Inagiku @ Marriot Hotel, Shanghai Restaurant Week 2013

Sep 07, 2013

Inagiku was our second destination for Shanghai Restaurant Week 2013.

This is a posh japanese fine dining restaurant located at the Marriot hotel at Xizang Zhong Lu. We opted for the ¥299 per head dinner option.

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As you can see from the menu above, this was a 8 course decadent affair. With uni (sea urchin), caviar, foie-gras, scallop included.

The place was quiet when we arrived at 6pm, and slowly filled up with diners throughout the hour. I appreciated the peacefulness and clean,modern decor.

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Caviar on uni, rested on potato puree. The caviar + uni combo exploded in the mouth with umami goodness while the custard-like potato puree kept things balanced, light and refreshing.

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A nice dashi broth, savoury but not too salty like most japanese broths. The piece of lime added a citrus hint, elevating the flavor just a notch. The shrimp cake was nice, but nothing to shout about.

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The sashimi was fresh. Lovely salmon and yellow tail, each with their signature characteristics showing. Did not enjoy the raw shrimp too much, but that was probably just personal preference.

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The simmered dish was actually dryer than I had anticipated. It was essentially a little dumpling made of lotus root and crab meat, with a piece of steamed eel placed over it. The dumpling tasted as it looked, packed  with lotus root flavors with a hint of the ocean from the morsels of crab flesh. When paired together with the eel, however, the flavors came together and completed each other.

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The servers at Inagiku stressed that tempura was one of their famous specialities, so I was eager to try the tempura dish. We had flatfish, avocado, squid-mentaiko roll and zuchinni, paired with 3 different types of salt: curry, yuzu and green tea (i think).

Let’s just get this out of the way, the tempura at Inagiku, did lived up to its reputation. Served piping hot, the batter is simply light and crispy, even after dipping in the tempura soy sauce. After finishing the plate, I didn’t feel sick of oily food, instead wanted more. Only thing I felt was they could have skipped the salt; Way too salty, and gimmicky. Tempura is fine on its own, at best, just a simple dip of the light dashi-soy sauce will do.

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The teppanyaki. Pure decadence. Scallops were nicely seared, but not as refined and delicate as the one from Pelham. Still, flavors were there, perfectly seasoned and well cooked. Foie-gras was decent, nice crisp crust on the outside, and rich indulgence within.

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The starch dish was fried rice and miso soup. It was nothing to shout about, partly because by this stage, we were already bursting at the seams.

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Dessert however was interesting. A home-made soft chocolate paired with vanilla ice cream. The chocolate was of the dark variety, probably about 85% purity so it was quite bitter. Consistency was very unique, it was like a cross between a mochi and chocolate. It went beautifully with the vanilla ice cream, and was the perfect simple conclusion to the meal.

In conclusion, I have to say that the food at Inagiku is fantastic. The attention to detail is meticulous, as you can see from the photos. Almost all of the serving dishes have a character of its own. I would recommend this restaurant for your anniversary, business dinners or simply when you need a nice, clean but sophisticated dinner.

Total bill for 2:

¥598  (without drinks) (Shanghai restaurant week promotion)

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