We only ordered from their raw bar menu (scroll down for menus) and the ingredients they used were extremely fresh! However, we felt that the seasonings and sauces were overpowering. We’re more of a purist when it comes to raw seafood.
If you’ve never tried raw scallops, uni or ikura, for, example, this is definitely a good place to start since their seasoning completely covers the fishy taste. Also, we tried barnacles for the first time today! Read on to find out more.
Adult chocolate milk – old monk rum, chocolate, milk, cinnamon ($11) [This was extremely watered-down and definitely needs more rum, chocolate and milk. Look at the amount of ice.]Brewed awakening – rum, amaro di angostura, maple, cold brew ($13) [We don’t particularly like our drinks to be strong, but we felt that the alcohol content of this drink was insufficient. It tasted like sweet coffee and if you concentrate hard enough, you may be able to convince yourself that this is a cocktail.]Ikura – wasabi, garlic soy ($18) [Ikura in itself is extremely, extremely salty. It’s hard to describe the taste but it tastes like the ocean, is fishy, and has a little salmon flavour. Each egg is surrounded by a transparent sac and the contents burst into your mouth with each bite. The texture is similar to a runny yolk. What boggled us the most is that they would serve ikura with soy sauce that’s even saltier than the already salty ikura. We could barely taste the ikura, and we’re not sure if there was any wasabi in it]King crab – louis dressing ($19) [This was good, but not worth the price in our opinion.]Percebes (goose barnacles) – old bay mayo ($19) [We’re so excited to introduce goose barnacles to you! Out server told us this was very hard to acquire. It’s like a combination of geoduck sashimi and surf clam in terms of taste and texture. We both loved it!]Tuna poke – gochujang, pickled bean sprouts ($14) [This was pretty good, except I think they should correct their menu description to “non-spicy gochujang”.]Scallop crudo – umeboshi, shiso, beech mushroom ($16) [We love the taste of raw scallops, but you can barely taste it here because the sauce was so sour.]Santa Barbara uni – dashi, yuzu, chicharron ($19) [Santa Barbara uni is one of best uni in the world. It’s more buttery than Maine uni. It’s sweeter and less fishy than Hokkaido uni. Unfortunately, you can barely appreciate how good this uni was with their sour and salty sauce.]
Overall taste: 8/10 | 2016 | 5 Chome-2-1 Tsukiji, Chuo, Tokyo 104-0045, Japan
If you visit Tokyo, you must go to Tsukiji Fish Market. We only went to the outside market of Tsukiji; it was really crowded even on a weekday. There were lots of small restaurants and stalls selling mouth-watering food (sushi, ramen, snacks, desserts). Definitely come on an empty stomach!
Note: This Tsukiji location will close and be moved to Toyosu sometime in 2017/2018.
For some of the food we got, we attached a picture of the stall next to it since we can’t read Japanese.
Tuna, ikura and uni don (900 yen) [The portion was smaller than we expected. We really loved the sushi rice and the freshness of their ingredients]
Sushi shaped candy [We didn’t try this but we thought they were incredibly cute!]
Giant tamago
Lineup for this stall!
Tamago (100 yen) [Look at the size of that tamago! This was on the sweet side but we liked that it was incredibly fluffy.]
Matcha soft-serve (300 to 400 yen) [It was summer when we visited and this was perfect for a hot day! Good matcha flavour and not too sweet]Grilled scallops topped with crab and uni, then torched [We don’t remember the price of this. This was pretty good, all the ingredients were fresh but the uni tasted a little fishy]Grilled unagi (600 yen) [This tasted quite similar to regular frozen unagi]
This is our favourite restaurant is Boston so far!
+++ Pineapple – elyx, yuzu, lemongrass, citrus soda (for two, $21) [We thought lemongrass would give it a weird taste, but it’s extremely subtle. We really like it but if you prefer your alcohol strong, this is not for you]Ahi tuna poke – soy / sesame / ginger / togarashi / coconut rice ($22) [It’s good, but it’s something we can make ourselves at home]+++ Uni benedict toast – sunny side up quail egg / hollandaise / brioche ($18) [This is really good; everything from the brioche, hollandaise sauce, quail egg to uni. If would have been better if they use Santa Barbara uni (which they sell separately) instead of Maine uni. I wonder if we could request that and pay more for it]– – – Tuna carpaccio – pickled hon-shimeji mushrooms / house ponzu / fresh herbs ($18) [This is okay, but it’s something you can get in a lot of Japanese restaurants. We also found the ponzu sauce to be overpowering.]Torched salmon belly – avocado / cucumber / green apple / miso glaze ($16) [We actually couldn’t taste the miso glaze. The sauce they used tasted more like unagi sauce. They burnt the salmon skin and the top layer of avocado intentionally to give it a smokey taste. Jeff really likes it but Lynn is not a fan of the charcoal taste.] +++ Hand-chopped dry aged steak tartare – truffle aioli / buttered brioche / quail egg / parmesan ($16) [We mentioned before that we’re big fans of steak tartare and this is the best we’ve had in Boston. This dish is the main reason we gave such a high rating to this restaurant]
Overall taste: 7.5/10 | 2016 | 1704 Washington St, Boston, MA 02118
+++ = highly recommend | – – – = do not recommend
Toro is a hit and miss for us. There are some dishes we really like, and some we dislike.
Pictured above: Paella valenciana – mussels, shrimp, spanish pork sausage, chicken and calasparra rice (half portion for $26)
– – – Erizos con caviar – caviar, uni, quail egg spoon with iberico ($15) [expensive spoonful, yet not that tasty. The caviar completely overwhelms the taste of uni.]+++ Asado de huesos – roasted bone marrow with radish citrus salad and oxtail marmalade ($14) [love everything about this dish! The oxtail marmalade goes so well with the bone marrow underneath. It’s so fatty, yet sooooo good. It’s one of those dish you’d feel guilty eating]– – – Lengua de cordero – seared lamb tongue,muhammara, seville orange marmalade and puffed quinoa ($14) [They still have this dish, but they have modified it slightly since we last visited. We felt that the lamb tongue lacked flavour. It almost tasted like it was boiled in water]– – – Corazon – grilled archer angus beef heart and romesco ($9) [We ordered this because we wanted to try beef heart, but we didn’t know it will be smoked and sliced thinly. It tasted just like regular ham.]+++ Foie gras a la plancha – seared foie gras, roasted beets, plum-rhubarb compote, za’atar spiced cracker ($14) [Current dish has changed since we last visited, it uses more orange flavours. Foie gras is one of our favourite foods and the foie gras here is definitely well-seared!]
Overall taste: 9/10 | 2016 | 31 W 17th St, New York, NY 10011
This remains to be one of my favourite restaurants. Although it is only rated 1 michelin star, it is better than some of the 3 michelin starred restaurants in my opinion.
+++ = highly recommend | – – – = do not recommend
Pictured above: +++ Hokkaido urchin toast – cauliflower puree, mustard seed & shiso {$16) [This is so good! plus I get to try Hokkaido sea urchin (uni) without travelling to Japan!]
Chef’s tasting menu ($135 pp)
Petiscos
+++ Smoked sweet potato “blini” – ikura caviar, creme fraiche, flowers and herbs– – – White and green asparagus – preserved kumquats, spring garlic & hazelnut crumble+++ Shrimp alhinho – garlic, pimenton, red bell pepper juice & pressed shrimp jus
Charcoal-grilled bacalhao – pickled pearl onion, white bean puree & cilantro [I found the fish to be slightly overcooked]Roasted Duck Breast – red and gold beets, pumpkin seed, duck confit & brown butter jus [it’s good but i’m quite disappointed on how little duck there was]
– – – Queijo zimbros – roasted strawberry jam, walnut raisin toast and pickled green strawberryMatcha cake – pistachio brittle, sweet pickled cherries, sherry gastrique and bay leaf icecream
Yummy Ventures 