It’s no secret that I admire Chefs who live and breathe their craft and who refuse to compromise on quality when it comes to sourcing ingredients. The challenge with such chefs is finding a clientele who can truly appreciate their vision. The truth is that great ingredients don’t come cheap, but not everyone is willing to pay for them. But for those who crave authenticity, Ureshii is one place you would want to visit.
We first met Chef Jung when he opened his first restaurant, Tanoshii. That restaurant did very well and he decided to open Ureshii last year as a more casual eatery. Its location at the Old Parliament House has been quite challenging, especially on weekday evenings.
They have started serving lunch sets at the restaurant where he is serving his version of Tonkatsu, Chicken Nanban, and Somen which is slowly gaining traction. He has just introduced a special tasting menu at $98++ per pax (min 2 pax). It is available for both lunch and dinner and is a great introduction to the restaurant.
Special Ureshii Set ($98++ per pax, min 2 pax)
We were very glad to see that the opening dish is the Onsen egg with truffle oil and Beluga Caviar which is one of those things that we always look forward to eating. The 65-degree egg with its liquid centre goes so well with the Beluga Caviar and truffle mayonnaise! 4.5/5
Another of our favorite dishes is his steamed Hokkaido Octopus with Korean Sesame Oil. It is a simple dish but the devil is in the details. He uses only octopus from Hokkaido and a top quality Korean sesame oil which fills the air with its nutty aroma when he drizzles it over the octopus! 4.25/5
Oh, and don’t you just love the beautiful dishes that he specially procures from Korea? The sheer quality of the furnishings and tableware really adds to the whole dining experience!
The Ponzu Mero is a slice of flaky and buttery Patagonian Toothfish (known locally as cod or snowfish). It is nicely seared on the outside and served with his housemade ponzu sauce. This is the first time I had cod fish with ponzu sauce and I was quite pleasantly surprised by how well with went with the fish! 4.25/5
For the noodle course, you have a choice of the Perilla Oil Cold Soba or Cold Bibim Somyeon. The Bibim Somyeon is sweet and sour and made using Chef Jung’s own gochujang sauce. Between the two, our preference is for the Korean buckwheat noodle with the fine perilla oil for the fragrance.
If you’re feeling a little indulgent, you can opt for their signature Uni Ikura for an extra $20++. 4.5/5
Our favorite was the Uni of course but both the soba and somyeon were very nice too.
Big Wagyu Sushi is a lightly seared slice of A5 wagyu beef served with a nugget of rice with some soy tare. No need for me to tell you that it is yummy! 4.25/5
For an extra $25++ per pax (min 2 pax), you can have an additional course of abalone risotto or porridge. Chef uses live Jeju island abalone which is lovely and tender. But the real star is the rice! He uses extra abalone guts to create a creamy sauce. What an unexpected delight! This is the first time we tasted abalone guts that we found addictive! 4.5/5
For dessert, we were presented a croissant with cream cheese and garlic butter. This is a twist of the very popular garlic bun and it worked really well. It isn’t quite fine dining standard dessert but it was satisfying nonetheless. It comes with a serving of ice cream too. 4.25/5
New Dishes
Ureshii Lunch Sets
Chef Jang started introducing lunch sets about a month or so ago and they are starting to gain traction with customers. The Yetnal Tonkatsu is an old fashion Korean styled pork chop where Pork Sirloin from Hokkaido is subjected to the tenderizing mallet and marinated for 2 days in milk. The pork is then deep-fried with fresh bread crumbs and drenched with Chef’s demi-glaze sauce. 4/5
The most popular set is the Osaka Chicken Nanban where boneless chicken thigh meat is marinated for 2 days in milk before deep frying. The dish that originated from Osaka-Miyazaki is served with a tartare sauce that has the right amount of tang to cut through the fried chicken. 4.25/5 It is not something I would order but Lisa likes it.
All lunch sets are served with rice, soup, a side dish, and barley tea.
Wagyu Sukiyaki
Following its popularity in Tanoshii, Chef Jung decided to offer Wagyu Sukiyaki and Shabu Shabu at Ureshii as well. Tanoshii fans who cannot get a reservation there can now consider coming to Ureshii instead!
For $108++/per pax (min 2 pax), you get 110-120g of well-marbled A4 Sirloin Wagyu beef along with the pleasure of seeing your beef cooked by your table. For a complete Japanese sukiyaki experience, you may wish to dip your beef into raw egg. The secret ingredient is Chef’s Jung’s sukiyaki sauce which is aged for months before it can be served! Finish the meal with some fresh udon cooked in the wagyu fat that’s been rendered in the sukiyaki pan. 4.25/5
Conclusion
The food at Ureshii is very good and Chef is very particular about sourcing good ingredients! If you appreciate good food, Ureshii is the place you would want to visit!
Disclosure: this was part of a media tasting. Opinions expressed are that of our own.
