Leo Tanyag offers in edomae and sosaku sushi, which mix the normal with extra experimental or modern twists. ’12 Dishes. 12 Cycles. 12 Tales. 12 Moons. 12 Seats.’ is his restaurant’s tagline. The menu adjustments regularly and is impressed by the moon cycle; how that not solely impacts Tanyag but additionally the fish and accompanying components. ‘Omakase’ interprets from the Japanese as ‘I depart it as much as you.’ The diner has to decide on their drink, however other than that, can chill and luxuriate in having to make no additional selections. Count on theatrics. Count on tales. Count on thrills. Count on the surprising. Count on the very best.
Set down the hall from the Liverpool Road, Los Mochis, Luna presents an instantly calmer, extra refined ambiance than the cocktail-fuelled, DJ-led one which conjures up the favored Mexican Japanese. Drapes cowl the sq. field’s avenue home windows so {that a} dusky moodiness is achieved by pin-prick spotlights and backlit, moon-inspired artwork from Oms Rocha.
Card names information diners to their seats and a gong’s light shimmer marks the ceremony’s starting. Subsequent to the cardboard title is a bowl of ginger and cucumber to cleanse palates at will. The staff, consisting of Tanyag, three assistants and a sommelier, introduces itself. Tanyag, pleased, , and pleasant, asks a number of questions of his company who sit on tall chairs round three sides of the bar. Every providing is constructed with a respect for nature and our explicit moon cycle is impressed by creativity. An assistant reveals off the fish for tonight’s feast, a sort of nonetheless life bento field, and our sommelier presents up enthusiastic and vivacious descriptions of every drink’s pairing.
Two slithers of Amberjack marinate in an orange ponzu sauce. The ponzu is barely acidic, incorporates rice vinegar and fermented wasabi made on a full moon. It’s a refreshing, zingy, clear begin and is adopted by considered one of my favourites.
Served in a jet black granite sci-fi bowl with leaking dry ice, it might have been a child alien we have been being served, an alternate Gizmo. The ball is chilly to the contact. Take off its high, and the dry ice dissipates to disclose a tray of Italian caviar set on a bronze lattice. Below the caviar, Bluefin tuna tartar lurks and underneath that, three yr previous candy wasabi. Shallots and hints of charcoal add subtlety to this mouth-watering combo which melts and melts within the mouth. Portion seems small however takes a satisfying period of time to devour and might be dipped into by rice crackers.
A choice of nigiri thrills subsequent. If Tanyag doesn’t totally shock by suggesting we eat with our fingers, he does by instructing us to eat the nigiri the wrong way up. Everybody seems puzzled. He additional explains that the rice incorporates vinegar and distorts the purity of the fish’s protein. So, for the fullest flavour, eat the nigiri the wrong way up! In apply, this makes full sense, although the rice grains can begin sticking to fingers. A tender textured King Prawn with yuzu leads blow torched Sea Trout stomach from Cornwall. The latter is fatty and smoky and luscious however be careful for the caviar, which makes consuming the wrong way up extra of a problem. Black bream from North France is seared with white scorching, 370 Celsius binchotan charcoal, which provides not solely a charred blackness to the creamy colored meat however a gritty smokiness. The Omakase out of the blue smells of Mediterranean seashores and vacation BBQs and the smoke dramatises the house, creates shafts of sunshine from the ceiling. A cucumber and avocado wrap comes as a refreshing and lighter choice. The cucumber is startlingly tender and candy and coriander provides it a Mexican really feel.
Extra textured meals is on its manner. A wholesome slice of truffle decorates Yellowtail dipped in sesame aioli as if it was a sloped, avant-garde hat piece. All of it sits on a bit of rice – crispy on the skin, heat on the within. It’s a heady combine however the candy potato exhausting taco shell filled with caviar and Oaxacan mescal worm powder is headier and crazier.
Tanyag particularly enjoys telling us to be careful for the cheddar cheese after flavour. Huh? One thing to do with the caviar’s umami mixing with the sweeter, lingering potato. Nothing to do with any cheese our staff sneaked on the taco when no-one was watching. The presentation bursts with viscosity and saltiness and, then, certainly sufficient, cheddar cheese. It’s one other favorite dish. We’re introduced with seared scallop from Hokkaido in a dehydrated miso and fig paste after which tremendous skinny fatty tuna impressed by the identical course of used to obtain jamón.
The drinks pairings are equally unique and vary from wine to sake to non-alcoholic pairings. Our sommelier has a deep darkish voice as florid and charismatic as her detailed descriptions. All of the sake originates from Japan however with the wine, solely a chardonnay, Chateau Mercian ’Rivalis’ Left Financial institution does – on this case from Hokushin. There’s an Assyrtiko from Greece, a Garganega from Italy and a Pinot Noir from France. Tanyag explains we must always chew then sip, chew, then sip for optimum drink to sushi complementing.
Simply when it appeared the night couldn’t get any extra dynamic, Tanyag throws us a curveball. He tells a narrative of when he was a younger boy and the way his mom inspired him to do properly in school. If he handed all his checks, she’d give him his favorite sandwich. If he failed, she wouldn’t. Fairly easy, actually and fortunate for us he was a diligent scholar. To have fun his youth and his mom, in the midst of our sushi tasting, Tanyag out of the blue prepares us a sandwich. However in fact, it’s no atypical sandwich, it’s a beef wagyu one with bread produced from tapioca starch, recent wasabi leaves as a substitute of lettuce leaves, a swipe of barbecued sake paste and a few Japanese mustard seeds. It’s tremendous juicy and tender and doubtless the very best wagyu I’ve ever had; Tanyag’s mum was clearly a really clever girl.
Extra wagyu, equally tender, however not as thick or bloody as that within the sandwich, is available in nigiri type for our penultimate dish. Curiously, the wagyu slices are cooked on a spherical slab of Himalayan rock salt in the identical style because the Swiss use a raclette or pierrade. The outcome mixes fatty with meaty, umami with salty. Ever the showman, for his remaining theatrical flourish, Tanyag shaves a block of ice. Nobody’s fairly positive what it’s however the robust blood orange takes no prisoners, leaves nobody in any doubt. A touch of camomile presents subtler flavouring and the expertise is much like consuming freshly fallen snow.
As we’re ending up and diners take selfies of Tanyag and his staff behind the counter, he lets slip about plans to open extra omakases in London, New York, Miami and Los Angeles. The Luxurious Editor needs him properly and cannot wait!
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