Despite its perplexingly generic name, Star Chefs 2014, which opened a few months ago, basically serves up a fanciful, most likely a newly-created, variety of sushi rolls (maki sushi).
I was later told that the proprietors want to build a series of eateries, each highlighting a different cuisine, either prepared or (more likely) endorsed by award-winning international and local chefs. Thus, the first Star Chefs 2014 with an appendix of "Maki Champion" by Japanese chef Yasuji Morizumi (of two Michelin-starred Mist restaurant in Hong Kong) was born.
Braised beef curry rice on crispy omelette.
We recently checked out Star Chefs 2014 at Terminal 21, one of two outlets, and found the small joint was packed with overly excited diners, a mix of teenagers and young office workers, after the modernly crafted fare.
One of the bestsellers here is Shinkansen maki (480 baht). This signature dish is a bullet-train-shaped exhibition of 12 types of sushi rolls.
The signature Shinkansen maki platter.
Each day only 12 Shinkansen trains run — six during lunch and six at dinner. Diners have to rush to catch one of the 12 daily productions of the assorted sushi — although they can always order each one à la carte, with prices ranging from 150 baht to 260 baht for a four-piece platter. Served by the sushi chef — not the service staf — on a long wooden plate, the dish presents Unagi Matcha, a combination of grilled sea eel, sweet eel glaze, green tea powder and cashew nut crumbs; Double Ocean, a roll of fresh tuna, deep-fried skipjack tuna and dried fish flakes; Salmon Miso, hand-pressed and topped with flash-torched salmon and sweet miso sauce; and Sesame Unagi, featuring grilled eel with roasted sesame seeds and creamy sesame dressing.
There are also palate-pleasing items such as Crispy Salmon, a fresh salmon maki with tempura flakes and spicy mentaiko (cured cod roe) dressing; Ebi Spicy, a shrimp tempura roll with spicy mentaiko sauce; and Ebi Lava, a prawn maki with a rich, cheese-like sauce.
The other five maki choices in the series are Spider Curry, a soft-shell crab maki with Thai-stle curry sauce; Ribs'N'Rolls, a marriage between Japanese sushi and Western BBQ pork ribs; the original California maki; and two pieces of prawn maki with special sauce.
The eatery is currently one of the brand's two outlets.
The restaurant also offers a decent line-up of entrées and rice dishes. Truly worth ordering is the mixed tataki (360 baht), a scrumptious jumble of fresh salmon cubes, tuna, crabmeat, squid and crunchy Japanese seaweed, smothered with sour and spicy wasabi-infused, lime-chilli dressing.
Should you like a sugary tang, the salmon salad maki (180 baht), featuring fresh, thinly sliced salmon fillet rolled with organic salad and dressed with sweet sesame sauce, might be an apt suitor.
From a list of curry dishes, try the niku curriyaki (260 baht). You'll be satisfied with the braised beef in aromatic curry atop Japanese rice and a crispy omelette, served on a sizzling metal plate. Don't eat beef? Opt for the prawn tempura and pork toppings.
Star Chefs currently has two dessert items on offer. We passed on the mundane-sounding green tea ice cream for the Hokkaido light cheese sakura maki (85 baht), which proved fair.
Star Chefs 2014 (Maki Champion)
Terminal 21, 4th floor Sukhumvit Road
Call 02-108-0421
Open daily 10am-10pm
Park at Terminal 21's car park
Most credit cards accepted
