Powell Y.
Yelp
A friend booked the reservation couple month ago for our party of 10. As the dates got closer, half of the people that was supposed to be at dinner couldn't make if for one reason or another. We had to do some last minute recruiting but with the reservation so difficult to come by, it was fairly easy to fill the table, so off we went.
On arrival, a waiter came open the giant glass door, asked for reservation details and there seems to be a bit of confusion, as I was lead to the wrong table. Sort it out quickly, and was lead back to entrance lounge area. They seem to have a policy of not seating guests until at least 50% arrival, but wasn't clearly stated by the staff. Once half of us arrived, we got seated and gave the wait-staff the wines we brought to prepare for dinner.
The dining room is setup very bistro (modern) like, clean, casual, no table cloth. Menu and silverware are tucked away in a drawer that's build into the table. Menu is changed quarterly and available in both English and Chinese.
Wines chilled, butts in the chairs, and off we go on this dining adventure.
First up was "Chicken Masala", presented as a one bite cracker with toppings. Flavoring was unmistakably origin of India, perhaps a touch on the sweeter side than I expected, but was fine, no complaints.
Second course was a "Tomato Salad" dressed with ohba sansho and sashimi. This was an interesting combination, as the sashimi (Mackerel?) on its own is a touch on the fishy side, norm for silver skinned fish, but when eaten together with the tomato, it washes away the fishy flavor. Each little jewel of tomatoes were all perfectly ripe and sweet. A selection process rarely seen in Western/Fusion restaurants in Asia.
Third course was a warm salad of "Perfect Egg & Wild Vegetables". Perfect Egg was perfectly done, the yolk is just cooked enough where it's not overly runny. A very savory and hearty dish. I did made a comment to my friends wondering how this dish would taste if slightly chilled, or serve the egg warm with slightly chilled veggies.
Fourth course was "Sakura Ebi Cappelini", an Italian-Japanese creation. Flavorful, good, and no again no real complaints.
Course #5 comes a soup dish, RAW's play on "Clams & Corn" pudding. Clams cooked perfectly and a wonderful match with sweet corn on a seaweed based pudding. Another well done dish, but the flavor profile was a bit close to the previous dish, which for me is more of a extension of the third course rather than a new course on its own.
The star of sixth course, first main, was "Cod", dressed with burnt cabbage. Fresh as can be, the texture of the fish was done just right, bouncy and juicy. A very tasty dish no doubt.
Seventh course, meat main, "Pork Belly", done Chinese flavored with a twist. Pork came with crispy skin on and dressed in a "Chinese Olive" sour sauce. I am not sure the sauce did much for the course, if you don't mind the fat in pork belly, there is no need to use the sauce. For those afraid a bit of fat, the sauce does help cutting the grease.
At the end of an adventure, we arrive on course #8, "Strawberries with Pink Guava Sorbet". A dish of nice sweet flavors to finish a meal, tasty and satisfying.
I've been thinking of how to rate this experience overall since the minute I stepped out of the restaurant. For the price, in Asia, I understand why the place is so popular and difficult to book a table. The food experience overall was very proper, each dish was executed correctly, cooking temperature was perfect, but all just seem to lack a layer of complexity to push it to the top.
For the wine service, the staff took very good care of wine and done everything properly. However, at NT 500 corkage per bottle, I think the restaurant can afford to use better glasses. I support restaurants charging a reasonable corkage fee, but wine glasses is part of the wine service experience. The glasses here are just cheap stems one expect to see at a mediocre establishment.
Half way through dinner, we also got curious about their wine list, took a look, surprised to find the wine list just on a large one page menu and how esoteric the selections are. Was told the restaurant imports all the wine on their own and are all organic. A wine list like this, the staff needs to be extremely well trained on wine, as everything on the list needs to be hand-sold. I would say 99% of the patrons would have not a slightest clue on any of the wine on this list. After seeing the list, I looked at each table to see whom has ordered wine. The entire restaurant, the entire night, it looked like there was just one table ordered wine off the list. I have a hard time believing they would sell more than a case or two of wine per week.
Overall, I would give this place not quite 4 stars, but since there is no fraction on yelp, I reluctantly gives it 4 stars. Much better than average, but just a little lacking.....