Ixora

Innovative Japanese-French cuisine is worth every penny for a thrilling gustatory experience at this Whitehouse Station "flower."

By: Pat Tanner

   MY culinary imagination just didn’t stretch far enough to picture what I’d encounter at Ixora, which serves Japanese-French food. On the surface, the two culinary traditions seem totally at odds. On the one hand there’s rich, lush French, epitomized by foie gras, long-simmered stews, potent wine reductions and cream sauces. Its polar opposite, it seems to me, is the light, spare, clean-tasting fare of Japan, where seafood reigns — often raw or just barely cooked — and meat (other than Kobe beef) is often a condiment. Melding the two seemed to me to be navigating treacherous waters indeed.
   Happily, the culinary vision of Ixora’s young chefs, brother and sister Timothy and Melissa Chang, extends far beyond mine — not to mention their prodigious cooking skills. For years, their parents ran the place as a typical Chinese restaurant, with sushi and other popular Japanese dishes added about seven years ago. When the younger generation took over in September — armed with degrees in hotel administration and business, respectively — they put into practice the cooking skills they had picked up over the years from various chefs that crossed their paths.
   Remnants of the restaurant’s previous existence remain in touches like the keyhole-shape doorway between the two dining rooms. And, of course, the restaurant is still in its original location, a strip mall on Route 22 in Whitehouse Station, two miles from the Ryland Inn. But Euro-Japanese rules the menu, as well as much of the muted décor at Ixora, which means "flower."
   Shoji screens mix easily with white table linens, comfortable upholstered chairs and exquisite wineglasses, which grace each table in this b.y.o. establishment.

Staff photo by Frank Wojciechowski

Chef/owner Timothy Chang, second from right, at the Ixora sushi bar with sushi chefs, from left, Shi-He Huang, Kevin Sie and sous chef Matthew Chen.

   Fusion cuisine has lately come to mean overwrought, misconceived and bizarre combinations, but that is not the case at Ixora. Every combination works, and often spectacularly so, from the chowder of fresh soy beans (edamame) with garlic basil shrimp ($8) to the dessert of poached pear in brioche with fresh ginger ice cream in Armagnac/ume-boshi sauce ($12) (ume-boshi is pickled Japanese plum). The dish comes with a stunning fillip: a dark, winey lychee nestled inside an artistically crafted spun sugar basket. In fact, every dish at Ixora is presented with East-meets-West flourish.
   A knockout appetizer is the yellowtail done two ways ($16): raw — curled up into rose-shaped and rose-colored sashimi — and also in thin strips fanned out on the plate and barely cooked by a dousing of hot soy oil infused with Thai basil, chili pepper and garlic.
   Ixora boasts a full line of sushi and sashimi, from which we selected smoked salmon sushi ($5) — two generous slices of delicate but superb smoked salmon over rice. For tofu lovers like myself, the first course of fried tofu coated with dried bonito flakes ($9) is heavenly in taste and texture, and is accompanied by a crisp, refreshing relish made with Japanese cucumbers (kyuri) that offsets the saltiness of the bonito. Also recommended is the starter of six grilled New Zealand mussels artfully arranged on a square white plate and blanketed with a spicy, bright orange cream sauce ($10), which one of my companions accurately described as "zippy."
   Entrées proved not quite as intriguing as the appetizers, nor as flawless as the desserts that followed. One exception is free-range lamb chops ($28), actually three thick knobs of double chops from the rack, crusted with a mix of hot spices called shichimi togarashi and grilled to the rare side of medium-rare. The chops come with excellent accompaniments, including salsa made from d’Anjou pears and a puree of beige, starchy taro — pleasantly earthy, yet with a hint of sweetness.
   One companion was quite pleased with his seafood and vermicelli selection ($26), reminiscent of Hong Kong-style noodles with its pan-fried pasta and mix of sea creatures. Here it includes a white wine sauce and a mix of lobster, shrimp and scallops over baby spinach. Chilean sea bass with a lemon, basil and thyme crust ($24) was a bit bland, even for the bass-fancier who ordered it, although we all enjoyed the more flavorful accompaniment, which was squid "pasta" sautéed with snow peas and enoki mushrooms. The pasta was the squid itself, cut to resemble a cross between wagon wheels and radiatore.

Staff photo by Frank Wojciechowski

   Least interesting among our choices was the vol-au-vent of curried rabbit loin ($24). Here, the white-meat rabbit is indistinguishable from chicken, the puff pastry a bit tough and the stew’s supporting cast bland and boring. These consisted of diced new potatoes, carrots and burdock. Even the addition of chili oil couldn’t elevate the flavors. A garnish of sweet red pepper tempura proved to be the best part, memorable for its crunchy sweetness.
   Diners need not be intimidated by the many Japanese terms on the menu because Ixora’s staff is only too happy to answer questions and provide detailed descriptions. In fact, explanations were proffered even before we asked and proved a precursor to exceedingly attentive service, which sometimes crossed the line into intrusive. But it is well meaning and, in fact, necessary for intelligently navigating the inventive menu.
   Other desserts we tried are no less exceptional than the poached pear. Among them is a purse of a crepe filled with hazelnut cream and tied with a licorice whip. The pouch sits in a puddle of pureed Japanese sweet potato flavored with anise and is surrounded by huckleberry sauce, whose purple intensity is offset by dots of crème anglaise. A chocolate volcano cake could seem ho-hum alongside these wonders, but is elevated by excellent chocolate, homemade cardamom ice cream and a discreet decoration of gold leaf. Desserts here are as beautiful as they are delicious, with each providing a complex array of taste and texture sensations. They do, however, come at a price: $12 each.
   So while entrées are squarely in the $20s (ranging from $20 to $28), desserts and starters can run up the bill here. Some appetizers go as high as $18, for the duck foie gras with sesame tuile, Gewürtztraminer gelee and confit of Japanese plum. While the food is worth every penny, the elevated prices may hold some back, especially coupled with the innovative Japanese-French concept.
   Dining at Ixora may be sailing into uncharted territory, but those looking for a thrilling gustatory experience should set a course for its shores straightaway.
Pat Tanner’s reviews can be heard on Dining Today, Sat. 9-10 a.m. on MoneyTalk 1350 AM and 1040 AM.
For directions to Ixora, click here.