Restaurant Review: Asian Fusion At Aozora

I had reservations at Aozoro for 7 p.m. and we walked in a few minutes early. The restaurant was mostly empty and we wondered if all the legwork including the reservations was necessary. We were seated and I took out a bottle of white wine. Aozora is a Japanese fusion restaurant where one can have sushi, rolls, as well as dishes that are part European and part Asian.

We sat down and sipped our wine and noticed the space filling up quickly. By 7:30 p.m., the restaurant was buzzing with conversation. Lesson learned. Reservations are a must, especially on a Saturday. As we were looking at the menu, our waiter gave us the specials for the evening. He told us about three appetizers and one entrée.

We decided to order two of the special appetizers including the beef tataki with buckwheat noodles and a soy reduction ($12) and pork dumplings with a spicy peanut sauce ($8). For the entrée we ordered the special wild sea bass and the duck.
I debated between the lobster with risotto and the duck. Our waiter informed us the duck dish is very popular and well made.

The pork dumplings were recommended highly as well and came first. The peanut sauce had a bit of a kick but we found it too sweet and over powering. The dumplings were tender and delicious on their own. Next came the beef tataki, which were slices of medium rare beef over buckwheat noodles drizzled with soy reduction. This was the best dish of the night. The soy reduction had a citrus surprise in there and the noodles had fresh thyme, which is the European part of the fusion cuisine. Overall the dish worked really well.

Another special of the night was a wild sea bass with sautéed vegetables over thin noodles served with a Thai tomato sauce ($32). The fish was tender and delicious, close to the Chilean sea bass plus our waiter insisted the wild variety was better. Somehow the thin noodles didn't work so well; they were a bit bland, but the chunky tomato sauce was delicious. It had a perfect balance of sweet, tangy, spicy, and savory.

My duck was described as seared breast in wild berry sauce over mashed sweet potato, duck spring roll and bok choy ($23). I asked for the duck to be cooked medium and it was cooked exactly to order. The sauce was delicious and complemented the duck very well, cutting through richness. The poultry was accompanied with bok choy, which, was delicious, and a mound of mashed sweet potato. For me, the mashed potatoes spoiled the dish. They were bland and didn't do anything for the dish. I ate up the duck with the berry sauce as well the spring roll, which was adequate. I enjoyed the dish but could have used more bok choy minus the sweet potatoes.

After dinner and some more delicious wine, I ordered a coconut and red bean flan ($7). Flan is my all time favorite dessert. If I see it anywhere on the menu, I must have it. This particular one was not really a flan. It had a consistency of a cross between a panna cotta and jello. It was lightly sweetened but I couldn't taste the coconut. The chunky red bean sauce surrounding the flan was good. The dessert was okay, definitely not what I expected.

This was my second time at Aozora and I would definitely go back but I would probably stick to the Japanese dishes as somehow the fusion dishes didn't work as well. I love the atmosphere in the restaurant and the service is super friendly. What was your experience at Aozora?

Aozora

407 Bloomfield Avenue
Montclair, NJ 07042-3505
973-233-9400

Monica Puri Bangia is a cooking coach who teaches in her Maplewood home and the Maplewood/South Orange Adult School. She writes about food and ingredients including recipes for as her own Sharing Plate blog where she posts mostly healthy, quick recipes for weeknight dinners. Puri Bangia also contributes kid-friendly and healthy recipes to Kiwi magazine. For Patch, she will be reviewing local eating places and replicating dishes that she enjoys and including recipes that form in her head from time to time that may be relevant to you.