We spent almost 20 minutes to find a parking spot in Crows Nest. Friday night during this time is when everyone is going out to dine, something that I didn't think at all when I spent too long gluing the fake eyelashes on, urgh! Anyway luckily I saw a car was leaving and I just commanding, while pointing at the spot, TWB, "There!".
When we entered the door of WAQU, the hustle bustle from outside has just transformed to this intimate and elegant atmosphere restaurant. We directly greeted and walked to our table and being given the menu and drink list. Yay Day! $6 cocktail and mocktail! Anyway, Waqu only offers courses menu, no a la carte in this restaurant. Tonight we chose the $68 6 course over $48 3 course.
Umeshi Mojito Cocktail
Peach Calpis Mocktail
Peach Calpis Mocktail
Who would have guessed it right, was the calpis belonged to me and mojito belonged to TWB or the other way around? Nope, it's the other way around. hihi.. That cute TWB is so weak with something peachy and mangoey. Both are very nice, by the way. Peach calpis got the peach puree, gave it nice texture when you sipped. The mojito is nice with the kick of umeshi sake.
amouse bouche
We got this as a complimentary, yay day! I actually forgot what amouse bouche is this. We put it in our mouth and it was yum. The bottom part is a bed of pastry and at the top is some seafood blend mousse. A great dish to start the night.
japanese pumpkin soup with kaffir lime
The first course came in a tall martini glass. We didn't use the small spoon given, we drank it straight away instead cause that's what would you do when you handle something in a martini glass, don't you? *haha nah, we actually was a bit confuse to spoon or to drink, we looked around and no one were still on their first course* TWB loved his soup, I didn't. It's actually a very nice texture, very smooth and creamy, you absolutely can taste the kaffir lime. I don't know, it's just didn't do it for me, so I gave my half to TWB, that he happily drank up.
scallop, tofu ganmo, school prawn with scallop confit, cauliflower puree, braised daikon, karasumi, and truffle powder.
Such a lovely looking dish except for one thing, if you know which one I'm talking about. Scallop was melt in the mouth, school prawn was fried nicely. Give me a bowl of that school prawn, I'd be one happy gal. TWB isn't a shell-seafood eater. He ate half of his scallop and gave me the rest. Yay day for me! Haha..
chicken galantine stuffed with mochi rice okowa, miso essence, shimeji, soba seeds, rice and peanut tuilles
This was delicioso! bellisima! and all good word! I love chicken so much and this chicken is perfectly cooked. The mochi rice is divine, the waiter who put this on our table told us that the rice tastes the same as his grandmother would cook for the family on new year.
TWB's pan fried barramundi with caramelized onion puree, pinot noir syrup, roasted leek, grated macadamia
This one was TWB's. The roasted leek was a bit on the downside, it was tough. But lucky the hero of the dish is lovely.
pan fried snapper with cumin spiced carrot puree, prosciutto broth with parsley oil, piment d'espelette
This was mine and I loved it. The broth was a little salty on its own but when you combined all together, it was a bomb.
TWB's roasted cabernet marinated lamb backstrap with fig balsamic vinegar puree, fig fritter, spiced bread crumbles
I was sure TWB was so happy finally the red meat came out, despite we did wait for a while for them to come. TWB loved it he especially loved the fig fritter but he did find the fig balsamic vinegar puree was too sweet and strong and the spiced bread crumbles was tasteless. I tried and agreed the fig fritter was two thumbs up, it made you wish there was some left over in the kitchen and given away to you. Crunchy, light and sweet. I'm drooling right now.
tajima wagyu sirloin steak BMS 6+ grain fed with beef jus, grilled eggplant paste, seasonal vegetables ($8 surcharge)
As a birthday girl I wanted something more special of course, when I saw the fifth course was $8 surcharge, straight away I thought this must be gooodd. I have to have this one. Even though I usually choose duck over beef if I saw duck in the menu (the option were this, TWB's lamb and a roasted duck), especially the duck seemed a lot of fun (it was a roasted duck with dark cherry sauce, beetroot puree, coffee chocolate crumbles, creme fraiche), however the beef still won. So after a while, it finally came. yaaayyy!
Ok, I was so grateful, you know, I've been able to eat everyday.. moreover in this special moment I was able to eat in such a good place like this.. moreover eating that wagyu beef! Boy, do I had that gracing moment when I had the first bite! All I did was eating it in silent and trying to seal the taste of that wagyu.
chocolate terrine, hazelnut praline ice cream, banana crumble, sake-kasu sauce, mint olive oil
Mine came with a firework candle sticked on a piece of banana and a beautifully pipped happy birthday chocolate along with patrons' and waitresses' eyes and smiles. When I called to make a booking, me and the guy on the phone chatted a bit and I did mention that I'm celebrating my birthday that night. It wasn't TWB who requested it, means the restaurant noted it, which was very sweet of them. The terrine was perfect, so chocolatey and not too sweet as I sometimes found Terrine could be. And the hazelnut praline ice cream, is the best I've had so far.
All in all, I enjoyed my night at WAQU so much. It was actually mine and TWB's first night of having more than 3 course meal (6!) that I asked TWB to sneaked the menu into his suit. So yeah, it was memorable..
WAQU modern japanese dining
308 pacific highway, Crows Nest, NSW 2065
02 9906 7736
info@waqu.com.au
Opening hours:
Lunch: Thu-Sun from 12 pm
Dinner: Tue-Sun from 6pm
Close: Monday
http://www.waqu.com.au/index.html
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