Smashing seasonal summer cocktails now being served at Zuma
For cocktail aficionados looking to beat the heat, perhaps the latest round of limited-editions summer cocktails to launch at fine-dining establishment Zuma is just the ticket you’re looking for. To greet the season, the innovative izakaya-style eatery has kicked off festivities with its first-ever bottled Highball, created in partnership with local craft mixer Carbonation and Japanese whisky distillery Nikka. Dubbed the Zuma Yuzu Highball, this limited-edition tipple features a pronounced, bubbly yuzu flavour, rounded out with a kick of Nikka Coffey Grain Whisky and green apple. Sweet yet sour, it’s reported to be “the best cure for hot and humid summer nights”.
Elsewhere on the seasonal menu, Zuma has teamed up with yet another international alcohol brand – this time, Casamigos tequila, the tequila brand famously co-founded by George Clooney – to serve up two more thirst-quenching cocktails. The first is Bajiru Smash, a crisp concoction blending Casamigos Reposado with cucumber, lemongrass, lime, yuzu and fresh basil. The second is Shāpu, which sees Casamigos Blanco mixed with longan sake and citrusy notes, given a dash of sweetness with some watermelon juice and a lingering spicy bite courtesy of some shichimi umeshu. To celebrate this synergistic union between Mexican and Japanese flavours, Zuma will also be serving a special selection of tempura to match these drinks.
If that weren’t enough, Zuma is also inviting bartender extraordinaire Jay Khan of COA fame and most recently the winner of the Bartender’s Bartender 2020 award to host a special one-night-only Casamigos-featured affair at Zuma on 16 July from 6pm-9pm. Whether you’re in search of a post-work pick-me-up or just a smooth seasonal cocktail, Zuma seems like its’ pretty much the place to be this summer.
Summer Bites: Zuma introduces new summer menu
With Hong Kong’s heat hitting record highs, there’s no better time to wipe the sweat from your brow and head indoors for a mouth-watering affair instead. If you’re at a loss for where to start, the hot new summer menu courtesy of the fine folks over at Zuma, the much-favoured Japanese noshery, is pretty much guaranteed to be a good bet.
New to the menu this summer are plates that are sure to not only thrill, but also chill your taste-buds, starting with the refreshing Big apple berry cocktail which perfectly combines raspberries, blackberries, lime, apple, vanilla and Ketel One vodka. The sweetness of the cocktail instantly hits one’s tastebuds before the aftertaste of a slight sour flavour takes over. Close your eyes and it’s easy to believe you’re sipping poolside at a luxurious paradise-set resort.
Big apple berry
Bringing more yummy to your tummy is the new Tomato salad with Roasted Eggplant and Ginger Dressing. This sharing plate’s deliciousness can be accredited to the binchotan charcoal on which it was grilled, this is a dish best suited to share among two to four friends.
Tomato salad with roasted eggplant and ginger dressing
While, perhaps more high-end than your typical Japanese pub style cuisine, the Chilled somen noodles with sea urchin, grated ginger and wasabi, still shows what izakaya is all about, as each bite brings one closer to the sea thanks to its luxury seasonal ingredients and masterful Japanese traditional touches. Much like the salad that precedes it, this dish is best shared amongst a small group of friends.
Chilled somen noodles with sea urchin, grated ginger and wasabi
Zuma’s summer menu is a refreshing reminder to dinners just why the Central-spot has earned the ranking as an award-winning kitchen and bar.
Taste of Hong Kong: Gafencu’s top 5 restaurants from the 4-day culinary fest
Taste of Hong Kong – one of Hong Kong’s most-awaited epicurean extravaganza – is going to be in town next week and we’re already drooling with anticipation.
Running into its third year, Hong Kong’s leading gourmet festival will feature around 60 special dishes from over 20 restaurants (both homegrown and international) over a four-day culinary excess from 22 to 25 March.
If you are wondering what’s cooking, Gafencu’s here to give you a sneak peak into five restaurants – some veterans at Taste of Hong Kong, others new entries this year – and some of the dishes that they’ll showcase exclusively at the event.
We’ve carefully handpicked a heady mix – from Michelin-star Caprice and back-by-popular-demand Zumato desserts-only Poem Patisserie – to keep you covered, no matter what your cravings!
Bushido cocktails capture the samurai spirit in new Zuma Drinks Menu
Zuma’s new drinks menu feature samurai-inspired Bushido Cocktails
When we checked into Zuma one Friday evening, seats by the bar were full, and we were left with nothing but options standing up or at a common table. (Ahem, reserve in advance!) We had heard rumours of the new Bushido Cocktails Menu, and wanted to try a couple before heading to Gui Boratto’s set downstairs at Mo Bar. However, to our surprise there was no whisper of the new cocktails on the regular bar menu.
Upon asking the server for the bushido cocktails, he immediately came back with a thick wooden scroll in hand. Apparently the menu was still on its soft opening that night, and we were one of the first to try it. We unrolled the themed menu and perused the selection; each drink was named after a historical figure, and accompanied with a visual of its warrior’s mask.
Honda Negroni – Best paired with sashimi, fried squid or tempura.
We decided to taste the Honda Negroni first, named in honour of Honda Tadakatsu who was said to have never been wounded in battle. The mix blends tanqueray gin, umeshu (fruity liquor), campari, mancino rosso, shiso (mint) and clay.
“The clay reduces the bitterness and gives a dry sensation to the palate,” says Bar Development Manager Arkadiusz Rybak, who we later interviewed. “Clay is also very good for your health, just one spoon is packed full of calcium, iron, potassium and magnesium. Historians have found that primitive people carried a ball of clay with them in their packs as it was a natural medicine used for fighting stomach ailments, dysentery and food poisoning.”
Arkadiusz Rybak masterminded the Bushido Cocktails
Rybak, originally from Poland, is the mastermind behind the Bushido Cocktails Menu. “I was inspired by the samurai,” he says. “I really wanted to teach people about these famous figures from Japanese history through my new menu. Many people are aware of samurais but don’t know much about them, like the fact that there were female samurais.”
Indeed, the menu celebrates the life stories of three female martial artists called onna-bugeisha, fighters who belonged to the Japanese nobility and engaged in battle alongside their male counterparts. They were part of feudal Japan’s bushi class, while the name bushido references to the code of honour they followed.
Takeko Daquiri – Best paired with desserts or ice cream.
The second drink we tried was the Takeko Daiquiri, named after Nakano Takeko, former leader of an ad hoc corps of female combatants. Upon being wounded, she asked her sister to cut off her head and bury it rather than have it captured and made a trophy. The Takeko is a crowd favourite and an outlier for its texture, a thicker potion of Zacapa 23 (rum), yuzu, house orgeat (almond syrup) and white chocolate snow. It could double as both dessert and aperitif, poured from a ceramic jar.
“We worked with three Japanese artisans,” says Rybak, who helped Zuma rank 24th in Asia’s 50 Best Bars 2017. “We’ve managed to present each of the drinks in a unique and beautiful way. Ultimately the experience is really important, so to add a little bit of drama and excitement we also used liquid nitrogen in some of the drinks.”
It’s not often you get Japanese style cocktails in the 852 (Read: Japanese with a view), but when you do get them, you’re in for flavours you wouldn’t normally taste in any other speakeasy. Sakura (cherry blossom), tonka bean, Hokkaido soft cheese and plum are just a few touches that set the Bushido cocktails apart.
Takeda Margarita – Features burnt eggplant flavours to complement the tequila.
“Japanese flavours and rare ingredients make our menu very unique,” says Rybak. “They are a combination of traditional Japanese flavours and more unusual flavours that are often a surprise to our guests, such as clay, leather, and different kinds of smoky aromas taken from roasted rice or burnt eggplant.”
The cocktail scene in Hong Kong looks to be on the rise, and Zuma is obviously not one to be left behind. Whether you’re a spirits enthusiast or not, the stories behind each serving are definitely conversation starters as well as reading material to keep you entertained whilst waiting for the mixologist’s next masterpiece.
Zuma’s Sake Pairing Autumn Menu is the Asian answer to vine and dine
Our Features Editor was invited to an intimate dinner at yuppie favourite izakaya Zuma in the Landmark. Little did she know she was about to dine in the presence of sake royalty: Mr Hideki Sakai of Gokyo Junmai. The Sakai family is famous for brewing the “Five Bridges” sake for centuries.
After a lot of bowing and formal card exchanging, the dinner proceeded more casually than anticipated. Zuma’s downstairs dining ambience helps: high-ceilings, a buzzing after-work crowd, chefs doing their magic in an open kitchen, and floor-to-ceiling windows revealing the energetic street scene of Central by night.
“We stumbled upon the secret to our distinct flavour by mistake,” says Sakai. “Instead of brewing the rice wine in mineral water, which is better for the fermentation process, we accidentally used soft water.” The error resulted in a well-bodied product: equal parts smooth, fruity and crisp.
Sake sommelier Hiroaki Matsuno was also present that evening. He elaborated on the sake pairings alongside the restaurant’s contemporary Nikkei-esque cuisine. According to Matsuno, hiya-oroshi sake is specifically for the autumn season – stored throughout summer and released once the temperature in and out of the brewery matches.
Although winter’s warm sakes and summer’s chilled ginjos are fondly considered, the country’s best brews are said to be those of red-leaf season. Hiya-oroshi is characterised for its mellow and round disposition, the lightest and cleanest of which we tried with the appetisers: Oysters with Ponzu and Chili Daikon and Shima Aji Sashimi Salad with Green Apple Granita.
Little dots at the bottom of the short clear glasses marked the different brews we were trying. At 15% average alcohol content, sake is a match for wine’s 9-16% range, well over beer’s 3-9% ABV, and less than half of vodka’s 40%.
With the chef’s Premium Sushi and Sashimi Selection (course #3 – both a visual and gastronomic work of art), we had the Kyoto-sourced Tsukinokatsura. The smooth-cloudy rice brew also accompanied course #4: Akamutsu, a torched rosy sea bass) with sudachi (citrus) and fresh wasabi.
The fusion seafood pairings of courses #5 and #6 were the best applauded: Chilean Seabass with Green Chili Ginger Dressing and Hokkaido Scallops with umeboshi butter and mentaiko (Alaskan Pollock roe). The distinct and powerful flavours were well matched with Gookyo Junmai’s aromatic and fragrant tones.
The last mains were paired with Gozenshu 9 “Black” Bodaimoto Junmai, which came in a dark bottle more akin to those of cherry dessert wines. This brew (from a famous female wine master) was specifically chosen to go with the meat: a Niigata Snow-Aged Wagyu Sirloin (f1 grade). Surprisingly, the accompanying Maitake Mushrooms (course #8) proved a vegetarian alternative well on par with the meat.
Soup was the last savoury dish: Spicy crab with fresh yuzu and mushrooms. Fantastic and well-balanced, like everything in this dinner. The only over-indulgence came in the form of the Deluxe Dessert Platter, in which Zuma outdid itself with all its best-selling sweets. Do not hold back on this one, it’s worth every single calorie.
Zuma’s Sake Pairing Dinner will be available until the 9th of December. Landmark Level 5 & 6, 15 Queen’s Road Central. (852) 3657 6388. www.zumarestaurant.com
