Date of visit: 22nd August 2010
Zuma @ Landmark
spinach in sesame sauce (chilled)
baby clams in miso soup
veggie soup - think it was ozoni soup minus the mochi (less filling + more suitable as appetizer); kombu salad; deep fried sliced tofu; seared tuna.
second plate with meat patty skewers, mushroom skewers, assorted sushi, sashimi
chilled soba in broth with onsen (hot spring) egg, bonito, seaweed
plate three with chicken and leek skewers, chicken wings, smoked salmon, rice skewers
hand-made tofu with scallions, miso paste, ginger and sesame seeds
Zuma had an impressive spread when we walked in at 1.30. Two long tables, one filled with sushi and sashimi selections, the other with assorted Japanese 'starters'.
To begin with, the chilled spinach in sesame sauce was not bad. The sesame dressing seemed to be made from purely ground white sesame seeds, rather than mixed with other seasoning which is what you often find at Japanese restaurants. This results in a white sesame dressing which is quite strong, and a little goes a long way.
Miso soup with baby clams was one of two soups available. The clams in this were well-cleaned and not fishy at all. The broth I think had a little sake, but mostly a miso broth which wasn't salty....yumm!
Plate one with the Japanese vegetable soup was, I believe an Ozoni soup, which normally has mochi as it is served as a main during the Japanese New Year. In Zuma's version was some radish, carrots and bak choy to give the dashi and soy broth a lovely sweet taste. It was light and tasty and I loved it.
There were also platters of different salads. One which I tried was a kombu (seaweed) salad which was nothing special in my opinion. Also on plate one was some seared tuna (pretty good), crispy tofu (okay) and grilled zucchini skewer (tasty).
After this I went to over to the other table and picked out my favourite sashimi and sushi. The hotate, ama ebi (quite large) and hamachi were really sweet and fresh. The sushi rolls are small, enabling one to try several without getting too full and the ones I picked were good, my favourite being the cooked salmon with flavoured rice and caviar - this piece is a must-try!
The skewers which I tried included the grilled mushroom, scallop, chicken and leek, mini minced meat patty, flavoured rice and zucchini (mentioned above). Whilst the scallop was way overcooked and chewy to the point of being inedible, the others were in good size, tasty and satisfying.
Also available on the buffet table was soba noodles with onsen (hot spring) egg, which I only managed to try the egg - nicely done with soft whites and a slightly runny molten orange yolk center.
To end my 'starter' course I had some hand-made tofu with assorted condiments which just come out. I must say the first bucket of tofu available when we arrived looked grainy, runny and just...unappetizing. The new bucket looked fairly neat so I scooped a portion and topped it with some miso sauce, grated ginger and scallions and sesame seeds for flavour. The tofu was properly set this time, and it was wonderfully creamy. On its own it tasted very natural and a little of the miso sauce for seasoning made the soya curd taste all the better. Definitely recommend this ONLY if it looks 'set'!
Sirloin with sauteed mushrooms, wafu sauce and garlic chips.
'Salmon marinated in a teriyaki-type sauce, pickled cucumber
For main course, each diner may select one of several dishes. The menu included items like tempura, grilled mackerel, mentaiko udon, miso chicken fillet etc. We only selected two different items (we probably should have tried the other items rather than doing repeats!), the sirloin and the salmon.
The sirloin was quite disappointing as it was chewy and tough despite being cooked to medium or medium-well. The taste was good, but a chewy steak just doesn't cut it! Portion was generous though.
The salmon on the other hand, was impressive. It was a fairly generous portion of fillet again, and the light salty-sweet marinade made for a tasty fish. The salmon was perfectly cooked and not at all dry like many salmon fillets can turn out. The cucumber on the side also provided for a nice refreshing crunch to balance the salmon.... yummm!
For brunch alcohol is free-flow, but juices are $70 each. The fresh grapefruit juice was quite nice, but can hardly justify its price.
To end our meal we were served a dessert platter. Each table, we noticed, have the same four pots of matcha mousse with banana, mint and chocolate mousse cake, raspberry sponge cake and a blueberry and mascarpone fool. On top of the huge ice cube in the centre was FIVE scoops of ice cream. I would've wanted to have 5 different flavours of ice cream / sorbet, but I'm not complaining! Two were chocolate, two were green tea, and one maple-walnut.
The matcha mousse was good, but the banana topping sort of ruined it for me. It was a mis-match.... I think a chocolate-something would've paired better with the not-so-sweet matcha mousse.
The mint and chocolate mousse cake was alright, but since I'm not a fan of mousses I didn't love it.
The raspberry sponge cake was a nice light cake and wasn't too sweet.
The blueberry fool was good taste-wise but definitely too 'liquid', as if it had been assembled and served right away without being in the refrigerator to 'set'. At the bottom was a whipped cheese layer, and topped with blueberry sauce and fresh blueberries. Sweetness was right, but definitely not appealing once the spoons were put in...too watery!
The ice creams were fantastic - green tea could've been slightly stronger in taste, but good nonetheless. My favourite was the maple-walnut though.... I wonder if it was made in-house? As it resembled Movenpick's a lot!
Service in general was okay from the waiters, despite a few being clueless whom were obviously new. Because of these newer waiters, we were under the impression that the juices were free-flow like the champagne and sake with the brunch, and so when we were billed for the three glasses of juice we ordered we wanted to understand why. We spoke to the manager, and he said that it was not his fault because he instructed the waiters that juices are not together with the brunch deal.... he also dragged out all the waiters who supposedly served us, and asked us to identify who said that! My mother was shocked at his manners and definitely couldn't remember who said they were free-flow with the brunch but someone did and that's all that matters. The manager definitely ruined our celebration of a family birthday for us that day....
So although the food was generally great, the service just seemed....appalling for Zuma.
Food: ♥♥♥♥
Service: ♥
Price: $$$$$
5-6/F, The Landmark, 15 Queens Rd Central,
Hong Kong
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