Pet’s Plates

Zen
Portomaso

Food: 9/10  
Location: 9/10
Service: 9/10
Value: 8/10
Overall: 10/10

This place has got to be up there with the best restaurants that Malta has to offer.

The menu held the promise of ingredients like fresh tuna, crab and prawn. I wanted it all. It was our duty to work our way through the menu, and work at it we did. For research purposes, you understand.

The restaurant comprises a Teppanyaki table flaming up meat, fish and vegetarian dishes, as well as a sushi bar where the regular menu is served. We sat in a cosy corner overlooking the Portomaso Marina.

Zen’s interior exudes understated elegance and sophistication. It’s all very contemporary and chic. I disliked the rubber placemats at the table and the paper napkins. They jarred with the elegant surroundings.

We started the meal with the Aburi Toro. Much revered and widely used in Japanese cuisine is tuna; and toro is the fattiest and most valued part of the tuna – the belly of the beast. The Japanese hold it sacred, as sacred as sake. In the meat world, a slice of toro would be tantamount to a gorgeously marbled steak.

The Aburi Toro starter dish consisted of seared rare tuna belly slices with a mustard ponzu sauce, topped with little balls of chopped tuna belly, in turn garnished with spring onions. The morsels of toro were just heavenly. The entire dish was rich in flavour and sublime in texture, with an almost melt-in-the-mouth quality to it. What a fabulous start to the meal!

We had to try some famed tempura which, incidentally, was origi­nally a cooking concept gifted to Japan by Portuguese missiona­ries and traders; a deep-fried ‘gift’ that gradually worked its way to become an indispensable element in Japanese cuisine.

Our Ebi (prawn) tempura was absolutely lovely; cooked to crisp perfection, with little residual oil. Edamame constitutes a typical Japanese appetiser and we order­ed a bowl.

Only the simplest of preparation is involved. Green soy beans that have not yet matured are gently boiled in salted water and served. The podded beans were tasty and delicious. Packed with flavour, fibre and protein, the soya bean has been touted as the Wonder Bean. Its versatility is yet another reason why it is indeed deserving of such a title.

Few legumes can boast of the transformations that the soya bean undergoes. Sauces, pastes, curd (in the form of tofu), oil and milk can all be obtained from the humble soya bean.

Continuing in our worship of the soya bean in all its many forms, we each enjoyed a bowl of traditional miso soup. Miso paste, the product of fermented soy beans, is softened and mixed into a stock. It makes the most wonderful soup.

Our Misoshiru was given further flavour, colour and texture with the addition of seaweed, tofu and spring onions to the Miso stock. It was tasty and comforting, with just the right saltiness to it.

One of the best restaurants on the island and remains unrivalled as regards Japanese cuisine

We then moved on to sushi, Japan’s most celebrated contribution to world cuisine. I smiled from ear to ear when a little boatful (lite­rally and figuratively) of it appear­ed, presented very prettily. Japanese food presentation is legendary, and at Zen they do not disappoint regarding the visual impact their colourful food makes.

Our prawn and tuna sashimi were quite excellent. Seafood is clearly taken very seriously here. The prawn, delicate and sweet, and the tuna, rich and gorgeous with its deep red tones.

The freshness and the outstanding quality of the seafood shone through. The salmon and tuna nigiri sushi was equally divine! High-quality fish was skilfully cut, scored and draped over pressed vinegared rice. The result was pure magic. This is not sushi on the go; this is fine dining sushi.

The Sofuto Sheru Kurabu Futomaki  consisted of delicious, deep-fried soft shell crab, capelin roe, avocado and spring onions. A perfect balance of textures and flavours permeated each crunchy, bite-sized morsel.

We ended our meal the way we had started by savouring more magnificent toro. The Botanebi Roru sushi roll consisted of tuna belly, spring onions and avocado topped with some raw red prawn. It was truly delectable with delicate depth of flavour.

All dialogue was internalised, as we made the food our only focus. At times we’d nod and enthuse briefly before burrowing our heads back down into our plates.

At times, the Wonder Bean would weave its way back into our dinner and we’d dip our sushi pieces into soy sauce before devouring them. One of the best known products of the soya bean, soy sauce is one of the chief ways in which Asian cuisine derives its salt.

And Japanese cuisine is no exception. It’s a cuisine that is seldom seasoned with the direct addition of salt to food. In modern-day China, this salty, fermented condiment is still considered one of the fundamental necessities of life along with vinegar, tea, salt, oil and, of course, rice.

With the exception of some rather exotic ice cream flavours, the desserts offered at Zen are not traditional Japanese sweets. Rather, they are a fusion of Asian ingredients and established Western desserts.

The Japanese have long enjoyed the delight of green tea ice cream. I love green tea and I drink gallons of it daily. Funnily enough, it pairs well with many dishes.

Instead of choosing the green tea ice cream, I opted for the panna cotta with green tea. The tea had been steeped in the cream to infuse flavour. Although it possessed a silky texture and gelatinous gait, the balance of flavour wasn’t quite right. The green tea should have flavoured the panna cotta with a subtle pungency but this was too overbearing.

We also tasted the mysterious black sesame ice cream, which prov­ed to be quite a revelation. Only slightly sweet and with a unique, gloriously nutty flavour, I was in­stantly hooked! I’ve since found a recipe for green tea panna cotta serv­ed alongside black sesame brittle.

Having tasted the ice cream at Zen, and still believing in the potential of a green tea panna cotta, I’m dying to try it. We were tempted by the Sake menu, which offers sake by the glass or by the bottle. But in the end we chose to wrap up dinner with a tot of some exceptional Japanese whisky.

Zen provides a great representation of Japanese cuisine. It was the first Japanese restaurant to open in Malta. It is, without doubt, one of the best restaurants on the island and remains unrivalled as regards Japanese cuisine.

There are no compromises on quality, preparation and presentation. The food and the service are exceptional. There is a beauty, an art to their food and utmost respect for ingredients.

Although the restaurant is expensive, it is not overpriced. Value is put on good food, and this was quite excellent.

My one request: give me a linen napkin next time.

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