Ceviche

Ceviche is a citrus marinated seafood dish, fresh and spicy, with no cooking required. In the Philippines we have a version called "kinilaw", and my father makes a mean spicy version, either with fish (usually fresh giant anchovies - we would get a kilo from the wet market, and I'd get the task of painstakingly deboning each and every one of them! But well worth the effort!) or even boiled pork tossed in a similar acidic marinade (like vinegar, something like this)

This one is made with john dory fillets, a mixture of lemon and lime juice, the zests were also used. I cannot recount the quantities used for this (it's a secret...not!), as I just measured them by eye and depends on the amount of fish (usually white fleshy fish). The goal is to have a perfect balance of citrus flavors, heat and spice (depending on your tolerance). Bits of minced cucumber counteract the heat and citrus as well. I used minced bird's eye chili and red chili, minced garlic, a bit of spanish onion and brown onion (also minced), and chopped coriander to finish.

the minced aromatics and the fish

refreshing!

The fish was sliced into thin slivers. The acid in the citrus actually cooks the fish, and since the fish was sliced thinly the 'cooking process' just took around 7-10 minutes - you can tell by the way the flesh of the fish is not longer translucent.

This was actually served as a fishy Saturday treat alongside yellowfin tuna sashimi, sake and (obviously homemade irregularly rolled) cucumber sushi rolls

[rolling those sushi rolls made me recall one of the best japanese restaurants IMHO - Jamon Sushi - a must try!!! A bit pricey, but with good reason - this place is not for the conventional nor play-by-the-rules person, because once you sit down in one of the 18 seats in this intimate setting, the best way to go is to leave it to the hands of the chef and you will never regret it.]

Tokyo Teppanyaki

Continuing on the theme of Japanese restaurants Tokyo Teppanyaki is billed not only as a restaurant but a complete night of entertainment, and it was....well for a few hours at least :)

If you haven't been before then Teppanyaki is well worth the experience (perhaps once as it ain't cheap :)). Seated around a large hot plate the customer is treated to their own personal chef who not only acts to cook and serve but also provides the evenings entertainment in the form of jovial conversation and a number of party tricks such as food and egg tossing as well as bowl throwing and all manner of utensil twirling.

The menu at Tokyo Teppanyaki is quite varied - Ozeki sake and the Tokyo Set were chosen on this occasion. Service began with an entree plate featuring sushi, sashimi, California roll and spring roll followed by Miso soup (no spoon :)). Then out came Eddie, as he introduced himself, who proceeded to deliver on all of the aforementioned with regular quips and some all action food and bowl tossing. In the midst of which he managed to cook and serve tiger prawns, scallops, teriyaki chicken, lamb rack, Kobe style steak and finally vegetables and fried rice. Once complete Eddie retired leaving the table to finish off the remaining sake and coffee.

The food was quite good, Eddie entertaining. All in all a good evening out.

Moshi Moshi

Located here Moshi Moshi is a Japanese restaurant with a twist. Unlike the traditional Japanese offerings Moshi Moshi is presented in an informal cafe style setting. The menu is also a little different too, while not ignoring the expected favourites the diner is presented with the option of "Japas" - Japanese tapas. A very clever and tasty idea offering sushi rolls, vegetable and seafood tempura as well as other tasty morsels served between five and seven PM at one dollar a piece.

While the main menu specialises in seafood there are also plenty of options for the non-seafood lover. No such need here. The sushi and sashimi was great - fresh and served elegantly and non-fussed, as you'd expect from a good Japanese restaurant. Good miso soup (served with a spoon this time) and tasty wagyu beef roll, tender and juicy.

A new experience was Shochu, a Japanese spirit that can be served in many ways from neat or on the rocks to mixed in all manner of cocktails. On the rocks on this occasion it was easy to pick out that Shochu is distilled from barley with that unmistakable almost slightly single-malt whiskey taste. A little more research on this particular beverage may well be required! :)

Good food and great service at a reasonable price make Moshi Moshi worth a visit.