After doing some research, I decided on two of the most
fancy dining establishments in Auckland based on cursory reviews (and the simple
fact that these restaurants had four “dollar signs” as opposed to two or three,
which suggested to me that perhaps expensive equaled qualitative). These
restaurants were MASU and Cocoro, the first of which is located near SkyCity Tower right next to The Grand Hotel on the fine dining row known as
Federal Street. Could it have been more obvious that this one might be
positively indulgent?
I was on a high, and I mean a high!—as the servers greeted me just as servers would greet you in
a posh place named MASU Japanese Robata Restaurant and Bar by Executive Chef
Nic Watt, which boasts a stellar list of awards and menus with heaps of extraordinary choices littered with
the likes of black cod and Japanese Black Wagyu Beef, ingredients exotically
named coriander (known merely as cilantro in California), silken tofu, and even
honey (which is quite a common ingredient in New Zealand).
Ever longing for the best view of the action, I sat at the
sushi bar and just enjoyed watching as chefs, male and female, lay yellow
takuan and spears of chives in rolls they have started preparing. One chef makes dual
use of white daikon radish—tightly rolling sheets of the daikon and standing
them up like stalks, ready to use them as the wrap they put around my Age Watari Gani, or Fried Soft-shell
Crab Roll, which they filled with chives, cucumbers and yuzu kosho mayonnaise;
or shredding the daikon into a garnish to be used for sashimi dishes, all of it
done with precision using one hell of a sharp knife.
The white daikon wrap around a Soft-shell Crab Roll is
reminiscent of Nobu’s style, but not even Nobu applies takuan, also known as
oshinko, inside his version of this roll. (Though I’ve never seen it used in a
soft-shell crab roll, the pickled yellow radish surprisingly enhances the
flavor of the crispy crustacean.)
I order more maki, for I am ravenous! And the Crispy Prawn
with avocado, sweet soy, and takuan for NZ $12.60 (Americans currently pay
about 75 cents to their dollar) sounds appealing. The Spicy Tuna Roll with
jalapeno mayonnaise, avocado and chives for NZ $16.90 also did
not disappoint.
Then from the Robata Grill, I chose the ultimate—the Alaskan
King Crab Leg with smoked wasabi lime butter for NZ $32. The gigantic crab leg
that was presented to me in a V-formation was split and piled to the hilt with chunks
of fleshy white and pink crab meat, topped with a burnt-orange creamy sauce
that wasn’t redolent of wasabi at all, but rather a tangy, aromatic mayonnaise,
with portions burnt to a crisp, the side of minty green salad lending an acrid
contrast to the heavy sweet crab. They divulge a secret—that the crab meat is
actually derived from various crab legs, then piled back into the shell in fluffy
formation—though that should’ve been obvious to me, given the easy manner in
which the meat lifted from the shell. There was no scraping, no digging, no
work, as is usually involved in hollowing out crab legs. This is because
sometimes one crab leg may be less meaty than another, the waiter explained, and
they do their best to create a sense of uniformity in all their servings.
Just like in Australia, for some reason yellowtail in New
Zealand is also often referred to as kingfish. Thinly sliced kingfish was
served in my final last dish here at MASU—Kingfish Sashimi Salad with Yuzu
Truffle Dressing, the fish so diaphanous that the pieces are translucent and rip
with a mere prod of my chopsticks. This dish came with a bed of refreshing greens
that tasted like they were straight out of a Vietnamese restaurant (not
surprising, considering Watt also opened Madame Hanoi Bar & Bistro in
Australia).
The service is impeccable; my water glass was always filled
to the brim from sleek decanters as I watched more chefs chop and prep and roll
the night away.
“Cheers,” they say in their Kiwi accents. It’s an
expression of thanks that I will keep hearing in this country for the next
two weeks. It’s also one of the things I don’t need to ask them to repeat just so I can understand what is being said.
MASU
90 Federal Street,
Auckland, New Zealand
+64 9 363 6278
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