Koh Grill & Sushi Bar @ Wisma Atria

I haven't found out about a craving-worthy Japanese restaurant in a while. Recently I've been seeing this restaurant appear in quite a few blogs and receiving good reviews so I thought, I must try this out! 

The lunch queue on a Sunday afternoon at late 1-ish pm was waning off (doesn't mean it's no good!). Located on the food court floor, I thought the prices would be near food court prices as well. Prices are actually mid-range and well worth every cent of it.

 

Aspara Buta Yaki ($10)

 Asparagus wrapped in grilled pork slices - No fatty bacon for me, this is real stuff!

Mini Chasoba ($4) (Not mini at all and I love the texture), Garlic Fried Rice ($5) (decent; can skip the next time!) and Gindara Yaki Special ($16) - grilled cod fish topped with cheese and mentai, so smooth it slips off your tongue down your throat

SHIOK!!! Maki ($16.80) - 8 pieces; that's really the name of the dish, and it was definitely SHIOK. Oh so good, aburi salmon maki wrapped with unagi, topped with a layer of cheese and mayonnaise sauce and mentai, sprinkled with fish roe to perfect the dish. At first glance $16.80 is pretty pricey for maki but trust me, it's definitely worth it.  

Koh Grill & Sushi Bar

#04-21, Wisma Atria

435 Orchard Road

91803805 

How much spent: $55.45 for 2 pax 

Would I go back there again? Can't wait!

Tomo Izakaya @ Esplanade

Had dinner at this restaurant en route to the Mosaic Festival to catch a glimpse of the activity surrounding the event. One thing I noticed was that this place is frequented by Japanese expats (or expats' wives), and this is surely an indication of the quality of any Japanese restaurant. They have quite an extensive menu so we had a tough time selecting.

The Salmon Sashimi ($18) was fresh and succulent, though at this hefty price tag I'm pretty sure we can find this dish of similar quality somewhere else. 

Was suddenly craving for california roll but decided on a variation, the Ebi Ten Maki (Tempura and Cucumber Sushi Roll, $12.50), which was good. 
  

Now I need to rave about this next item -  Aburi Hotate Sumiso (Lightly Grilled Scallop with Mustard Miso, $12) I love scallops and always cook them or find them cooked in garlic and butter sauce, who would have thought it tasted so good with a mustard miso sauce? Not I, definitely. Ingenious! I must learn how to concoct this sauce. 

Zaru Udon ($8) - It was a warm evening outdoors (no seats inside as we didn't make reservations) so we ordered a Cold Udon Noodles to go with the Unagi Kabayaki ($18). The noodles were overly al dente if you know what I mean - too firm. After having cold udon at so many Japanese restaurants, I still believe Waraku has one of the best cold udon ever. 

The unagi was done pretty well, I liked it quite a bit. 

How much was spent per pax: ~$45
Would I come back again? Probably, to try the lunch buffet which seemed like a better deal.

Tomo Izakaya

#01-09

T: +65 6333 0012

Opening Hours:
Sunday to Thursday:
12:00-15:00 (Lunch) &
17:00-23:00 (Dinner:Last order will be 22:00)

Friday,Saturday and Eve of Public Holiday:
12:00-15:00 (Lunch) &
17:00-1:00am (Dinner:Last Order will be 24:00)

Kado Man Restaurant @ Circular Road

Pineapple first introduced this restaurant last year on my birthday, and nearing my birthday this year I suddenly had a craving for the tan-tan men. 

It's a small restaurant located along Circular Road right smack in the middle of the CBD and Boat Quay Conservation Area, behind the row of pubs and bar-restaurants. It's frequented by Japanese businessmen and the waitress speaks Japanese as well. She was friendly  when we first entered but got a bit pushy when recommending the dishes to us though.

I've only been here twice, but the rich and spicy soup with fragrance of sesame of the tan-tan men ($15) will make you go back for more.

Cha-shu ramen ($14) pales in comparison. Better off ordering this at other ramen places. I heard the Cold Ramen is one of the must-orders as well, but it wasn't available when we were there.

 

How much was spent per pax? ~$25 per pax
 Would I go back? Definitely for the tan-tan men and the cold ramen if I ever get my hands on them ;)

Address: 83 Circular Road 

Opening Hours

Lunch: 11.30am – 2.30pm
Dinner: 6pm – 11pm

Shin Yuu Japanese Restaurant @ Greenwood Ave

Two Fridays ago the colleagues and I went out for a celebratory dinner after the completion of a major project. A colleague suggested this place, which he said was the best Japanese ala carte buffet he has ever eaten in Singapore, so all of us decided to take his recommendation.

Located at a very ulu part of Bukit Timah and right smack in the middle of an elite residential area, it's hard to locate this place by bus/mrt. 

It's quite a small place so reservations are recommended. There were 6 of us so we had a cozy room to ourselves.

Wafu steak - Juicy and succulent, not too chewy and just the right texture.

Shin Yuu Signature Chawanmushi - All of us were satisfied with this. The texture of the egg was well done, though I found the roe slightly too fishy.

I love to start off the meal with sashimi. Sashimi Moriawase - Salmon, tuna, yellowtail, swordfish, king fish, tako, and a huge blob of plasticine-looking wasabi. At the price of the dinner buffet ($48++), I expected a certain quality of the food here, and I was very pleased. The sashimi were fresh and had a sweet taste of the sea. I love the flavour and the texture of them and as I write this now and recall, I can almost, almost just taste it at the tip of my tongue again. It was really good. Also, my first time trying king fish - very sweet and succulent!

What I would call Shyo Bah - you know, the kind you eat at hawker center with Char Siew Rice? I don't take fatty pork so no comments on this.

One of my favourite items of the night, though a few colleagues would beg to differ as it was a tad too salty and it resembled orh-lua (Hokkien for fried oyster omelette).This Shin Yuu Special Ebi Miso Mayo Yaki (basically, fried omelette with mayo, miso and prawns) was flavourful and the egg was done fried yet runny at some parts, very delicious. They could've cut down on the salt though.

Complimentary premium items - The Shin Yuu Special Aburi Sushi with Mentaiko Topping was charred to perfection, and for me, anything with the salmon cod roe is bound to good. I felt that the satisfaction of the Tuna Belly Sushi was lost, it just tasted like minced meat sushi. I don't really fancy duck meat so I didn't try the Smoked Duck Breast. 

Raw oysters at a Japanese buffet? You bet. Another kind complementary item. It was fresh but not as big and juicy as what some other places offer, but I'm not complaining because this was definitely more than expected.

I can't remember whether this was complementary or on the menu. The Grilled King Crab Legs were awesome as well, the meat sweet and tender, leaves you wanting for more.

Shin Yuu Special Dory topped with Cheese - A calorie-laden item with the dory smothered with cheese. The flavours didn't really complement each other. Using cheese over fried dory fish is not very remarkable. I can do this at home too!

The amount of food on the table was quite scary. In total, we had 3 Mixed Sashimi Platters. The 2nd and 3rd serving came with...drum roll...omg tuna belly!! It was oh, so, good. We couldn't believe they offered this at a buffet! It wasn't on the menu though, it just came when we ordered the mixed platter. Ms Sashimi Queen (she's bestowed with this title because she truly eats a lot of sashimi) and I thoroughly enjoyed the sashimi there.

At 3/4 into the meal, a waiter popped his head into the room and asked, do we want a complementary salmon or yellowtail cheek? I exclaimed, "Oh yes of course!". The flesh around the head is the most tender and I enjoy picking my chopsticks at it and dissecting every bone at that area.

The Hotate Mentaiko was puny, though the mentaiko partly made up for it. Decent but not overly inspiring.

Ramen Keisuke Tonkotsu King @ Orchid Hotel, Tanjong Pagar

Met up with Drumstick one Friday evening after work and she highly recommended that we go to this newly-opened ramen place. We reached at around 7pm and there was a queue forming, partly because the place was small and could seat only around 20. But more importantly, these people were there for the awesome ramen and soup broth. We waited around 20-30 minutes for our turn, half the time staring into the restaurant and willing the customers inside to finish their meal quickly so that we could savour the noodles as well.

I forgot to snap a photo of the order form, but when you're queuing up, the waitress will hand you an order form, which you are to fill up:

i) Which type of soup base you want: Tonkotsu, Black Spicy Tonkotsu or Red Spicy Tonkotsu (yes, they only have 3 types)
ii) Texture of noodle: Hard, Normal or Soft
iii) Taste of the soup: Light, Normal or Strong
iv) With seaweed, with egg or with both
v) Chicken oil: Less oil, Normal or More 

One of my weird habits is that I like to fill in survey forms so I liked this questionnaire-like form. I chose Red Spicy Tonkotsu Ramen, less oil, normal texture and with all toppings!  

Small place for a quick meal - do not expect to take your time here. You'll be stressed out by the queue outside anyway. Cozy, Japanese-like setting. Chefs and most wait staff were Japanese, and I like the vintage Japanese posters on the wall. 

Free eggs and pickled beansprouts! 

You could also grind your own sesame seeds while waiting for your noodles to arrive. 

 Red Spicy Tonkotsu Ramen with Seaweed and Egg ($15.80) - The broth was flavorful and hearty, the noodles al dente, the chasyuu pieces generous and lean. One reason why the broth was so tasty because besides the chicken oil, pork lard was floating around as well. I tried to be health-conscious but couldn't resist slurping up the soup anyway.
 

Giant piece of seaweed

Their stewed egg is the kind with a runny egg yolk, which I absolutely adore.

I need to have a ramen fix every now and then and this is definitely one of the places I would return to.

How much was spent per pax: Around $18 per pax
Would I come back again? Yes!

Address: 1 Tras Link #01-19
Orchid Hotel
Singapore 078867
Tel: 6636 0855

Opening hours: 1130am-3pm, 6pm-10.30pm

Shimbashi Soba @ Nex

After choir a few Sundays ago, I met the Sister at Nex for dinner and some shopping. I know there are a lot of restaurants in Nex but nothing that I was really craving for and dying to try. Found our way to the Japanese enclave and the Sister felt like having some soba so we settled for Shimbashi Soba. 

Shimbashi Soba is the only place I order soba to eat because I don't really trust the soba elsewhere and believe that Shimbashi Soba should offer the best soba. I am assured that the soba here is handmade, and al dente. The soba I eat elsewhere always taste mediocre, plastic-ky and not up to standards. However, this restaurant is slightly on the pricey side so I don't dine here often. 

Chawanmushi almost always a must - This was as appetizing as it looked. Plain, and uninspiring. No prawns, no garnishing, no nothing. Only 2 pathetic mushroom pieces on top.

Salmon sashimi was fairly decent. 

 Grilled unagi - 4 pieces for $8.90 Done pretty well. 

And my main course - soba. The sauce was too salty though. I prefer the sauce that comes with the noodles if you order the set.

The Sister ordered one of the sets. They used to have a set that includes salmon sashimi, grilled unagi and agedashi tofu, all our favourites - but I don't know if that's taken off the menu, or the branch here doesn't have that set. This set was pretty good as well - house special beef, grilled salmon (more like aburi (lightly seared) salmon), and deep fried soba with tuna/potato salad. The deep fried soba tasted like chips and rather addictive. Although the waitress said the soba I ordered and the soba in the set are the same, the sauce wasn't. The noodles in the set meal also includes seaweed, tempura chips and japanese fish cakes.

Dessert that came with the set - matcha tiramisu. 

 How much spent per pax: $35
Would I come back again? Maybe.

#B1-02 nex
23 Serangoon Central
Tel: 6634 4786
Daily: 11:00am -10:00pm

Nanbantei @ Far East Plaza

The only Japanese restaurant I used to frequent at Far East Plaza was Wasabi Tei, but we would always pass by this little Japanese eatery once you come up the escalator. You can't see the interior 'cos it's mostly covered up, and the entrance covered by the Japanese cloth. I always thought it looked rather mysterious. 

The sis and I were planning to go to Wasabi Tei, but we didn't know (or maybe we forgot) it was closed on sundays, we were too hungry and tired to hunt for another restaurant, and coincidentally this place had 2 seats left, so we decided on this.

We are always craving for sashimi, so we ordered salmon sashimi. We do know that it's not always very wise to order sashimi in a restaurant that's not known for fresh sashimi or specialises in other types of food, but we still went ahead anyway. Let's just say the taste was only as good as the picture suggests - pale oily lines, not succulent, leaves much to be desired.

 Nanbantei Yakitori Bento - This was quite value-for-money, it cost $14 if I'm not wrong. 5 skewers which included quail's eggs, chicken meatballs, some pork etc, with really delicious mushrooms and minced meat over the rice.

Mushroom with minced meat - Can't remember the price, but probably along the lines of $2 - $3 per mushroom! 0.0 But it was good.

Grilled Beef Tongue 牛タン($15) - Some parts were more tender and juicy than the rest, but in general I did enjoy this (or at least the more tender pieces). Although it got a bit "je lad" towards the end 'cos the sister didn't take to the taste and only took 2-3 pieces and I had to finish them off 0.0

Chawanmushi - Taste of the parsley was too strong, I still prefer Chikuwa Tei's version which had prawns, mushrooms and clear noodles in it. The ingredients in this one was meagre.

 

 Unagi Kabayaki - The sister loves this and would always want to order this in Japanese restaurants. This was an additional order and by this time I was very, very, fully already. A bit too salty and a bit over-charred, but all in all still a good choice to order. If we did away with the sashimi and the chawanmushi, I wouldn't have felt like I was going to burst any moment...

If you like yakitori, this place serves very decent fare. The food was good, easy to catch service staff's attention, and you could look at the chef at work too! 

How much was spent per pax: Not cheap, at least $30 per pax
Would I come back again? Once in a long while, not because it's not nice, but because I don't particularly fancy yakitori and as a poor student I can only afford a $30+ once in a while! :)


Address: 14 Scotts Road #05-132 Far East Plaza Singapore

Tel: +65 6733 5666

Opening Hours

Lunch 12 pm – 2.30 pm
Dinner 6 pm – 10.30 pm

Megumi Japanese Restaurant @ Sunset Way

After church one evening the sisters and a friend and I went to Sunset Way for dinner, and we chose Megumi! We have already tried Megumi a few times before when it was still at its previous location a few doors down. Recently it relocated to a vacated shop round the corner, refurbished and rented a larger space.

Sashimi Mixed Platter ($28) -We requested for the tuna to be changed to something else since none of us liked it. The waiter recommended sea bream so we took his suggestion. When it came it was still the same old tuna, so we told another waitress about the request. When she came back, the tako (octopus) was gone but the tuna was still there. So we told her again, that the order was wrong... Finally the right plate of sashimi came. Fortunately the service staff were not impatient or anything, I think some places would just give you an impatient or miffed look. Anyway the sashimi was so-so only. Chikuwa Tei sashimi anytime! (Though I can't remember how much was that already!) The sea bream here came half frozen! It was hard and I could still taste ice in it.

Unagi Tofu $7.80 for 2 pieces - Best stuff! Can't find this anywhere else. Pardon the (relatively) lousy photos in this entry - everyone couldn't wait to tuck in and I was too paiseh to hold up the rest! This is basically agetofu (fried tofu) with huge slab of unagi on top.

I had always wanted to try blowfish sashimi ever since I saw it on a Korean movie (ironic) and on Japan Hour where they had blowfish feasts where all the parts of the blowfish are used for something - sashimi, tempura, steamboat etc. That kind of meal would cost you more than SGD100. This fish is a rare delicacy, with the tiger blowfish species being the most "prestigious edible species and most poisonous", and sushi chefs need license to handle this fish because if not handled well, the poisonous parts would not be taken out and would be fatal to consumers.

So when I saw this dish Fugu Mirin Boshi ($10.80) served as appetizer in Megumi I was excited to try it out! The english description stated "puffer fish" and not blowfish. I thought being an appetizer it would be in sashimi-style, but I was told by the waiter that it would be grilled. I thought, oh wells, not many places serve this dish, so might as well just try it out here! So we ordered this. When it came and I tried it, I was sorely disappointed. As you can tell from the photo it did not look appetizing. When I tasted it it tasted like salted fish - no joke. Chewy, salted fish. It came with mayonnaise, which I was rather baffled about - what kind of grilled items came with mayonnaise? Strange. Anyway, please do not order this if you happen to dine there. In the end I had to reluctantly finish it 'cos my dinner partners didn't like it. We somehow have this policy where if you order something and it's not nice, you bear the responsibility of finishing it :( After this when I thought about it I realized that when I ordered this I forgot that it was blowfish and not puffer fish, if there was a difference at all. Maybe that could explain why the puffer fish was not nice.

Yaki Soba ($8.80) - My church friend M saw this being served at the other table and thought it looked good, so we ordered this! It was fragrant, worth the price I should say.

We ordered this the last time we were here too - Chilled Charcoal Udon (Hiyashi Sumi Udon, $10.80)
Though when it arrived it looked and tasted more like soba instead, coupled with the fact that it comes with the quail egg which you usually see served with soba and not udon. But I'm not complaining - this definitely tastes good. 

We wanted to have a maki but couldn't decide, so we asked for recommendations, and this was what we got - UFO Maki ($12.00) Basically it's cooked salmon and crabmeat inside wrapped in sushi rice and coated with fish roe. Not bad - can't really go wrong with cooked salmon and roe unless you don't like salmon.

By this time we were really full - we came to the conclusion that 3 main dishes, or staples, (2 noodles and 1 rice) were too much for four ladies. Next time we will cut down on one staple, (and the puffer fish of course), and maybe order something else smaller. We also had this - Unagi Chawanmushi $7.80 (yes, we like unagi very much) which came in a very nice bowl. They changed their way of presentation, we noticed. Tasted good as well, smooth and silky, just rolls off your tongue, with generous servings of unagi.

No meal is complete without dessert no matter how full you are. Since we had four people with us we decided we could very well handle one single dessert, so we ordered Deep Fried Kuro Goma (Black Sesame) Ice Cream ($6.80). I like fried ice cream! And their goma ice cream is good so this dessert was really yummy. We polished it up despite on the verge of bursting.

 

We'll always go back to Megumi, somehow. Good place to go for dinner if you're around the area. This restaurant IMO is between middle to middle-high range. We could probably have saved a bit if we hadn't ordered the puffer fish.

How much was spent: Around $35 per pax
Would I go back? : Yup!

Address: Blk 106 Clementi St 12 Sunset Way #01-38 Singapore

Tel: +65 6779 1411

Opening Hours: 11.30-2.30pm, 6pm-10.30pm