I got to say, "This is one of the best restaurants in Singapore." The Contemporary Japanese cuisine here looks so beautiful and its taste is absolutely beautiful and complex. Chef Nicholas Tam uses the natural flavours of the ingredients to create plates of pure delight. The taste of each component of each course is distinctive, able to shine through the multitude of flavours and at the same time complements other components so well.
The service here is top notch, elevating the dining experience to be more than amazing. Very professional, friendly, thoughtful and attentive, the service crew manages to remain nonintrusive and always be around to attend to requests or top the drinks. Yes, my sake is almost always filled with the sweet refreshing alcohol due to the timely topping up.
The setting here is of simple elegance with a touch of the vibe of embracing nature due to the cherry wooden furniture and the dried flowers on the serving plates. Best to get the seats at the kitchen counter to have the full experience of dining here. It's cool to see the energetic chefs meticulously prepare the dishes right in front of the patrons.
Appetiser Akami comes in lovely shades of deep red and packed within the cute tart shell are raw tuna cubes, nomori, beetroot and an array of ingredients to create sweet umami. I love this natural sweetness that simulates the palates.
Another dainty tart shell topped with pretty yellow flower is stuffed with cubed Hotate from Hokkaido, artichoke and lemon cream. This pleasantly surprises me by taking the taste profile in another direction: savoury umami. Yes, both have umami as core flavour but they couldn't taste more different. Excellent start to the meal.
Pain Au lait is served piping hot, and I love it. This bun is the fluffiest and softest bun I ever have. And with the nori butter sauce incorporated into the bun for that taste of ocean, this becomes the best bun I ever have. It is so good that I highly recommend alternate between eating it on its own to fully appreciate the delicate flavours and then with katsuobushi cream for the extra zest and creaminess.
Shima Aji is usually stronger in taste as compared to other fishes. The chef turns this into a lovely planty sweetness by pairing it with rhubarb, umebosh and roasted kelp. Very well-executed dish.
Sawara from nagasaki is full of briny sweetness, and the accompanying ingredients such as hourensou and sakura lily accentuate it. The pretty mould of luxurious caviar stacked on top of the fish, with its refreshing, distinctive buttery sweetness, elevates this dish to another level.
Dry Aged Duck, with its beautiful roasted skin, is tender, juicy and has a rich, full-bodied taste. The White Asparagus, interestingly, has this unique herbal flavour that is a perfect match with the taste of the duck. Black and White Garlic cream adds dimension to the taste with its sweet pungency.
I decide to add on Kimmedai since I don't want to miss out on any good stuff while here lol
And this is definitely a good choice of mine since the beautifully roasted fish with its slight charred crispy skin and firm creamy flesh hits all the right notes in terms of taste and texture. The koshikari rice with pearl-like sheen is starchy and full of flavours.
The second part of enjoying this dish consists of pouring the roasted bone soup into the rice. The soup is incredibly rich in flavours. This is pure comfort food. I feel so satisfied when savouring this.
The dessert, Ichigo, definitely impresses too. The Japanese strawberries is unbelievably sweet. So sweet that my eyes widen for a second when popping one into my mouth. The gelato, sake lees and warabi mochi add layers of flavours and texture to yield a well-rounded dessert that is creamy and refreshing at the same time.
Petit Fours comes in the form of Brillat-Savarin pistachio, which is savoury! I'm very surprised by its taste and I love it.
Another one is Jivara, where the rich chocolate with caramel is punctuated by the citrus bitterness of orange to lift up the whole taste.
The journey here is so wow and exciting, and Chef Nicholas Tam reinterprets Japanese ingredients in a different way to provide a unique dining experience. This restaurant is a must-visit for foodies and bon viviants.
Thoughts: Simply Awesome and Amazing.
39 Hongkong St
Nearest MRT: Clarke Quay (via Exit A, don't follow Google's recommendation of Exit B)
