The Gatsby Lounge

The Gatsby Lounge

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Posted 2021-06-18 by Chris Nugenfollow
Who would have thought that Japanese food would be served at a place called ? With that name, you'd think they would serve American cuisine, or perhaps German. But no, for a limited time and only open on Friday and Saturday nights, the chef has conjured up a 6 course Japanese degustation to delight your senses for a very affordable price of $65 per person.

Upon arriving, the entrance leads you downstairs where you're greeted with separate 1920s style lounges giving you privacy. The ambience is modernized with coloured lights and upbeat music.



Before we even started the degustation, we could not say no to oysters special. Also for a limited time only on Fridays between 4-6pm, natural oysters are only $1 each with a purchased drink. For an added extra $1, you can add either a Japanese, bacon based Gatsby special, or Thai nam jim dressing. They're very lenient on happy hour and are currently considering extending this offer to Saturdays as well. You can follow them on Facebook or Instagram.

The oysters were large and fresh. I love them the best natural, but we also tried the Japanese dressing which was nice but had a bit too much herb garnish, leaving a strong aftertaste.



The first course was kingfish sashimi with citrus ponzu, finger lime and fresh herbs. I've had kingfish sashimi plenty of times and have never been 100% happy as the kingfish has always been overpowered. However, The Gatsby's kingfish is perfect. The sauce was flavoursome but not overwhelming and allowed the kingfish to shine through.



The second course was seared scallop with smoked creamed corn. I was a little skeptical as I'm not a big fan of creamed corn but this was perfect. The scallops were soft and juicy. The sweetness of the corn and the saltiness of the salmon roe complemented each other very well.



The third course was Wagyu beef tataki with ginger, koji and soy dressing. I loved the combination of ginger, herbs and toasted rice but there was too much of it and drowned the beef.



The fourth course was one of my favourites of the night, agedashi tofu with tsuyu sauce. I think tofu is such an underrated dish. When cooked properly like The Gatsby, it takes you on an experience of crispy, soft and silky journey, fully soaked in flavours of the sauce and heightened with bonito flakes.



By now we were getting rather full and perhaps regretted ordering the oysters (or perhaps not). The fifth course was wafu mushroom with tagliatelle in a light cream sauce and seaweed. The handmade tagliatelle was perfectly rolled but slightly overcooked. The dish was still excellent with the balanced umami from the mushroom and seaweed.



The mushroom pasta were in big portions so we were overfull by then. So we asked to have the sixth course as takeaway, which was a good choice as I could really enjoy it the next day. The grilled spicy chicken was soft and wonderfully marinated. The smokiness of the roasted carrots balanced the sweetness of the potato puree very well.



Despite being full, there's always room for desserts. The soft and smooth pannacotta was paired with coffee gel and strawberries. It was the perfect end to the night.



I want to come back again very soon to take up this special again. But I'll need to find some stronger diners who can eat their portion of the degustation. Eating more than my share, plus oysters were too much but the greed in me wants to eat them all!

#food_wine
#dinner
#degustation
#asian_restaurants
#adelaide_city
#japanese_restaurants
#restaurants
%wnadelaide
171016 - 2023-06-15 08:05:01

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