Table: Kiriri Japanese Cuisine and Sushi Bar
Anata and I were around Richmond together for lunch, so we thought we'd hit up Kiriri. It always seemed like one of those places where the offerings were "limited" but the food was well done. Kiriri is located in the Blundell Plaza and there is parking available though I can see how it can be limited depending on the business and hours.
The tables are set with cards advertising the restaurant that hold the chopsticks for you. It's a neat but simple design.
The inside has quite a bit of day light coming in, which did affect the photo quality. It's a small but cosy place that's simply done.
I thought their soy sauce bowl had a very elegant swirl design. The little dish was quite heavy, attesting to the quality of the material it was made of.
On order: Anata ordered their scallop roll, teriyaki chicken don, and unagi roll. I went for their kaiseki special ($23).
The scallop roll arrived and I was a little surprised to see the soy bean sheet wrap. The wrap added colour to the plate, and the roll was very fresh and tasty. I could really taste the sweetness of the scallop, and it was definitely the highlight :).
The unagi rolls were very average looking, but the taste was wonderfully balanced and made richer with the sweet sauce. I thought it was really well done.
Anata's teriyaki don came with nice and juicy chicken overtop the rice, side dish of beansprouts, pickled veggies, miso soup, and a small dish of chili pepper. Everything in sets arrived on a tray with the lids on which made for nice presentation.
Lids on, lids off :)
My Kaiseki arrived with a bulbous stacked tower, and the other dishes in small cups and bowls. The tower is comprised of three levels all stacked on each other, and it was fun to peek and uncover the next layer :)
The top level had tamagoyaki that was stuffed with some ..chicken? I think, which was an interesting play on oyako. It was soft, sweet, and tender egg surrounding the denser chicken in the middle.
Atop that was a slice of what I termed a marriage between a kamaboko and unagi, with the eel sitting atop and melded to the fishcake layer underneath. I thought it was a nice but simple show of technique, and it was a very tasty tidbit. Sweet from the unagi with a little of the rubbery skin and the usual fishcake textures.
In the dual dish, the left side had some kind of sweet sauce with what I think was cooked tuna. It was very tasty, and in small but delicious morsels. The right side had what I believe to be monkfish liver and it had a slightly tart and spicy sauce that cut through the richness but also elevated the flavour of the liver. I really enjoyed this top layer :)
Second layer was a simple sashimi offering, with hamachi, tuna, and salmon. The fish was fresh, and pieces kind of fat and stubby.
The last layer was a large "sushi" piece with salmon and masago on top, with small pieces of mango and avocado overtop a bed of rice. I really liked how the flavours melded together in this, and the sweet and lightness of everything (the mango balanced out the richness of the avocado, and the pieces were cut very small) was a very nice finisher for the tower.
On the rest of the tray, I had a small offering of dumplings with a minced meat sauce. It kind of tasted like a boiled takoyaki, but with a different stuffing. It was very mushy and kind of melted in my mouth. The flavour was very yummy :)
The fried fish option was a grilled piece of black cod. The flavour was rich and smoky from the grill, and I think the cod was cooked perfectly while highlighting some wonderful flavours. The natural oils had some richness but the lemon and the grated turnip helped cut through that and lighten it. Admittedly it was a very small piece (you can see that little stub of lemon wedge as a reference) but it was really yummy and well done.
There was also beansprout salad and a seaweed sunomono that had a few pieces of octopus and surprisingly, a slice of orange. Well done, bright flavours, good balance.
The kaiseki came with a asari or clam soup. The soup was really delicious but also very salty at the same time. The clams were a little rubbery but I give points for no sand and the way the soup was so clear.
My dessert from the kaiseki was the green tea creme brulee. It came topped with a myriad of fruits and looked very attractive. Anata commented that it seemed more like a flan, maybe because of the way the dish was so shallow and it was very light rather than rich and sweet the way most creme brulees are.
I liked how the cantaloupe was cut, and it made for very easy eating :)
The brulee was delicious. I'm not a fan of regular creme brulee, but I was interested in eating it when I saw it on the menu, and I'm glad that it turned out so yummy. Light, creamy, and well balanced. The brulee bit was torched with a very thin layer, but adding superb flavour. I really liked the dish too, with the heart and flower design. The only thing was that it was such a small serving :( but then again, maybe it was a smaller portion made for the kaiseki, and it did come with such a nice variety of fruits on top. I think if they just made like a really big serving I'd go there and eat only that, it was soooo yummy!
Anata ordered the green tea cream anmitsu. It came with quite a few fruits and jellies on the bottom. The red bean was sweet and taste was strong, but mitigated and balanced by the ice cream. The fruits seemed to be mostly pear and persimmon from the bites that I had, and this dessert was also well balanced and very tasty.
Overall, the food here at Kiriri is well done and delicious. The price is on the high side, but I think that at this restaurant you are getting what you are paying for. I also have to add on that the service we got at lunch time was really good - the waitresses very friendly, and really quick and attentive to topping up tea, removing dishes, coming by to check on things, etc.
The tables are set with cards advertising the restaurant that hold the chopsticks for you. It's a neat but simple design.
The inside has quite a bit of day light coming in, which did affect the photo quality. It's a small but cosy place that's simply done.
I thought their soy sauce bowl had a very elegant swirl design. The little dish was quite heavy, attesting to the quality of the material it was made of.
On order: Anata ordered their scallop roll, teriyaki chicken don, and unagi roll. I went for their kaiseki special ($23).
The scallop roll arrived and I was a little surprised to see the soy bean sheet wrap. The wrap added colour to the plate, and the roll was very fresh and tasty. I could really taste the sweetness of the scallop, and it was definitely the highlight :).
The unagi rolls were very average looking, but the taste was wonderfully balanced and made richer with the sweet sauce. I thought it was really well done.
Anata's teriyaki don came with nice and juicy chicken overtop the rice, side dish of beansprouts, pickled veggies, miso soup, and a small dish of chili pepper. Everything in sets arrived on a tray with the lids on which made for nice presentation.
Lids on, lids off :)
My Kaiseki arrived with a bulbous stacked tower, and the other dishes in small cups and bowls. The tower is comprised of three levels all stacked on each other, and it was fun to peek and uncover the next layer :)
The top level had tamagoyaki that was stuffed with some ..chicken? I think, which was an interesting play on oyako. It was soft, sweet, and tender egg surrounding the denser chicken in the middle.
Atop that was a slice of what I termed a marriage between a kamaboko and unagi, with the eel sitting atop and melded to the fishcake layer underneath. I thought it was a nice but simple show of technique, and it was a very tasty tidbit. Sweet from the unagi with a little of the rubbery skin and the usual fishcake textures.
In the dual dish, the left side had some kind of sweet sauce with what I think was cooked tuna. It was very tasty, and in small but delicious morsels. The right side had what I believe to be monkfish liver and it had a slightly tart and spicy sauce that cut through the richness but also elevated the flavour of the liver. I really enjoyed this top layer :)
Second layer was a simple sashimi offering, with hamachi, tuna, and salmon. The fish was fresh, and pieces kind of fat and stubby.
The last layer was a large "sushi" piece with salmon and masago on top, with small pieces of mango and avocado overtop a bed of rice. I really liked how the flavours melded together in this, and the sweet and lightness of everything (the mango balanced out the richness of the avocado, and the pieces were cut very small) was a very nice finisher for the tower.
On the rest of the tray, I had a small offering of dumplings with a minced meat sauce. It kind of tasted like a boiled takoyaki, but with a different stuffing. It was very mushy and kind of melted in my mouth. The flavour was very yummy :)
The fried fish option was a grilled piece of black cod. The flavour was rich and smoky from the grill, and I think the cod was cooked perfectly while highlighting some wonderful flavours. The natural oils had some richness but the lemon and the grated turnip helped cut through that and lighten it. Admittedly it was a very small piece (you can see that little stub of lemon wedge as a reference) but it was really yummy and well done.
There was also beansprout salad and a seaweed sunomono that had a few pieces of octopus and surprisingly, a slice of orange. Well done, bright flavours, good balance.
The kaiseki came with a asari or clam soup. The soup was really delicious but also very salty at the same time. The clams were a little rubbery but I give points for no sand and the way the soup was so clear.
My dessert from the kaiseki was the green tea creme brulee. It came topped with a myriad of fruits and looked very attractive. Anata commented that it seemed more like a flan, maybe because of the way the dish was so shallow and it was very light rather than rich and sweet the way most creme brulees are.
I liked how the cantaloupe was cut, and it made for very easy eating :)
The brulee was delicious. I'm not a fan of regular creme brulee, but I was interested in eating it when I saw it on the menu, and I'm glad that it turned out so yummy. Light, creamy, and well balanced. The brulee bit was torched with a very thin layer, but adding superb flavour. I really liked the dish too, with the heart and flower design. The only thing was that it was such a small serving :( but then again, maybe it was a smaller portion made for the kaiseki, and it did come with such a nice variety of fruits on top. I think if they just made like a really big serving I'd go there and eat only that, it was soooo yummy!
Anata ordered the green tea cream anmitsu. It came with quite a few fruits and jellies on the bottom. The red bean was sweet and taste was strong, but mitigated and balanced by the ice cream. The fruits seemed to be mostly pear and persimmon from the bites that I had, and this dessert was also well balanced and very tasty.
Overall, the food here at Kiriri is well done and delicious. The price is on the high side, but I think that at this restaurant you are getting what you are paying for. I also have to add on that the service we got at lunch time was really good - the waitresses very friendly, and really quick and attentive to topping up tea, removing dishes, coming by to check on things, etc.