To tell you the truth, I wasn't too eager when I heard last month about the opening of the new Japanese restaurant Sushi Cyu Ryo.
Its name, pronounced "sushi choo reaw", didn't sound like that of an old-hand but instead a newfangled second-rate eatery.
Its location in a shopping mall also didn't help especially since the cuisine is labelled as super refined.
Considering that omakase -- a style of cuisine -- is all the rage in the Bangkok dining scene at the moment, you wouldn't expect much from yet another new joint.
Anyway, don't get me wrong and please keep reading as I'm going to tell you why, against all the odds, the eight-seater has won a place in my favourite list.
Sushi Cyu Ryo, this week's subject of review, is a fine-dining omakase restaurant that focuses on prime-quality seasonal produce imported from the best sources in Japan.
Guests, seated at the dining counter which encircles the chef's cooking station, are offered a multi-course tasting menu in which the selection is up to the chef.
Taking the helm of the small kitchen is chef Yamakawa Chikara, a Japanese culinary genius who speaks a little Thai and no English.
During my solo dinner among seven other customers sitting side-by-side at the counter, it was proved that every item he presented was spot on and original without any superfluous frill.
The restaurant's head chef Yamakawa Chikara.
Available currently is the autumn menu which is masterfully curated. In it, the first course was a chilled delicacy made with persimmon from Wakayama.
The fruit had been cured with red and white miso before being jellified to offer a light bouncy texture and well-rounded savoury-sweet taste that nicely livened up the palate.
Next up was Hokkaido kegani crab with dashi jelly, pine nuts, myoga and pickled chrysanthemum. This aesthetic dish may look delicate but was very pleasingly poignant in taste.
It was followed by a supple and delicious kombu-cured right-eye flounder sushi.
After this, there was a warm and comforting course of steamed black throat rockfish in a very delicate salt-cured sakura leaf.
The meal continued to cast its charm through sakura smoked skipjack tuna with a super sweet and juicy plum-cured cherry tomato and a tiny helping of flavoured grated daikon.
Naturally sweet orient clam from Chiba and yuzu-seethed clam stock was the highlight of chawanmushi, a steamed egg custard.
Japanese tiger prawn, perfectly cooked to offer a very firm and pleasant gummy chew, was served glossed with artisan French seaweed butter over sushi rice that hid inside the crustacean's cheese-like tomalley.
Following this dish was a very flavourful and tender slab of lean akami tuna that had been cured in soy sauce and glazed with sake and served on sushi rice.
Be prepared to be spoiled in the following course by a generously-sized fillet of chutoro (medium fat tuna), slightly torched before your eyes with binjotan charcoal that bursts to release its sweet fatty juice in your mouth.
The next dish deserves to be an offering for an empress. Arriving in glossy blue stoneware was a lovely delicacy that mimics a voluptuous pink rose. Actually, it's made with slices of Hokkaido scallop arranged in a meticulous rosette shape. The chilled broth in which it sat was infused with ginger and two types of Japanese orange. It's a very brilliant course that helped cleanse your palate with a refreshing touch of orange while stimulating your appetite with a deep heat from the ginger and also a drizzle of chilli-sesame oil.
Top-grade bafun uni, with its super sweet and creamy and sunny-bright character, represented the next three dishes.
Hokkaido kegani crab with dashi jelly, pine nuts, myoga and pickled chrysanthemum.
The first was chilled sea urchin roe with a light touch of Okinawa salt on sushi rice. Next, a warm soba noodle with uni, ikura salmon roe and mashed chestnuts followed. The chestnut puree when stirred into the savoury soup gave the dish a perfect mild sweet flavouring.
The last of the three was the most impressive uni dish I've ever had and my admiration goes to chef Chikara's ingenuity. It was tempura of oba leaf roll inside which the creamy uni is hidden.
Sujiko, or immature salmon roe, which is available only in autumn, represented the next sushi course.
Cured with sake and white miso, the reddish-orange roes provided a lip-smacking first impression that gradually revealed a crunchily soft texture and creamy taste. The mouthfeel was dessert-like, especially when compared to the matured counterpart, ikura, which has a more fishy tang.
Chef Chikara chose to present otoro, the most-treasured cut of the fatty tuna, with yuzu kosho, French horseradish and grilled seaweed.
Every element blended perfectly together. The horseradish, freshly grated like Parmesan flakes, provided a super sweet and fatty, melt-in-the-mouth pungent contrast while pickled orange zest gave a very fragrant finish.
Anago, or conger sea eel, is currently in season and the restaurant opts for a harvest from Saga.
Steamed black throat rockfish with salt-cured sakura leaf.
The taste and texture of the sea eel is more subtle than that of anago (freshwater eel) and it was paired with pickled seaweed and dashi foam.
The dinner progressed with a very humble dish called ryo miso mushroom chantilly. It's a Japanese rendition of the Western mushroom cream soup with microscopic barley miso mochi as the hidden surprise.
The pre-dessert was served perfectly as a connecting point between savoury and sweet courses.
In following the duo style of tamago (Japanese omelette), the traditional side was prepared with potato and shrimp and tasted like a savoury cake while the contemporary side was a miniature caramel custard.
Flawlessly wrapping up the dinner was a very fragrant and silky sake pudding with yuzu emulsion.
To complement the meal is a free flow of tea (590 baht). The restaurant uses green tea from a boutique farm in Fukuoka and it is the only green tea authorised by the Japanese government with Geographical Indication Authentication.
Service by an attentive and knowledgeable staff also deserves a score of a perfect 10 as well.
Lunch, comprising of 15 courses, is priced at 2,900 baht per person while dinner, which contains 19 courses, costs 4,900 baht per person. The selection of dishes is adjusted based on the season as well as the day's best produce.
Reservations are highly recommended.
Sakura-smoked katsuo skipjack tuna.
Hokkaido scallop in orange soup.
Soba noodles with uni, ikura and chestnut.
Persimmon with Kyoto white miso and Hatcho red miso.
Tempura oba leaf with uni filling and cured quail yolk.
Seasonal sujiko on sushi rice.
- Sushi Cyu Ryo
- Helix Sky Dining
- EmQuartier, 8th floor
- Call 065-716-0450
- Open Tuesday to Sunday for lunch and dinner
- Park at EmQuartier’s car park
- Most credit cards accepted
