When: Saturday 8:30p.m.
Who: JK, MR and Marz
Where: Susur
601 King St. W., Toronto; Tel: 416-603-2205
Cuisine: Fusion

Fusion. You know, I’ve always tried to avoid fusion restaurant because everyone knows blending/combining different cuisine’s ingredients and cooking techniques can be very tricky. I’m not being conservative, but it’s just that there’s a very high possibility that the dining experience will end up badly. Thank to MR, we were there at Susur last Saturday night.

Susur Lee, a HK-Chinese, was crowned as one of the “Top 10 Chefs in the World” by Food and Wine Magazine in 2005. The first time I visited the Susur website and saw his picture… I found his look doesn’t really resemble a typical person who came from/grew up in HK. He looks more like a person from the northern Chinese provinces. When I saw him at the restaurant I found him quite tall. MR even related Susur to the Iron Chef.

Overall, I like the atmosphere at Susur. Exotic music with color of ivory & purple pink/blue projected on the back wall. (You may want to visit the website for the design.) The staff were very polite and helpful. We were especially interested in one of the asian male staff, who happened to have a special accent. After taking many guesses - European/ Austrian/ South African, etc… We finally asked him the question… and his answer was: “I am actually from… Scarborough” LOL. The way he talked, posed and acted was also quite distinctive - what a character. An extra entertainment for us.

Looking at the menu - first course (range from $18-30) , main course ($45) and salad, we decided to go with the tasting menu, which is what Susur was well-known for. If you do the calculation, the cost would be about the same as ordering a first course, main course and dessert anyway. So, why not try some variations? You can get a 5 course ($100) or 7 course ($120) tasting menu, regular or vegetarian. So, MR got a 7 course and both JK and I got the 5 course (non-vegetarian).

The thing I like about tasting menu is that you never know what to expect, just like omakase. You also get to try a lot of different dishes and I gotta tell you - the pairing wine was excellent! Wine and food are just excellent complement of each other. Also, if you and your friends are getting tasting menu, the one sitting beside you will have a different set of selection - so it’s really good for sharing (although the portion is already quite small).

Here’s what we got: I took a lot of pictures without flash. Since it was kinda dark inside the restaurant, you may find these photos quite dark. So, use your imagination to refresh the vivid color of the food.

The first set - kinda like a starter and doesn’t count toward the courses.

Main course - Squab and steak, the heaviest course of the night came first since the tasting menus are being served backward; paired with St. Joseph

Second course - beef w. black truffle; foie gras, oyster chowder; paired with Banyuls

Close-up

MR’s extra course - Lion Head, which is derived from a famous Chinese dish

Intermission course - Sorbet

Close-up

Third course - Seafood (lobster, mussel, scallop) paired with cold sake

Close-up - Mussel

Close-up - scallop

Forth course - fish - I have to say we like mine on the right better

MR’s second extra course - it tasted like BBQ pork dumpling in vinegar soup (according to MR)

Finally, dessert time! By the time we had dessert, it was already over 12:00a.m., but look at them! Aren’t they gorgeous? JK was already quite full, but you know, there’s always a space for dessert!

Close-up - Lower level

Close-up - Upper level

Another dish of dessert (for the 3rd person’s portion)

It was a good tasting experience.