From the presentation to the creativity and the incorporation of tastes that Bahamians love, ensures that Munasan is a different Japanese experience than what people have become accustomed to.
The newest Japanese fusion restaurant at Superclubs Breezes on Cable Beach will make a sushi lover out of everyone that crosses its doorstep according to Superclubs Breezes executive chef Nigel Clarke. He believes people won't be able to get enough of what they are doing.
"What we're trying to do is make [the food at Munasan] a little more local," said Chef Clarke of the restaurant that officially opened its doors two weeks ago. The restaurant offers the standard Japanese restaurant sushi fare -- shumai, seaweed salad, miso soup, sashimi and sushi. But they have upped the ante with signature rolls -- spicy coconut shrimp roll, BBQ conch and pineapple roll, corn flake encrusted smoked salmon roll and their soft shell crab California roll -- that Chef Clarke said will entice people who aren't already sushi connoisseurs, but who are interested to try sushi, but are afraid, or hesitant, to try it.
"These rolls will draw them in to love sushi. When we did tasting, some of my staff had never tried a sushi roll until then. The perception was that it was raw, so they weren't going to try it. And now a lot of our guys have fallen in love with sushi rolls. Now they know that some rolls are actually cooked," he said.
An added feature that will make Munasan stand out from other Japanese restaurants around town is that Munasan has a create your own stir fry station. You choose your protein -- beef, pork, chicken, shrimp or tofu; choose your vegetables -- the server advises on the vegetable choices of the day; then you choose your sauce -- chili garlic, black bean, sweet and sour, Mongolian spicy ginger, Asian barbecue or Thai coconut curry.
It's a feature that Chef Clarke says makes for a lot of work and is risky, but he said they want to give a different experience because they realize people don't want to be limited.
And on the scope of different, where most folks would anticipate tempura (fried) ice cream for dessert, at Munasan they do a brownie roll (rolled with ice cream to look like a sushi roll), and they offer a mango-misu as opposed to a tiramisu.
"We wanted to be a little different ... a little unique. When people come in we want them to be able to say this is not what we'd get down the road. When people talk about coming to the Munasan, it's different and the taste has to be there," said Chef Clarke. He also said that presentation is important to them, but they want people to be able to see the plate, taste the food and want to come back.
"This is one of the smaller Japanese menus on the island in terms of what we offer. So for the create you own stir fry station, we have quite a number of sauces, and of course it can be a bit tedious, [especially if] you have a big table and everyone's having the same meat but different sauce. But people love options and we want to give them those options," he said.
Paramount to their decision on the menu he said was for them to understand the Bahamian taste buds and incorporate those tastes into what they would offer.
While the menu is indeed different from other Japanese offerings around town, Chef Clarke said it did not take long for Japanese chef Takeshi Tanabe to conceptualize their specialty rolls.
Edamame, shrimp and vegetable tempura, soft shell crab, agedashi tofu (deep-fried tofu with agedashi sauce) and yaki hotate (sauted scallop with clear garlic-soy butter) are on the appetizer menu.
Green salad, seaweed salad, tofu salad and miso soup round out the soup and salad menu.
The Nigiri sushi is comprised of maguro (tuna), ebi (shrimp), unagi (eel), hamachi (yellow tail), shake (salmon) and kani (crab).
Hamachi, tuna and salmon comprise the sashimi offerings.
California roll (crab, cucumber and avocado), kappa maki (vegetable roll), spicy tuna roll (tuna, tobiko and spicy mayonnaise) and tempura roll (shrimp tempura, avocado and cucumber) are the maki sushi offerings.
Beef negimaki (grilled rolls of sliced beef with scallions), lobster tempura (lobster deep fried in batter) and ebi chili (sauteed black tiger shrimp with Japanese chili sauce) are served with white or brown rice.
Meal finishers offered with the brownie roll and mango-misu are the layered chocolate mousse and profiteroles.
Munasan is the brainchild of Mona Issa, daughter of John Issa, chairman of Superclubs Breezes Bahamas.
"Japanese is something she loves," said Chef Clarke. The Superclubs Breezes properties in Jamaica all have Japanese restaurants.
Presently, Munasan opens two days per week, Fridays and Saturdays, 6:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.

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