in water served with sauce. The container is made out of bamboo sticks with a waxed textured paper so water can be poured in. Inside is a slice of seaweed which is a classic way of boiling the 'soup base.' This gives a hint of sweet seaweed sensation to it. Fugu shabu shabu with some ponzu (lime flavor sauce) was a nice experience. The meat was tender and it goes nice with the ponzu's lime flavoring.

Fourth up, deep fried fugu with okra and lime. This is as you would expect again, basically fugu deep fried, with that crispy texture and a hint of lime as flavoring along with the saltiness from the fried skin. The okra served as an after effect to decrease that fried, oily sensation out of your taste bud. Interesting indeed.

Last but not least, rice porridge made with the left over soup base from the fugu shabu shabu. Green onions and blended uncooked eggs were boiled along with rice. The rice porridge is served with some marinated pickles and a piece of marinated plum. A few pieces of dried seaweed tops it off. This dish is something light to finish off your whole fugu experience. The remaining soup base serves as some of the flavoring from the rice porridge. In the end, this dish is very simple yet very good.

To cool things off and put a smile on your face, a scoop of plum flavored ice cream is served. Not much to explain here but its served in a little bowl and it tastes like your typical lightly plum flavored ice cream. A nice touch to end your fugu cuisine experience.

In conclusion, Tora Fugu is a place with a pleasant environment and provides great ways of serving fugu. Considering Tora Fugu is a chain with many locations all over Japan, the quality they provided should be consistent. I have never tried other places before so it is hard to give any definite score. Plus, this review just serves as a fun and educational pointer to the world of puffer fish cuisine! If I really had to give a score, I would give Tora Fugu...

< 4 out of 5 >

Lian

> Location : Shop 2004, Podium Level 2, International Finance
Centre Mall, Central, Hong Kong
> Cuisine : Viet/thai/Bar/Bistro
> Tel. # : (852) 2521-1117
> Website : N/A

Another creation from the M.A.X. Concept group (Maxim e.g. Rice Paper), Lian is a classy, business oriented Vietnamese/Thai restaurant located in podium level 2 of the I.F.C. mall. When you first step into Lian, you will spot an entertainment room to the right and the actual restaurant and bar to the left. The restaurant/Bar itself consists of about a 10 seating Bar, a very creative large square table with water decorations in the middle of it. The table itself definitely will be shared among the visitors very much like a bar table. The lighting is dim, there's a mirror up on the roof and on opposite sides of the restaurant to make the atmosphere feel bigger. There's a window looking out into Central with about seven booth style seating available by and away from the window. There is also a bar that serves especially juice and wine.

Lian's menu contains your usual appetizer section along with short orders, rice/noodles/bread, Lian's selections, and vegetables. There are symbols indicating which are Vietnamese or Thai dishes. There's also a separate menu for drinks and dessert.

So onto the food! In any Thai related restaurant, you're going to find "Stir fried morning glory with chili and preserved shrimp paste" in the menu ($58 HKD). At Lian, they keep the consistency alive with that salty, shrimpy flavor from the dish. Nothing extraordinary but done just right.

Next up is the "Green tea smoked duck, pineapple caramel chili lime salt" ($165 HKD). The lime salt is provided on the side to put on your duck. At first bite, I noticed the smoke flavor doesn't overwhelm the other qualities of the dish. It blends in well with the lime salt, the sweetest from the pineapple caramel and there's even a hint of spiciness. Most of the smoked flavor comes from the duck skin and in its entirety, the meat is very tender. It's basically a dish of many flavors yet done very well. It doesn't make you question why a certain sensation is added onto the dish. Some sourness, some saltiness, some sweetness and some spiciness. A good dish overall.

Lastly, is the most expensive dish in Lian's menu which is the "White Miso marinated Chilean sea bass wrapped in cucumber lime leaf and lemon grass flavor, purple pickle" ($ 175 HKD). When it comes to miso on fish, we think of the Japanese. If you ever had miso roasted fish in Japanese style, there's always a strong definite flavoring of miso on the fish but not enough to overwhelm the fish's meat flavor. Yes, this is a Vietnamese / Thai fusion restaurant so it's hard to follow this concept. However, from the first bite into this dish, I noticed the miso flavoring is barely there. You notice it's there but not enough to trigger any delightful sensation in your brain. At the very least, the sea bass is tender and fresh (you can tell if you don't taste that fermented flavor to it). the purple pickles was a nice compliment with the light-tasting sea bass. It was a bit sour, very much like those Japanese style pickles used for bentos or rice porridge. I actually asked one of the waitress about the extreme lack of miso flavoring and the wateriness of the dish. She actually had that same notion when she tried it herself and told the chef about it before. However, the chef thinks that's just how it should be made. So possibly, my experience wasn't an inconsistency, it was just meant to be. Yet, if we were to use the stereotypical standards of what people think is good or not, this dish will dissatisfy many. With the compliment from the purple pickles, I think the miso sauce doesn't need to be extremely obvious but stronger would be nice.

For dessert, I had the caramelized pineapple and fresh mango served with snow pine leaf ice cream. This dessert is a two-sided item and the pastry side goes very well with the ice cream side. A very simple dessert yet done very well! One of those dishes you just have to try to understand!

So it boils down to me shaking my head a little about the most expensive dish in the menu. I expected a lot more from a $175 HKD item. But hey, others might like it. My opinion? Not many though. Yet, I take nothing away from the dessert and the duck dish. They were done extremely well and I give them high marks! So my verdict for Lian is...

< 3 1/2 out of 5 >