Closed
I was naturally excited when learning about the newly opened Japan Town in Wisma Atria. Since I love the collection of Japanese establishments at a corner on Level 3 in Takashimaya, especially Ginza Kuroson. After avoiding the initial hype and the long queues that came with it, I got down to suss out the place.
Okay, first thing to clarify. This place is very different from the Japanese theme corner in Takashimaya. One is of Japanese lifestyle concept while another is based on Japanese Izakaya. I guess it is obvious which is which. Fourth level of Wisma Atria is like the gathering of different foodstalls where kopitiam occupies one side and another is dominated by Japan Town. Actually, I don't enjoy walking through the crowded kopitiam to get to Japan Town. That is just me as I like to avoid crowds in general. In fact, I feel that another Japanese corner, Emporium Shokuhin, is way better than this one due to the sheer variety and better ambience there.
Queues still formed outside the restaurants in Japan Town, but thankfully, it is just a short wait for us since we arrived earlier than the opening time.
I had ordered the Negitoro Don. The good news is that there is no fishy smell in the minced tuna belly since low quality tuna smells especially fishy and tastes exceptionally bad. So I can say that decently fresh fish is used. But the problem is that I had much better Negitoro in Shinji and Kuroson. Of course, it is not fair to compare with one Michelin Star Shinji. Though I will go to Kuroson for Negitoro instead with the ten dollars difference. The tuna belly meat here is not as smooth, oily and flavourful due to the lack of fats in the tuna. Luckily, there is the runny egg to help enhancing the overall taste.
I had taken bites off my guy's Smoked Salmon Belly. It is surprisingly pretty good. The smokey flavour imbued on the fish helps to balance out that strong typical taste of cooked salmon meat that we hate. The slabs of meat are so well-done that the smokey flavour is very evident and pronounced yet not a slight burnt bit can be found in the meat. My guy said that this is the best cooked salmon he ever had. Well, he had eaten cooked salmon in Michelin Star/s restaurants before. I do agree with him on this. But the lowlight of this dish is that a fish bone is found in one of the slabs. I was expecting that the chefs would clear the bones like they do for salmon sashimi, you know.
Appetizers are just quite okay. I had better ones in other Japanese restaurants.
Service is okay. I think the main issue I have with the place is the overall ambience of Japan Town. The dining space of Hokkaido Izakaya is pretty decent, with sufficent space set up between each table.
While I was not blown away by the food here, the place is certainly decent enough for a casual, affordable meal.
My Thoughts: Okay
This restaurant is no longer in operation.
