Dining In at O'maJ

[O'maJ has rebranded to Tomahawk on 1 May, 2021.]

After many months of doing takeout from O'maJ, we finally made our way to the restaurant for dinner. Glad to see it bustling (social distancing requirements nicely adhered to). That night, we were the only table with a dog. Oof. It's a good thing because this meant that their focus on food has reached out to diners beyond dog owners. It's not viable if this runs like a dog cafe, and we are pleased that it's not one.

Ordered Choya the usual Norwegian trout, but she didn't want it. She took two bites and sat down in a corner. It was the first time that she didn't want food at O'maJ. I wasn't surprised. For dunno-what reason, Choya was in a super alert and cautious mood tonight. She was still playful, but she didn't exactly want to be distracted by food. Perhaps it was the noise of the crowd. We haven't dined out often with her since April 7, so she might not be used to the noise again. When she's in this mood (similar to her being anxious, nervous and scared), she rejects all food. I usually pack away half of the trout for her breakfast the next day — that went into the Thermos. I had a feeling, and had brought along an extra container to pack her 'rejected' portion of food. It didn't go to waste; nothing was wasted — she ate the 'rejected' portion at home, and even had air-dried venison added to it. The portion in the Thermos went to a proper lunch the next morning.  

Couldn't resist the burratina. We loved the explosion of flavors in the mouth when the burratina sits on a square of crispy focaccia, and is served with salted fish, vine tomatoes, honeycomb and black sesame seeds. It's really the salted fish that I like. Hahaha. It's almost a meal by itself. Hahaha. Didn't overdo it with the food. Ate in moderation and we shared all the dishes. Two pastas for four persons sounded about right. It came in the form of the spaghetti with pork meatballs and a white meat sauce with caramelized onions, and another with a tomato base with beef and pork meatballs.

The humans weren't in the mood for steaks or beef tonight. Fish had been pre-ordered! This has to be a pre-order two days in advance because the kitchen only wanted to do it with the freshest grouper, and nothing frozen. Thankfully, the market usually stocks grouper. The restaurant named it 'The Black Dirt Red Grouper'- fresh red grouper, squid ink mash, and prosecco-finished scallops and two-colored fish roe. They had experimented with grouper earlier. However, the kitchen has improved on this dish, adding loads of dimension to the flavors. The fish is still served with garlic velouté at the side, but the beautifully rolled-up fillets now sit on an additional thin bed of squid ink mash. It's a great combination.