Bambi’s ‘Omakase’ home adventure (Sabong News)
Author
Philip Cu Unjieng
Date
APRIL 09 2022
In major cities all over the world, most of the high-end Japanese restaurants will offer an Omakase tasting menu, their form of riding the degustation craze that’s become a way of carving a name for the resident chef and the eating establishment. Ranging from eight to twelve courses, the Omakase becomes a showcase of the freshest ingredients, and the fertile imagination of the chef when it comes to food preparation and presentation.
So take a moment to imagine what it would be like if you could invite your friends and family to your home and serve them a high quality Omakase meal! This isn’t just catering a dinner of Japanese cuisine, or relying on the traditional go-to’s of sushi, tempura, and steak. We’re talking about a carefully thought-out sequence and array of dishes that exemplify the best that Japanese gastronomy can offer. Well, Bambi Reyes-Javelosa is offering that very experience to those ready to dream of the ultimate. At a preview of her Bambi’s Gourmet Kitchen Private Dining, we were treated to her Omakase offering, and it was wonderful!
The first course was a bowl of dashi Jelly, with garlic chips, chives, and Ikura. It was like an explosion of gelatin-like substances, but with contrasting flavors as the driving force. I loved consuming with the leaves wrapped around the hamachi with Kizami wasabi that I popped it into my mouth. Again, there was a bursting of flavors and textures.
Next up was the toro with yuzu kusho. Smartly, this was kept very simple, as what you’re after here is savoring the fatty quality of the tuna belly. The tako carpaccio that followed was octopus thinly sliced so that it became a delicately-flavored version of carpaccio.
The trevally konbijime with pickled pineapple and cucumber was one of my personal favorites. Trevally is the fancy name for our talakitok, and I loved how the pickled pineapple and cucumber worked with the raw fish, like a light vinaigrette. The seabass with mushroom broth was the equivalent of our soup dish, and the generous slice of seabass made this a filling “light” soup.
Salmon aburi with nikiri, torched to perfection, and the foie gras with miso were coming at us in a dizzying pace. And if ever you’ve done gegustation thinking you’re fine with the variety of dishes, but are left still hungry when all is said and done, these two, after the soup, were enough to make me think I’d raise my hands in surrender. The foie gras alone was the rich slab, and not your puny slice.
So I was happy that up next was a palate cleanser, Bambi’s magic citrus potion, her satsuma yuzu granita. It was refreshing and a cold delight! This was followed by the kale salad mixed with yuzu pomelo dressing, a dressing that didn’t overpower or disguise the kale.
The last two main dishes were your meat lovers’ fantasy. The Iberico bulota with ginger tozasu, and then the grilled wagyu tenderloin with crispy burdok gobo. The bulota means it’s the finest grade of Iberico pork, while the tozasu refers to the quality fermented vinegar. The wagyu tenderloin I don’t think I need to explain, but the burdok gobo is taproot, but made crispy and acting like thinly sliced long chips to accompany the tenderloin.
To close out the meal (like we needed more food), there was a matcha leche flan, with glutinous pearls and red beans. And this had a very neutral, semi-sweet element to it that I liked; although arguably, most Filipinos’ palate would be seeking something much sweeter at this point.
As a leche flan, one could even make the argument that it’s not, strictly speaking, a genuine Japanese dish. But I would say that misses the point completely. This is about honoring Japanese flavors and dishes, about pushing high quality and premium ingredients—and about making the Omakase experience one that you can recreate in your own home or at the Makati townhouse that Bambi can offer interested parties.
Head to her Instagram page, Bambi’s Gourmet Kitchen, bambi_linkedge, and you’ll understand why Bambi is one of the best kept secrets of Metro Manila’s discriminating dining crowd. It’s Japanese gourmet dining that’s just a phone call or text message away, and you’re assured that the dinner she’ll rustle up for you will make it look like you’ve flown in the food from one of the top Japanese restaurants in the world. Even her simple ebi tempura is so addictive.
