The Ultimate Teppanyaki experience @ Kobe Jones, King St Wharf

http://www.kobejonesteppanyaki.com.au/wharf-teppanyaki

For the lovely Thuy Lam's Birthday me and a few close friends surprised her with The Ultimate Teppanyaki experience at Kobe Jones (21 Lime Street (Cnr of Erskine & Lime), King Street Wharf), which is an 11 course meal! 

**NOTE: This was not a teppanyaki experience where they throw food at you**

The atmosphere and decor is classy and elegant, and the staff are very welcoming. When we arrived our table wasn't quite ready so we waited in the KJ lounge.Once we were seating our chef wasn't there, luckily we didn't have to wait long. But due to our hunger it felt like forever!!! The feast now begins!

The first 5 courses were delicious, each with its own unique balance of flavours. And of course, with the concept being teppanyaki, each was cooked in its own unique way with a flame every now and then. The flaming special was a cooked sushi roll, with what seemed to be a cheese sause on the top, not something you get are your local sushi restaurant. The scallops with the wasabi sauce were refreshing since the wasabi taste wasn't strong and the hot mushroom salad was one of the best salads I have ever taste. The chef gave us a choice to which marinade we wanted on the Balmain bug, and since we couldn't decide he made us both.

Flaming No 1 Special

Crab salad with avocado wrapped in Hiramasa kingfish and flamed on the teppan

with our secret sauce

Carpaccio scallop

Scallop sashimi, sizzled with heated extra virgin olive oil

and drizzled with wasabi pepper sauce

Hot mushroom salad

Sashimi

 Selection of salmon, kingfish and tuna

Balmain bug caught in Port Lincoln and cooked on the whole shell

with wine and garlic or seaweed butter

Garlic rice

Tasmanian wilderness beef (total 100 gm)

100% free range, pasture fed, hormone and GMO free, with

grilled asparagus, spinach and mushroom

Crunchy rice and cooked fat

Between the amuse-bouches and the main they served a vodka lemon sorbet. It had the taste of a nice summers day in the sun. If I were able to buy it by the tub, I would! The reason they served the vodka lemon sorbet between the meals was to cleanse the palate and it was definitely refreshing!

Vodka Lemon Sorbet

The mains were somewhat disappointing. The beef was a tad overcooked for my liking and the rice had an oily texture. The vegetables were great though, it had a seaweed sauce on it which is something you can't get in the stores. There was also a side of what seemed to be cooked fat and crunchy rice, however it tasted as if I was eating pure oil, not a pleasant taste to feel in your mouth. After the main we were supposed to receive a miso soup, but they missed/forgot it, so the 11 course meal ended up coming down to 10.

DESSERT TIME!!! We saw a few people eating the dessert earlier in the night and it looked great! And after the not so great main I was definitely looking forward to dessert, unfortunately the dessert had to many strong flavours for my taste. The glaze/sauce that was on the crepe was very overpowering and so the taste of the crepe actually disappeared. However, texture wise it was perfect, nice and soft and easy to eat. The green tea ice-cream on top was very creamy and fresh. I loved the ice cream that came with the crepe.

Crepe Suzette

Freshly made crepe flambé with Grand Marnier with ice cream

The whole entire meal was definitely an experience, a 3 hour experience to be exact. But something strange did happen. Upon leaving, the vibe of the restaurant completely changed. It became a karaoke type lounge. There was someone singing on the PA and when we walked past the KJ lounge paying for our meal, there seemed to be some drunk people asking us if we wanted any drinks. The vibe change was very strange and something that I didn't expect. Overall it was a great nice and a great experience. If I were to go again I would try the normal menu and not the teppanyaki option.

After the long meal, we went back to my house to surprise Thuy Lam with the Domo-kun cake! She walked in with her eyes covered, and once unveiled I could definitely tell that by her reaction she loved it and was wonderfully surprised. Even though through out the night we were saying that the cake was a self portrait of her. I told a few others to come by and join in a joyous occassion.

In the end it was a lovely night with some really great people. I hope everyone had as much of a good time as I did! and another HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THUY LAM!! xoxo

Good food, good times!