Sushi for birthday

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I try to spend my birthday with the parental units, and this year I'm flying in on the day to have dinner in Taipei.  Unfortunately the powers that be had other plans, and my short flight between Hong Kong to Taoyuan was first delayed by late aircraft arrival, then by thunderstorms at Hong Kong International Airport.  We landed 2½ hours later than scheduled - or half an hour prior the original time for our dinner reservation - only to be told that Taoyuan International Airport didn't have a gate for us.  When we finally disembarked, Hello Kitty got stuck in a huge line at immigration behind people who didn't know to line up for immigration counters.

Which was why I rolled my big ass suitcase through the doors at Ye Sushi (野壽司) an hour late.  The restaurant was nearly empty, and the parental units were already seated.  I apologized to the chef and the staff, and we started dinner in pretty quick fashion.  We chose the "full menu", starting with otsumami (おつまみ) and sashimi (刺身), and ending with nigiri sushi (握り寿司).

First we have a starter consisting of watershield (蓴菜), cherry tomatoes, and what looked like fish skin.  Good acidity here, and refreshingly cool.

Red seabream (真鯛)

Chicken grunt (伊佐木)

Cockle skirt (鳥貝ヒモ) - wrapped around a stick and lightly grilled.  

Cockle (鳥貝)

Oyster (牡蠣) - from Mie Prefecture (三重県).  With spicy grated radish (辛子おろし).

Horse mackerel roll (鯵巻き) - horse mackerel is wrapped in a layer of perilla leaves, then rolled up in thin ribbons of cucumber... with some sesame seeds.  Pretty nice.

Pike conger (鱧) - lightly grilled and served in a broth with sea grapes (海ぶどう).  Seasoned with some yuzukosho (柚子胡椒) on top, and the spicy kick was pretty nice.  Unfortunately the conger came with quite a few pieces of long bones which Sato-san didn't manage to cut.

Bonito (鰹) - very nicely aged until it's buttery soft.  First piece was served with ground ginger and diced spring onions.

Second piece of bonito came with diced raw onions as well as spring onions.

Next came a bowl with Japanese horsehair crab (毛蟹), purple sea urchin (紫雲丹), and salmon roe (イクラ).  It's too bad I found large pieces of crab shell.

North Pacific giant octopus (水蛸) - always love the texture... with so much bite.  Dipped into seaweed salt.

Grilled splendid alfonsino (金目鯛) - nice and juicy after yuanyaki (幽庵焼き), although I didn't detect any yuzu (柚子) flavor...

Then came the sushi portion of dinner. I think the rice was slightly on the firm side, and the vinegar wasn't particularly strong.

Rosy seabass (赤睦) - very soft and fatty, melted a little with torching.  A little smoky.

Sweetfish (鮎) - also very soft.

Marinated lean tuna (赤身漬け) - I don't remember being asked about dietary restrictions, so when this came I didn't say anything...

Grilled sweetfish skin (鮎皮) - this was first marinated in vinegar.

Sillago marinated in kombu (鱚昆布締め) - thick cut and slightly crunchy texture.  Surprising how much wasabi was used here.

Japanese green sea urchin (馬糞雲丹) - the shari (シャリ) was much warmer for this, and more densely packed.

Gizzard shad (小肌) - thicker cut than what I'm used to.

Fatty tuna belly (大トロ) - shimofuri (霜降り) part of the belly, and it was very, very, very soft... and melted with the temperature inside my mouth.

Conger eel (穴子)

Grilled egg (卵焼き) - this was interesting... we've got a quail egg encased inside.

I was very thankful that Sato-san made the rice balls smaller for the parental units, and as previously agreed mom could tell him to stop when she's had enough - and she wasn't charged full price for her meal. 

As we had arrived late, the wine I had brought for dinner was still in my suitcase... at the wrong temperature. So I chose not to bring it out and drink with the parental units. Instead, I chilled it when I got home and popped the cork later.

1970 Egon Müller Scharzhofberger Riesling Spätlese - a little hint of stink, mustiness.  Otherwise flinty, polyurethane, lemon citrus, white flowers.  Good maturity roundness with acidity on the palate.