Egawaan was one of the main reasons I started this blog and got back into writing, because it was simultaneously good whilst also being incredibly frustrating.
A few years ago before COVID was a thing, my wife and I went on a food tour in Japan. And by "food tour" I don't mean the kind where you book a tour through a travel agency, I'm talking about planning our own itinerary based off our restaurant bookings and travelling around the markets in search of the freshest sashimi and beef. I had a steak so nice in Takayama that it brought literal tears to my eyes.
So after months of trawling through the Egawaan instagram page, seeing them air freight their beef and other produce direct from Japan, we had high expectations. And as you should at $160 per person. The beef on the page always look incredibly mouth watering and whilst I knew it was extremely unlikely, there was a small part of me that was hoping that I would be shedding those tears like I did in Takayama.
So let's go through a quick recap of each course in order:
1. Beluga caviar: This was by far my favourite course of the night, which is kind of a bad thing because when you start as strong as this, your mind naturally wanders to expect the same level of greatness for everything else. I know there's no cooking involved for this, but it was a bloody good caviar.
Disclaimer: I am by no means a caviar expert, I just know that this was very enjoyable. Also I don't know how I feel about eating Russian caviar in the current climate, but I digress...
2. Hiroshima Oyster: When we were in the Osaka markets I had oysters the literal size of my hand (size guide: I can stretch about an octave + 2 on a piano), and whilst this wasn't anywhere near as big, it was also topped with the same caviar so an absolute winner here.
3. Sea Snail: You could give me sea snail and abalone in a blind tasting, I probably wouldn't be able to tell you which is which. But I like abalone so again, great.
4. Scampi & Otoro Sashimi: Here we have our first hint of frustration on the night. Have a look at the photo on my instagram, it's presented in a very appetising way and the Otoro (fatty tuna) was imported from Japan.
But here's the problem: The best part of Otoro sashimi in Japan is that even though it costs an arm and a leg, it separates itself from other sashimi cuts because it melts in your mouth like a good steak. Logistically they can't achieve that because it has to be frozen when it's sent to Perth, so it's like you KNOW how good it should be, but it's not giving you any of that and you're chewing through it like any other tuna sashimi.
This isn't the fault of the restaurant, it's just the reality of sending raw fish 8,000km away. But it doesn't make that part of your mind expecting it to taste a certain way any less frustrating.
5. Nigiris: Hokkaido Scallop, Local 3-day aged tuna, NZ salmon, diced Otoro.
When we went to a Michelin Star sushi restaurant in Japan, every piece of Nigiri was hand made by the chef and presented to you on a plate, and I remember every single piece had this explosion of wasabi turning my nose into fire because it wasn't the freshly grated one from the wasabi root (which takes around 15 minutes to manually grate just enough for two people, so it's rarely ever worth it). I was a bit confused then, and Egawaan gives you that same burning experience; albeit with slightly less wasabi.
Real wasabi from the root does not give you that horrible burning sensation even if you ate it all at once, and is actually quite a complimentary flavour that sits in the background of nigiri (which is supposed to showcase the fish). But basically anything with the artificial wasabi in it has pretty much been ruined for us now.
It would be unfair to Egawaan to expect them to hand grate wasabi considering the only place we've ever seen it was at a three Michelin star restaurant, but it did bring back memories of Japan which I suppose is a good thing? Even if it was through the authentic burning of the nose.
The produce itself was fine - I don't think Hokkaido Scallops are that rare in Perth, the NZ salmon was similar to the one we normally buy from Seafresh and the diced Otoro was a good use of the off cuts from earlier and a decent showcase of the chef's knife skills (I definitely would manage to chop off a finger or two if I attempted the same).
6. Black Cod: This was about the same size as the oyster. Nicely cooked though.
7. Chawanmushi: Steamed egg with kinko nuts and mushroom. Kind of bland if I was being honest.
8. Dobin Mushi: This was a pleasant surprise. We had something similar once at Vue De Monde (which is another bad story in itself...), but this really saved the cooked food portion of the night. There is a LOT that is going on under the lid, but it's basically a scolding hot clear fish broth designed to be consumed only in sips (one patron managed to drop the lid on the floor due to the heat). Very decent and if it wasn't for this, we both would be on the way to Maccas afterwards to satisfy our hunger.
9. Kagashima A5 Wagyu: This was supposed to be the star of the night; the instagram famous beef not available anywhere else in WA specifically flown over on a plane, probably on Business Class for our enjoyment. The lead up to this is similar to some steakhouses in Japan; they'll pass you a copy of the Cow's passport containing their name, measurements and a ratings certificate from the Japan Meat Grading Association (JMGA).
(Side note: How fun would it be if there was rampant corruption in the JMGA? I'm picturing someone grading a whole bunch of 5's as 9's and then taking a cut of the profits)
However, unlike Japan they will also bring the slab of meat out and pass it around so each person can get a photo of it like a child on their first birthday. Which I actually appreciated because I could get a good shot of the marbling!
But again herein lies the frustration. Was it anywhere near as good as the steak I had in Takayama? Absolutely not. But it should've come close. And it didn't.
Again, I don't think this is the restaurant's fault; there's only so much you can do logistically to send a piece of meat that far away. But meat like that needs to melt in your mouth, and this one did not.
I don't know if the meat was almost too rare? (I say this as someone who enjoys raw beef)
The outside was cooked great, it gave a bit of crisp and crunch to the beef. But the inside just felt chewy and fatty; certainly not melt in your mouth fantastic.
But as the star of the show, this meat really needed to shine. It didn't.
10. Chocolate Charcoal: Two pieces of chocolate coated in chocolate, pretty simple but with only one chef you can't expect them to know desert too. Desert for the sake of desert I guess.
So yeah, that was Egaawan. Would I recommend trying it at its existing $160 price point? If you haven't been to Japan before, yeah it's worth a go and it's a taste of the initimate Japanese dining experience.
But if you have? Probably not.
Would I go again? Unlikely.
That's not to say the $160 price point is unfair; you do get a lot of unique, imported produce that wouldn't be cheap to send over. But as long as you don't expect to get the same experience from the produce that you'll get in Japan, then you won't be disappointed.
Finally, the tea was free flow and it was very decent. Which is more than we can say for Vue De Monde.
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