Stripes like the big top, with a touch of minimalism from the subdued beige paint above the stripes and scattered generic Asian memorabilia, a mask there, a vase here and don't forget some bamboo sticks in the vase too!
Circuz has a bit of an identity crisis.
But who can blame it, according to Urbanspoon it's an Italian, tapas place, Brad tells me before that it was a niche vegetarian restaurant and now...it's Japanese. The poor place could use a bit of a face lift.
Our waiters were exceptionally well dressed and polite, confusing me a little more as I perused through the menu, with a generous section dedicated to a vast amount of entrees, followed by yakitori skewers and simple noodle and rice dishes. Whilst good service is always appreciated, I don't necessarily feel like it suited the place...or the menu, I feel like I was almost over served...if that's possible.
Since the option was there (and because my sweet tooth was niggling me), we opted for a glass each of plum wine, sweet and refreshing.
Temptations of warm chawan mushi and takoyaki were present on the menu in entrees, but it had been far too long and we just cannot go past a healthy serving of sashimi. 12 pieces for $13? At that price, the least we could do was give it a try! It was beautifully presented, the salmon would've been the favourite, velvety, smooth, sweet, whilst I personally did not favour the tuna very much. The texture of it was not as fresh as I would have expected honestly...
To warm our stomachs at 9:30pm (talk about a super late dinner for me!), we both decided to get rice bowls. I went with the Gyu Tan Don, ox tongue with teriyaki sauce with chilli and spring onion over rice. Very underwhelming. Where was my sauce? The whole thing was so dry, especially with that much rice, the ox tongue wasn't particularly tender and quite flavourless. The rice itself was quite dry yet sticky too (oxymoron going on there?) and whilst at $11.90 or however much it was, I knew not to expect much but still could not help but be a bit disappointed.
Brad made the far smarter choice and what would've been my other option, of getting the Unagi Don. The unagi was naturally tender and succulent and quite generous with the sauce, which was perfect for mixing up in the rice and just flavouring everything. It was served on top of a bit of tamago, which was sweet and fluffy, cutting through the richness of the sauce, with a few peas tossed in. In my opinion, a far better choice than the Gyu Tan Don.
As we finished up, close to 10pm, I noticed a group bustle in through the door, flourishing 'Dah-lings' on everyone and seemed to be quite friendly with the Maitre De'; looking dashing in a suit. He really looked like he should be surrounded by white table cloths, not rickety old tables, which they all were! We tried changing tables after seating to find it had the exact same problem, so we gave up and dealt with it. This group that was then sat looked like they were receiving a full fleshed 3 course meal, or maybe more, as they were served entrees and wine.
And there Brad and I were just gobbling up a rice bowl like a pair of Uni students. Well he is. I'm not.
So as expressed at the beginning of the blog, I'm perplexed and confused. The image or what they're trying to do is a bit lost on me and they're stranded somewhere inbetween. They could use a more focused vision and ambiance. I suppose it'll be interesting to see how long this management keep up, maybe it will take off, they will get a make over and I will return with more lavish comments next time. Or maybe not...and I'm sure I'll have something new to comment on anyway.
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