Chef Moon Krapugthong in the kitchen with Chef Haruo Ige

Last night at MangoMoon in Manayunk, Chef Moon Krapugthong  introduced Chef Haruo Ige visiting from Okinawa, Japan. Chef Ige will be delighting diners with his Japanese cuisine for the next month during his residency at MangoMoon. To kick off his month long stint at the Manayunk restaurant known for it’s Bangkok Street food, a preview party showcased the flavors of his homeland while infusing ingredients from Chef Moon’s native Thailand. Seven different dishes were served, as well as, 3 sakes, at the event.

The food was delicious and several of the items, as well as, many others, will grace MangoMoon’s menu throughout the month.

Guests sample Chef Ige’s cuisine

Sushi Rolls

The menu included the MangoMoon Roll which was prepared with shrimp tempura, Japanese mayonnaise, boiled asparagus, lettuce, avocado, broiled eel with wasabi tobiko (flying fish roe). The Manayunk Roll was an inside out roll that incorporated eel, cucumber, avocado topped with spicy tuna. The sushi was delicious and there was so much served that it was easy to fill up on these “starters.”

Inari no fukuro~ni (tofu pouches)

Fried tofu skin pouch stuffed with potato, shitake mushrooms and bamboo shoots which were cooked together in broth, were served with a spicy mustard. This was an unusual dish, and perhaps my least favorite of the selections for the evening, but it was tofu and as a general statement, I’m not a huge fan.

Ankimo “Foie Gras of The Ocean”

Known as the Foie Gras of The Ocean, steamed Monkfish liver was seasoned with sake, topped with caviar and served on daikon with a ponzo sauce. This dish is tied as my favorite of the night. It was absolutely delicious, but the portion is much larger than it appears and was very filling. I will be back this month to enjoy this again!

Sake no Kinshi-maki

The egg wrapper gave the salmon roll a slightly different, yet surprisingly enjoyable texture to this roll. Salmon was marinated then combined with potato and boiled spinach, then wrapped with wakame sea weed and a thin egg wrapper and served with cucumber vinaigrette. I enjoyed this very much.

Age-nasu no nihitashi ~ Japanese Eggplant

I felt 2 pictures were appropriate to express fully how incredible this vegetable tasted. The deep fried Japanese eggplant was served chilled and was marinated in a “secret recipe” and topped with ginger chiffonade. I consumed 4 portions which may explain why I was unable to have seconds of the Monkfish liver when it was served. This dish alone is worth a trip to Manayunk this month.

Massaman Curry Chicken

The most “substantial” dish of the evening was the grilled and marinated chicken breast topped with a Massaman curry sauce and served over jasmine steamed rice. The smell of the jasmine rice was intoxicating, and the combination of the curry and the jasmine was delicious. Again, I was so full that I wished I could have had more. Perhaps I was full from the sake……………

Junmai Ginjo Sake

There were 3 types of sake served. The first was an unfiltered sake that was cloudy and had interesting layers of flavors. The 2nd was a traditional dry sake shown above (delicious) and the third an Asian Pear Sake which was crisp with a very natural hint of pear. I am, by no means, an expert on sake, but I enjoyed all 3 very much with the Junmai Ginjo being my favorite.

Sake Shooters were rapidly replenished throughout the evening

Asian Pear Sake

Did I happen to mention that all of this was $35 per person? This was the deal of the century! An unbelievable evening was enjoyed by all!

Chef Ige will be at MangoMoon until mid-January

If you did not have an opportunity to make this event, I highly suggest you visit this month!

MangoMoon

4161 Main Street

Manayunk

215-487-1230

South Ocean has opening in the Acme Shopping Center on Bethlehem Pike in Flourtown, PA. Early reviews are mostly positive. While the sashimi pictured above was sliced too thick for our liking, the yellow tail roll, on the other hand was fresh and flavorful.

The sushi rolls passed our “comp pricing standards’ of $6-$8 per roll for classic rolls, such as spicy tuna and unagi rolls.

The tempura (this plate was half eaten before the picture could be snapped) was light and crisp. We highly recommend, as this is a perfect execution.

This is the So Special Duck. It is crispy boneless duck over top of jumbo shrimp, chicken, roasted pork and beef cooked in house special Peking sauce with vegetables. My children are addicted to this dish and have ordered it multiple times in the 3 weeks that the restaurant has been open. As some of our toughest critics, I would say, that is a big statement on this dish. Although, I will warn that the crispy skin is far less crispy in a take out order than when dining in the restaurant.

Our full review will be forthcoming. This restaurant has received reviews in comments of previous blogs.