Hello, my name is Kayli and I am addicted to raw fish

written by Kayli Vee Levitan Tweet
	You can also follow me @KayliVee My Blog: GypsyFeet Just ideas that ooze at random from my brain, generally as soon as I hoped to fall asleep. So here they are, written out, so that the ideas can leave my brain. So that I can get some sleep. It may not be putting pen to paper, but finger to keyboard seems to work just fine. I type them out and then I dream.

I had made a promise to myself that I wouldn’t review sushi restaurants for a while. But then I got an invite from Chef Terry Zhou to come and try out his brand new fusion menu at the new Aqua Restaurant at the Cape Quarter. How could I say no?

Aqua has recently closed down!

A friend and I trotted off to the restaurant unsure of what to expect. Terry had explained that his sushi was very different but had refused to say anymore. We sat ourselves down at the sushi counter and prepared ourselves for the worst. I was convinced that I was going to be fed eel sushi which I have had once before and I had enjoyed less than the anchovy, garlic and chocolate covered rice cake that my 10 year old nieces once dared me to eat.

Well (thankfully) I was wrong. My friend and I sat for 3 hours and ate plate after plate after plate of the most delicious, well thought out and beautifully put together sushi. Terry told us that so many South African restaurants make sushi the wrong way. Their sushi is tight and firm whereas his sushi is like an “explosion” of flavour and texture. You really can taste the difference. Even his simple avo maki, which I would normally find quite bland, had a depth of flavour which I cannot fully explain.

To start we had tempura tomato filled with a creamy crab salad served with tempura peppers topped with salmon tartar and prawns then drizzled with Teriyaki sauce and ginger. Never in my life had I expected to write a review and crave a tempura tomato.

This was followed by “The Crazy Boy”, salmon California rolls topped with salmon sashimi, pepperdew strips, spring onion, a secret sauce, 7-spice and wasabi peas. The crunch from the peas added texture and excitement that I can only compare to being 6 years old and eating popcorn filled with smarties for the first time.

If you like it hot and spicy try the “Baby Don’t Cry” – salmon and avocado rolls, smothered in wasabi and 7-spice then drizzled with a cooling green tea cream mayonnaise. This one aint for the faint-hearted.

 

The “Lovely Gay Boy” is a tri-layered fashion sandwich with salmon tartar, tuna tartar and prawn served with sweet chilli sauce (not the kind out of the bottle) and spring onion.

Finally the “Kayli Special” (OMG OMG OMG) managed to make me fall in love with smoked salmon again. Fresh salmon rainbow rolls, with smoked salmon on the outside, topped with dollops of cream cheese, spring onion, wasabi peas, nuts marinated in brandy and cinnamon all of which was blow-torched and then sprinkled with spring onion, chilli mayo and a secret sauce.

   

Aqua restaurant has changed ownership many times over the past few years and the current set up is one which I hope is going to hold steady because their sushi is unique and exciting. Terry Zhou is making sushi the way it is supposed to be made and then adds a thrilling Western influence. He told me a few secrets of what is to come and I am definitely going back for more. The full new menu will be available in September and I cannot wait.

Note to self: Next time I won’t share the chocolate spring rolls for dessert. I want them all to myself.