For our family Christmas dinner we went to Senju, the Japanese Restaurant in Edsa Shang-rila. Of course this restaurant is high-end, as you’d expect everything there is high-end, so price wise it is more expensive than your usual Japanese restaurant. But since we are celebrating a special occasion, we are indulging ourselves a bit more. We ordered the Christmas Set Menu that they were offering until December 25.
So what was in store for us in their Christmas Menu? It was a 6 course meal. (Wala munang diet! haha)
For the Appetizer/ Sakizuke: “Taraba Kani Motoyaki which is Alaskan King Crab leg in miso gratin. It had a light sauce on top and on the side which was good for the steamed asparagus that went with the Alaskan King crabs. The crab was delicious although it was hard to get all the meat out of the shell, so I had to use my hands. I would give this dish a rating of 8 out of 10.
A Japanese set meal would not be complete without the delectable sashimi. The sashimi composed of Shake (Salmon), Maguro (Tuna), Kampachi ( Amberjack) and Ama Ebi (sweet shrimp). The sashimi were all excellent! My favorite were the Salmon and Sweet Shrimp sashimi. The salmon had that fresh and creamy taste to it and just the right amount of fat. The shrimp was indeed sweet and and had that smooth silky texture. Yummy! I would give this a rating of 10 out of 10.
Next is the Shirumono/ soup: “Kaisen Yose Nabe” which is Black cod fillet, USA U10 scallop, Hiroshima oyster and tiger prawn in clear broth bonito broth. This was served separately from the clear broth, they poured the broth after to preserve the temperature of the soup. I would rate this soup 8 out of 10.
After we had two kinds of Sushi:”Uni Chilli Miso and Hotate Mugi Miso” (Sea Urchin and Scallop with sweet miso paste sushi). The sweet miso paste was good. I preferred the scallop sushi version because I like my Uni without the rice. Just pure Uni goodness! I would rate this dish an 8.5 out of 10.
The most awaited is the Oshokuji or what we call the Main course: “Usuyaki to Ise Ebi Uni” which is Thinly sliced US prime rib eye beef roll with onion leeks and grilled lobster tail with sea urchin gratin. The main course went with a “Yakimeshi to Oshinko” which is Senju’s signature beef and seafood fried rice and pickles. The beef was not to thin and not too thick the onion leeks added more flavor to it especially when paired with the steak and pepper sauce that were also served on the side. The barely there Uni was part of the sauce for the lobster which was also good. I would rate the main course a rating of 9 out of 10.
Save the best for last, and the last dish is my favorite part out of every meal and that is the dessert! In Japanese they call it the Misugashi. They served us the “Mitsumame” which is traditional Japanese dessert made with green tea ice cream, rice cake balls, red bean paste and ginko nuts. The ball that you see there is the green tea ice cream wrapped in sesame seeds (which makes it look like a buchi) The green tea ice cream was good especially combined with the red bean paste and rice cake balls. But since I am a dessert person I have high expectations and so I would rate this an 8 out of 10 only.
Overall it was a great gourmet Japanese dining experience. Not to mention that Japanese cuisine is really one of my favorite. In fact all my plates were wiped clean! I am very much inclined to check their set menu again for special occasions or maybe try their ala carte. If you are a foodie then you should check them out. But what made this dinner really special is the company of my family. When you are in good company then the food tastes much better, don’t you agree? Here’s our family photo wishing you all a “Very Merry CHRISTmas!”
Ttyl,
Isis