In lieu of the mountains, the missus and I went on a date night and we checked out the newly opened Sensei Bar, just off 17th Ave. They served up an interesting mix of cocktails and asian inspired share plates.
The place was small and cozy, and they had us seated beside a couple of dudes. We weren’t intentionally eavesdropping, but they were loud so it was hard to drown out the one dude constantly peppering his partner with questions about the food. “What’s a kohlrabi?” “What’s char siu?” “What’s gochujang?” "What's matcha?" “Is this the bison?”
Now if you haven’t eaten much asian cuisine, I’d get why you might not know what char siu or gochujang are. But isn’t kohlrabi a fairly standard item at the local grocery store? Has this guy legit never wandered through a produce department before?
Time for a poll: do you know what kohlrabi is (eg: is this guy in the minority), or am I just expecting too much produce knowledge of others?
Muddle Plum cocktail - Sloe Gin, Brandy, Hibiscus, Aperol, Lemon, Egg White
White Grape Mojito - Pisco, Rose Water, Honey, Lime, Mint, with some infused citrus smoke.
This was the aforementioned kohlrabi. It was diced into cubes, lightly picked/ marinated, and served alongside some sweet purple yam puree and a light bit of soy sauce.
Potato crusted miso cod served with snap peas, tartar sauce, and crispy coconut polenta and cilantro oil. The purple dollops were described as pomme puree, but I think they were just purple yam puree again.
Pork and Shrimp Truffle Dumplings served with chilli oil and anise shoyu
Two Baos - Tempura maitake mushrooms (with miso pineapple mayo, kimchi, tarragon carrot, and cilantro) and Ebi Prawn (with kohlrabi, anise sweet soy, scallion, and sesame)
Cucumbers served in a gochuchang type sauce, with black and white sesame seeds. I don't remember the exact details, but it was yummy.
For dessert, we had the 'lollipops', which were lychee cheesecake lollis coated with pop rocks, served alongside matcha coated sponge toffee, a dollop of tapioca, and then some gooseberries. This dish was supposed to be whimsical, but it felt more non-sensical than anything as the flavours didn't really pair well or complement each other. But pop rocks are always fun.
