A few weeks ago we visited the restaurant May in Meinekestrasse because of the good Google reviews. I didn’t write anything about it here because it was absolutely trivial. It’s the usual Vietnamese place that calls itself a sushi master and offers bland sushi.
Review Restaurant EST, Meinekestrasse
On the way home – a few houses away from May – we passed the Est.
When I looked at the menu, the waiter came and explained the concept: authentic Japanese cuisine, they fly everything in from Tokyo or Paris. They even had otoro on the menu!
I wasn’t so convinced, but my wife was. And if you’re married, you know you’ll be going there in the near future….
I had a look at the website. They wrote something about fusion of Latin American cuisine and European cooking techniques. I had a bad feeling. Also because I couldn’t find anything Latin American, apart from Spanish padron de piementos. Among the starters, there was noticeably often something with truffle components.
We arrived at 5 p.m. and were the only guests. We ordered kappa maki (€4) for Junior, the only sushi he currently eats. We had the Moriawase nigiri (€27 each) and two extra pieces of otoro (€12), as well as two glasses of Cremant (€7).
The cremant was decent. Then the waiter set the table. There was a circular, deep bowl for the soy sauce, which he filled completely. Should we bathe the nigiri in this “authentic” sushi restaurant?
We sat outside as the weather was beautiful. The Ordnungsamt came to entertain us. They complained that most of the seating outside was illegal and in fact a wheelchair could barely get through. A baby carriage on the other side had to wait until the wheelchair had squeezed through.
However, the rest of the restaurants in the street were set up in a wrong way and we wondered why this Vietnamese man was being tortured more. Presumably because he was exaggerating more than his colleagues on the right and left and opposite.
We learned a few things about what is allowed and forbidden.
Now some food arrived, kappa maki and otoro nigiri. It’s smart to serve the child first, but it’s not smart to serve the highlight, namely the fine, fat tuna belly, at the beginning. Shouldn’t it be the highlight and the end? Something you remember?
Never mind. The expensive Otoro was hard to taste because the green on top was so dominant. It wasn’t particularly fatty either, with almost no marbling – hardly any difference to Akami. On top of that, the rice was tasteless and heavily overcooked. A rather sad performance.
The wasabi was paste, not grated. The gari was very mild.
The menu at Moriawase lists seven raw fish, but there are supposed to be 10 in total. They topped up with a cooked salmon and two vegetable nigiri. (see top photo)
The fish slices were relatively large. The nigiri did not have a pleasant mouthfeel because of the overcooked rice and the dominant (Fusion?) extra flavoring on top.
Apart from Junior, who got another kappa/avocado maki, we had no need for any other dishes. The sushi was not much better than May, who was much cheaper.
The “pleasure” cost us €89 + €6 tip.
We left the restaurant unhappy and ran to Zucca to get a scoop of ice cream so that we could have something nice that day. Incidentally, Zucca is also in Vietnamese hands.
Conclusion: Nobody needs it