#03-18 Tanglin Mall
6836 3112
Japanese restaurants abound in Singapore as the cuisine makes its mark on the local food culture. Granted, there are indeed decent Japanese restaurants but to find one that surpasses expectations is not as easy as it sounds. I had the pleasure of dining at such a top notch restaurant and even as I'm typing this, I can't wait to go back again!
The Chawanmushi ($5++), though a tad pricey, was definitely one of the better ones I've had. The simple steamed egg custard was silky smooth and soft with embedded gems such as ginko nut and prawn.
Soft-shell crab ($3++) is something I'll always try to order at any Japanese restaurants. This was very meaty and the tempura batter was not oily and very light.
The Tetsu Special handroll ($6.80++) is actually deep fried minced seafood such as salmon, tuna and prawn wrapped with rice and seaweed. The seaweed was not crispy though.
The Saba Shioyaki ($15.50++) was simply grilled with salt. Some may not like the fishiness of mackerel but really good ones have the taste and smell of ocean. This one definitely fall into that category and the crispy skin was a nice contrast to the soft and meaty flesh.
One of my favourites was the Unagi Kabayaki ($22++). The freshwater eel was perfectly grilled and the teriyaki sauce was not too salty. This is perfect to me.
We ordered the Kaiseki Course C ($55++) to share which featured the highlights of the restaurant. The appetisers comprised of the Crab Meat Tofu (left) and Swordfish Tataki (right). The former was interesting as the sauce had a century egg-like taste which may be an acquired taste as it was quite strong. I liked the tataki as it was still pinkish raw in the middle!
The assorted sashimi had salmon, tuna and hamachi. Usually, I find tuna to be too chewy to my liking but this was surprisingly a decent one. I had no complaints with the salmon and hamachi which were so fresh, especially the yellow tail (the waitress told us it's the freshest today).
I didn't touch the Sushi Moriawase since there's rice. Judging from the freshness of the sashimi previously, I reckon these were just as good. I did try the tamago though but didn't like it as the omelette was too sweet.
The mains were assorted Kushi-Tem which had scallop, prawn, pumpkin, pork and mushroom. The pumpkin was my favourite as it was just bursting with natural sweetness. I find the batter to be a tad too heavy and oily though.
This is my 2nd time having a Dobinmushi and I always think that it looks so cute.
I labelled this tea pot soup as "fish soup" as the sliced fish used was what you can find at a sliced food soup stall in the hawker centre! Of course, the sweetness of the soup beat the one from hawker centre hands down. It was very refreshing and fresh. There were alot of mushrooms and seafood like prawn and fish.
Finally, it's desserts time! I was eyeing the dessert menu even before I had a look at the dinner menu. The course came with a dessert which was supposed to be a strawberry sherbet. But I requested it to be changed to Jikasei Goma ice cream ($4++). At 1st, the waitress refused to but she's no match to my stubbornness. Oh my, this black sesame ice cream is OFFICIALLY the best one I've ever tried! This is not the smooth type but rather rough with all the generous embedded seeds. The sweetness was just nice and not too cloying. I want this again!
The Maccha Ice Cream with Azuki & Shiratama ($4.80) was almost as fabulous. The ice cream had a slight bitter aftertaste and was very smooth, though it melted faster than the rest. Combined with the not too sweet red beans and chewy dumplings, this was very close to heaven in a bowl.
The Yuzu Ice Cream on Strawberry Sherbet ($5.80++) came in a very close second to the black sesame ice cream. This was so refreshing and tangy that it's perfect as a light after dinner dessert. I didn't really like the strawberry sherbet though as it didn't really complement the citrus ice cream. I would have preferred the yuzu on its own.
Service was excellent as our plates were cleared very promptly and our cups of green tea was often filled up even before they were empty. There are many other more affordable items on the menu and this is where the phrase "you pay for what you get" comes in. Ok I think I've raved enough about this place, you just got to try it out yourself!
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