New Zealand Lamb Chops with Korean spices and sesame cucumbers.

Suga Taster, Jehan Knight does Steak, Lamb Chops and more at ETARU Hallandale in Florida!

by Restaurant Reviews & Ratings

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Suga Taster, Jehan Knight’s Ratings for ETARU Hallandale, FL.

Date and time of visit: November 2, 2019 at 7:30pm

No. of diners: 3

NB. Ratings fill 5 stars maximum

Parking: ★★★★★

Ambience: ★★★★☆

Décor: ★★★★☆

Comfort: ★★★★☆

Service: ★★★★☆

Speed: ★★★☆☆

Food quality: ★★★★☆

Serving amount: ★★★★☆

Plating: ★★★★☆

Value for $: ★★★★☆

Suga Taster’s Breakdown!

ETARU Hallandale has dining by the terrace and an indoor/outdoor cocktail bar that specializes in contemporary Japanese Robatayaki-style cuisine. Robatayaki is when food is cooked at varying speeds over hot charcoal similar to barbecue.

Upon arriving to the restaurant, valet parking was smooth with a USD$13 charge. We were then directed to the hostess who had our reservation for three requesting outdoor seating several days prior. However, she apologized that there were no available tables outside. Once seated inside, our server, Vasiliki B. presented us with the dinner and drink menus, informed us about the cuisine offered including the fact that everything was a la carte, gave us a few minutes and then returned to take our orders.

Two servings of Pork Dumplings were requested, but one had to be sent back because a member of our party was allergic to sesame seeds. The server apologized for not asking about any allergies, as she was in a rush to get our orders in before the kitchen got extremely busy.

The downfalls with this restaurant were that a few of the dishes lacked flavour, which was appeased by the sauces they were served with. Also, the wait time, as we did not complete our meals until about 10:40pm after getting there at 7:30 pm.

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Japanese Fried Chicken with YoZu Kosho Mayo

The fried chicken lacked flavour. It seemed as if no salt or pepper was added to the batter, but the sauce was rich and had hints of lemon zest.

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Pork Dumplings with mushrooms, truffle and ponzu sauce.

The Pork Dumplings were tasty, but lacked an adequate serving of ponzu sauce to have all the flavours truly marry together.

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Grilled half Chicken with spiced lemon saikyo miso.

The Grilled Chicken was seasoned well and reminded me a bit of ‘Pan Chicken’ from home (Jamaica). The lemon saikyo sauce had the perfect consistency and provided a burst of flavour from the various oriental spices.

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Baked Sweet Potato with yuzu soft cheese.

The Baked potato had too much garnish and not enough yuzu soft cheese, so Suga Taster, Jehan was unable to fully appreciate the combo.

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New Zealand Lamb Chops with Korean spices and sesame cucumbers.

The Lamb Chops were cooked medium, with a succulent slide off the bones with each taste. The pairing of the Korean spices and the sesame cucumbers were on point.

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Broccolini, with ginger and moromi ginger.

The Broccolini was blanched perfectly, but I would have peferred if the sauce had been evenly dispersed.

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10 oz. skirt steak with wasabi chimichurri.

The Steak was cooked medium well as ordered. The wasabi chimichurri sauce added the right amount of heat to the steak.

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Yoghurt and Almond Cake with mango toffee, caramel miso Ice cream.

This dessert option was on point and satisfied our sweet tooth well!

ETARU Hallandale

Location: 111 S Surf Road, Hallandale Beach, FL 33009.

Ph: 954-271-3222

Edited By: Gabrielle Burgess

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Not one other diner in sight for Dinner on a Saturday night at Japanese Restaurant Cocoro ?!

by Restaurant Reviews & Ratings

There were surprisingly NO other diners at Japanese Restaurant Cocoro on date night last Saturday. But was it really a surprise? With the currently revamped, more modern and more comfortable Roe in Sovereign North, the popular East Japanese and scenic Majestic Sushi and Grill as competitors? The advantage was a private, more intimate environment. But what about first dates where persons may not be as comfortable together with conversation yet or groups that come for dinner? I’m sure they would like a bit more buzz around. The only obvious thing that has changed at Cocoro are a few new items on the menu. Good service and food quality have never been an issue, but surely the decor needs a change. The surroundings are just outdated and not even modern antique. Some kind of marketing also needs to be done with new offerings to make persons remember Cocoro exists.

Japanese Restaurant Cocoro

Ph#: 876-929-0970

Address: 4 West Kings House Close, Mayfair Hotel, Kingston. 

Date of visit: 11/10/14

NB. Ratings fill 5 stars maximum

Parking: ★★★★★

Ambience: ★★☆☆☆

Decor: ★☆☆☆☆

Comfort: ★★★★☆

Service: ★★★★☆

Speed: ★★★★★

Food quality: ★★★★★

Serving amount: ★★★★★

Plating: ★★★★★

Value for $: ★★★★☆

SuGa Endorsement: ★★★☆☆

 

Kaisen Don $1350 JMD+tx

Roe has expanded, but have they kept up their good standard?

by Restaurant Reviews & Ratings
Kaisen Don $1350 JMD+tx
Kaisen Don $1350 JMD+tx

After visiting Roe a few months ago, last night I was delighted to see that they have expanded! Their previous space used to be comparable to the Burger King in Manor Park. But now they have expanded their indoor seating including Hibachi-style and their decor is fabulous, giving you a Manhattan, Sex and the City kind of feeling. However, the standard of service has already slipped with slow service, inattentive staff and an error with one of the orders. I was there for a Birthday celebration, but the Birthday girl felt that the other birthday celebration seemed to have gotten more attention that night. She should never have felt that way.

I noticed the menu had a few new items. The food took a little while to arrive, perhaps since they had a full house. It was alright, no CranWata WOW! but we enjoyed it nonetheless.

A suggestion for not only Roe, but for other restaurants when taking reservations, is to ask if it is a special occasion, so even though good service is always expected, they can be even more prepared to please. They should also think, what could these diners want next? For instance, if we provide cake or cupcakes to be shared, do not let us have to ask for plates and forks. The waitresses also need to smile, they didn’t even smeyze. So some improvement needed in their service and speed.

Ph#: 876-632-6669

Address: Unit 5, Sovereign North; 29 Barbican Road. Kingston 6.

NB. Ratings fill 5 stars maximum

Parking: ★★★★★

Ambience: ★★★★★

Decor: ★★★★★

Comfort: ★★★★★

Service: ★★★☆☆

Speed: ★★★☆☆

Food quality: ★★★★☆

Serving amount: ★★★★☆

Plating: ★★★★★

Value for $: ★★★★☆

SuGa Endorsement: ★★★★☆

Top: Black Dragon roll; Below: Dragon roll

ROE for Japanese

by Restaurant Reviews & Ratings
Top: Black Dragon roll; Below: Dragon roll
Top: Black Dragon roll; Below: Dragon roll

Friday before last, after a long, hard week of work, I was ecstatic to let down my hair and finally see what the fairly new Japanese Restaurant, Roe in Sovereign North had to offer. Afterall, I have only heard good things, especially of their new healthy twist setting it apart from other Japanese restaurants.

It was already 9:00pm and I was quite famished, wondering if I could manage a wait seeing that the restaurant was full, but I was pleasantly surprised. My beau and I were greeted and seated quickly and they took our orders of Miso soup that we made immediately to fill the gap while we browsed the menu.

As a Personal Trainer, I was instantly impressed with the options of rolls available with brown rice, organic gluten-free soy sauce and low calorie air-fried preparation. Ofcourse, those options attract an additional cost but they were still affordable. Their menu also provided a calorie count for all appetizers, soups and salads and some main course items and specialty rolls.

I went ahead and ordered the Baby Octopus and Dragon roll with brown rice. The Dragon roll consists of fried shrimp, avocado, spicy mayo and eel sauce. My beau had a little difficulty ordering his appetizer, since they didn’t have the Squid Tempura he requested, but the waiter quickly appeased his disappointment by recommending the Ika Sansai Seafood Salad, that he promised to be just as good in quality and a personal favourite. He followed his advice and also ordered the Black Dragon roll that had the same contents of the Dragon roll substituting the avocado for eel.

The appetizers arrived quickly and were tasty. The recommended Ika Sansai Seafood Salad did not disappoint. A little while after, the rolls arrived. They looked splendid and were in fact just that. The brown rice did not take away the taste and flavours of the content of my Dragon roll.

I can see why last season’s winner of The Voice, our very own Jamaican songstress, Tessanne Chin frequently dines at Roe. The ambience is decent and comfortable, the service is good, the wait staff is knowledgeable about items on the menu as well as additional items used to give them a special burst of flavour and the food is delicious.