Wineshark Mystery Restaurant - Niwa

This Japanese sushi restaurant is located on Caine Road, Central. With a small sign on the outside, and pushing open the wooden door, we came into a nice space, with a 6-seat sushi counter facing a miniature garden wall, with also real plants inside.

Apart from the counter, there is also a table for bigger groups as well as a private room. Chef Katsuji Shibayama, who came from Hokkaido, was serving on the night. There were two menus for dinner, and we had picked Niwa Dinner Omakase ($1,880). 

I had a bottle of 楯野川 純米大吟醸 三十三 ($1,880). With nice sweetness, this sake was made from the special rice 出羽燦燦, with 33% rice polishing to showcase the characters. A rich and powerful sake to go with food tonight.

The first course was starter featuring three delicacies, including Kurage 海蜇 with shiso flowers, Unagi Kabayaki 鰻の蒲焼 with pickled cucumber, and Asari あさり with Arima sansho 有馬山椒 and Shimeji mushroom. Nice and flavourful. 

The second course featured two sashimi, with Mirugai 海松貝 and Menuke 目抜. The geoduck had a crunchy texture, with nice umami flavours, and best to enjoy with a bit of salt and lime juice to season. The red rockfish was a prized catch not often seen, rich in taste and best to go with wasabi and shoyu.

The third course was Hokkaido Kegani 毛蟹. The chef had meticulously removed meat from the horsehair crab, so that we did not need to figure out how to eat them. Mixing with crab miso, vinegar jelly were also added to complement the flavours.

The fourth course was Chawanmushi with Tobiko 飛子 茶碗蒸. Flying fish roe were added to the silky soft steamed egg custard, creating a poppy texture, and further enhanced the umami taste of the egg custard. An interesting combination.

The fifth course featured Komochi Yari-Ika 子持槍烏賊. Only available in the current season, the spear squid was cooked in special sauce to prepare anago, with the inside bursting with the squid egg. Its chewy and elastic texture was unique and memorable.

The sixth course was Tempura Ankou 鮟鱇. The meat of the monkfish was deep-fried with a thin batter, together with Shungiku 春菊. Seasoned with a bit of rock salt, the delicate taste of both the monkfish and crown daisy was pleasant. 

The seventh course was Smoked Katsuo 鰹, which had been mixed with onion, menegi, and chrysanthemum. Paired with a ponzu sauce to give acidity, the skipjack tuna was flavourful and the smokiness and acidity was perfectly matched.

The eighth course was something I had for first time. Featuring Aburabouzu 油坊主, it had a texture like cod, with good fattiness. Serving together with eggplant and pickled lotus root, the skilfish was light in taste though.

Coming to the sushi section, the first piece was Tai 鯛 Sushi. The sea bream had a good bite, with a sweetness that was pleasant and delicious. 

The second piece was Buri 鰤 Sushi. The matured yellowtail was good in taste, with richer flavours. The yuzukosho brought a touch of spiciness to balance the taste.

The third piece was Shiro-Ebi 白海老 Sushi. The baby white shrimps had been marinated in kombu, infusing them with extra layer of umami. 

The fourth piece was Hamaguri 蛤 Sushi. The hard clam was meaty, cooked just perfectly without making the clam rubbery, with rich umami flavours.

The fifth piece was Kinki 喜知次 Sushi. After grilling briefly, the channel rockfish to vitalize the fish oil, it was wrapped inside a nori sheet to avoid the hands getting too greasy. A thoughtful arrangement from the chef.

The sixth piece was Sayori 針魚 Sushi. Seeing the silvery sheen of the skin already got my mouth watering, and the fresh halfbeak also delivered on the taste.

Coming to the seventh piece, it was Maguro 鮪 Sushi, with the tuna caught around Tsushima in Nagasaki. With a smooth texture, it had nice fattiness and was very flavourful. 

The eighth piece was Bafun-Uni 馬糞雲丹 Sushi. It was sweet in taste, without any weird note, testimony to the quality of the Hokkaido sea urchin.

The final one was Kamasu Bozushi 魳 棒寿司. The rod sushi featured Japanese barracuda, and after cutting a section, the chef put on a kombu on top before serving on nori sheet, with some sesames. A more traditional style which was appetizing.  

The Tamagoyaki 玉子焼 was fluffy, with the egg paste mixed with seafood so that there was nice shrimp and seafood flavours in the egg omelette. 

I also asked for an additional piece of Botan-Ebi 牡丹蝦 Sushi ($80). The spot prawn was a bit too cold, as it was taken from the fridge to make the sushi on my request, so it was not the best in serving temperature. 

The other additional one was Aji 鯵 Sushi ($60). The horse mackerel was in the right temperature to serve, but not too fatty. It seemed the best ingredients were used already in our menu.

The clear soup had turnip and some other vegetables, delicate but rich in flavours, warming to comfort our stomach after the meal.

Dessert was seasonal fruit, having a slice of melon and strawberry. The melon was juicy and sweet, while the strawberry was ripe and fragrant. Both were very good.

Service was nice, but there was very little interaction from the chef because of the language barrier. The bill on the night was $6,358. Considering the overall experience and food quality, I would rate this restaurant an Excellent 75 point. Worth returning.