WAQU

We haven't gone out for a proper 'date' in a long time,

so Jeff decided to take me out for dinner on the weekend. 

We had a few restaurants in mine,

but most of them were fully booked.

So we ended up at WAQU,

which was amazing! 

The food was good,

the service was great,

the restaurant was simple and nice,

and most importantly it was reasonably priced. 

I will definitely recommend people to visit this place,

go for the six course menu,

it is $68 per person. 

The drinks menu looked interesting, 

Jeff just couldn't look pass the Shochu Lychee, 

it was shochu, lychee liqueur, 

cranberry juice, lychee juice and fresh lemon juice.

He loved the cocktail, 

he finished it pretty quickly. 

The cocktail was $13.

I had the Umeshu Mojito,

it was umeshu, fresh lemon juice,

mint, mint granite and soda water.

It was refreshing and good,

I liked it. 

It was $14.

The first dish was a complementary started by the restaurant, 

I know this is terrible but I forgot what is the name of the dish.

It was something like biscuits with some cream cheese on top,

definitely a good mouth washer. 

Course One:

JAPANESE PUMPKIN SOUP

with kaffir lime.

The soup was sooooo rich and thick, 

I loved it,

I wished I could have one full bowl of soup. 

We ordered a sour dough roll which costed additional $2.80,

we had it with the soup,

it was delicious!

Course Two:

SCALLOP + MUSSEL

scallop confit, sake cooked mussel, 

dill cream sauce and ponzu daikon chive.

Jeff doesn't normally like raw food,

the scallop was served raw,

but he enjoyed the dish very much. 

The scallop was fresh and juicy,

I couldn't decide what is the best part of the dish,

the sauce was tasty and it made everything appetizing,

but I think the baby corn was the winner,

it smelt good and tasted even better.

Course Three:

CHICKEN GALANTINE

stuffied with mochi rice okowa, miso essence,

shimeji, soba seeds, rice and peanut tuiles.

It was very difficult to pick what our favourite dishes were,

but this is Jeff's favourite dish. 

He loved the mochi rice okowa,

it was well-prepared and well-seasoned,

definitely a winner. 

I liked it very much too,

but I didn't understand some of the elements of the dish,

I didn't feel the connection between the mushroom and the mochi rice.

Jeff's Course Four:

PAN FRIED BARRAMUNDI

served with caramelized onion puree, pinot noir syrup, 

roasted leek, grated macadamia. 

This was my favourite!

I got something different for my forth course, 

but I stole some of Jeff's food,

the barramundi was cooked perfectly!

The skin was crispy,

the fish was palatable.

Everything was just so good.

My Course Four:

HUON SALMON YU-AN YAKI

roasted yu-an marinated salmon, 

four kinds of nuts purée, yuzu foam. 

I must say the salmon was cooked perfectly,

it was soft and tender, 

and extremely juicy. 

But apart from the salmon, 

I didn't like everything else on the dish,

maybe because I don't get the connection between the different components. 

The yuzu foam was sour,

I didn't think it went well with the salmon,

the nut purée was too dry and maybe too little so I didn't taste much.

My Fifth Course:

ROASTED DUCK

served with dark cherry sauce, beetroot purée, 

coffee chocolate crumbles and creme fraiche. 

I love duck,

won't ever give up any opportunity to eat duck so I had the duck.

If you love beetroot, 

yoy will definitely enjoy the dish.

The 'beetroot chips' were delicious, 

I like the coffee chocolate crumbles (wish they gave me more),

but I thought the duck could be better,

it would be perfect if the duck skin was crispy. 

Jeff's Course Five:

CABERNET MARINATED LAMB

roasted lamb backstrap, fig balsamic vinegar purée,

fig fritter, spiced bread crumbles. 

I had a few bites of the lamb,

it was cooked really well.

I don't normally like lamb because the taste can be a little too overwhelming,

but this was amazing,

the fig was cooked well,

the sauce was well-seasoned.

Course Six (dessert):

CHOCOLATE TERRINE

hazelnut paraline ice cream, banana crumble, 

sake-katsu sauce and mint olive oil. 

The dessert was heavenly yummm,

my favourite component was the dark chocolate,

the sake-katsu sauce was really unique,

the hazelnut paraline ice cream was light and tasty. 

It was a great dessert. 

They had another menu,

I forgot what was it called,

after dinner menu or something like that. 

We just couldn't look pass the green tea and raspberry macaroons,

so each of us had one.

The macaroon was unexpectedly good.

The taste of the green tea was really strong,

the best part of the macaroon was the raspberry jam,

they used jam instead of cream which made it special. 

It was $2.50. 

I had a great time at the restaurant,

the food was good,

service was good,

most importantly everything was reasonably priced.

I will definitely come back again,

maybe when they change their menu. 

If you love Jap food,

want something fancy,

and don't mind paying a bit more,

I highly recommend this place!

How I would rate this place:

Ambiance: 7.5/10

Food: 9/10

Presentation of Food: 9/10

Price: 8.5/10

Service: 8.5/10 

WAQU

http://www.waqu.com.au/

308 Pacific HWY, Crows Nest NSW 2065

(02) 9906 7736

Opening Hours

Close on Monday

Tuesday & Wednesday 6 - 11pm

Thursday - Sunday 12 - 3pm, 6 - 11pm