Soseki Modern Omakase

 If you’re a fan of sushi, than Soseki needs to be on your bucket list. 

As a fan of food, I find myself looking for places that will allow me to experience the best flavors, dining experience is a plus but not a requirement. A second gen Filipina, I would say I have a modern mediocre pallet that appreciates authentic and fused flavors from international cuisines or American bistro. 

I found Taglish probably from my sister Sarah who seems to find places for me to eat before I do. Taglish is located inside the Lotte Market on the corner of John Young and 50. An Asian grocery store that has a few Asian eateries that serve up a variety of Asian culture favorites like pho, ramen, tteok-bokki, galbi, boba tea and a biased favorite, sisig and garlic rice. 

Having fallen in love with Taglish's sisig bowl, with it's perfectly made egg yoke, and pickled jalepeno that decorates the bowl over a bed of beautifully made garlic rice and sisig with a touch of calamansi zing - I started to follow Taglish on IG. Many of the local Filipino community come to support Taglish which has resulted in great success of their business that Chef Mike is opening a second, non-related restaurant called Soseki. Before I move to Soseki, let me just say that there are other Filipinos that might feel compelled to criticize Chef Mike for his inauthentic flavors stating that it "it doesn't taste like filipino food" or "its not traditional", and what I would say to this is, it doesn't have to be. What Chef Mike has done is he fused together his craft of food and flavors to cultivate a new flavor that is expressed in the restaurants name "Taglish" - Tagalog and English. It's meant to have the essence of our culture with the funkiness of America. Eating food for its flavor and being less judgmental about how authentic it is or is not is not how I roll. I like to eat delicious food. Period and End of Story..

So let's move on to Soseki. 

My sister made sure I saw the post on Soseki. God Love her for always keeping me in mind when she finds things for me to try. I pondered making reservations for weeks, not exactly sure if I wanted to spend the hefty $85 per person fee for a 10 course lunch tasting menu. I thought over all of the food experiences I've had the privilege of eating and mentally calculated the amount of money I spent or would've spent (if I were invited) and decided, $85 isn't horrible and if I love the food, then it would be worth it. The only thing is, I'm really horrible at socializing and a 10 course meal with 9 people I didn't know was making me nauseous. If I decided to go, I had to bring someone to be my buffer which meant I was about to pay double (without gratuities). I landed on Phyre who I knew could eat sushi like a champ and she's my daughter so, spending money on her to eat was within my parental duties and she's a pretty decent buffer. 

Soseki's restaurant doesn't open until February 2021 in Winter Park so it's currently hosting a pop up in various places, we chose the Edible Education Experience Garden, a charming home kitchen nestled on the borders of Winter Park and College Park right off of Princeton. The garden is perfect for the kitchen where fresh herbs, peppers, onions, etc can be picked to be used in the dishes served. 

The beautiful and expansive kitchen opens up to the garden. Whether you're preparing the food or partaking in the food, the views are beautiful. 

Let's get to the food. 

First Course

Soseki is meant to take the guess work out of choosing what to eat and allows the chef to choose for you which is where the name Omakase comes from that translates to "I will leave it to you". If you're reading this and saying, I can't do that, I'd recommend you try it out. If you don't like it, then at least you know, but I'd make a small wager you'd like what Soseki brings to the table just as we did.

Chef Denni expertly prepares each morsel of sushi with precision and grace that you almost wish there was a train of sushi coming from his hands directly into your belly. I wish I caught the first fish served up but I can tell you it was amazing and the ingredients I did catch were both surprising and tasty - fuji apple, daikon from the garden and fresh truffles! 

Second Course - 45 day aged Kimchi with beets, asian pear and blood orange 

Third Course-Smoked Salmon

Fourth Course - Japanese Flounder and Prawn

 

Fifth Course - Nine Day age Japanese Sebring with Key Lime juice and zest

Sixth Course - 14 day aged yellow fin tuna with wasabi stem

Seventh Course - Umi Masu Trout - torched with Black Garlic molasses and chives

Eighth Course and my person favorite, Eleven day age striped base with chimichurri 

Ninth Course - Australian Wagu beef over rice with a mushroom jam, crunchy shallots and shaved truffles and your very own soy to squeeze over to taste. 

Phyre's favorite, seaweed taco with tuna and onion relish

and for Dessert - a Roasted Sesame ice cream with salted miso crumbles and truffle powder

To say that I enjoyed myself is an understatement. Every bite was an architectual masterpiece of flavors  that you can’t  find in an normal sushi restaurant. Chef Denni pairs latin flavors in the chimichurri, bright citrus flavors of Florida, sweet and savory all with different types of fish that won’t come close to any other place in town. The service was amazing -with Somm Charles and Chef Mike looking after you. You can definitely see and taste the love of food and the skills both Chef Denni and Mike have in each bite and I'm so excited for Soseki to open up in February so I can experience it all over again!