Ikkoten Omakase - Amazing and Varied Tastes of Summer

I'm so excited to enjoy the Tastes of Summer after an awesome gastronomic journey in Spring. And Ikkoten Omakase kickstarts my Summer adventure with new, unique, delicious creations that feature the refreshing, bright flavours of summer. Lots of moments of "Wow!" And I get to enjoy the best Winter Melon and Tako here. Summer is looking so good now!

Cold Hokkaido Sweet Corn Chawamushi immediately wows the palate because the custard is so smooth and creamy, featuring this amazing sweet buttery umami, completed with floral hints.

Summer Fruit Fig opens up the palates with its sweet and mild taste, elevated by the light, refreshing fig jelly has an iota of savoury goodness that elevates the taste so much.

The Tako sashimi is surprisingly tender, with a good bite. This is made possible by special preparation of partially boiled the octopus to retain the raw core. This tastes so refreshing when paired with finely shredded sweet Awamori apple brushed with specially sourced Japanese Apple Cinder. This refreshing dish develops a nice warmness when paired with the crispy soy sauce and Japanese snow peas. Pickle adds the zest for a hint of excitement. I never know Tako can taste so good, until I try it here.

Kinmedai sashimi, when paired with different types of refreshing tastes from the Japanese yam stem, watercress, tomatoes, pickled cucumber, holds so many well-balanced bright flavours. The torched surface of Kinmedai tenderises the skin of the fish and adds an amazing sweetness of char to the buttery sweetness of the fish. The briny sweetness of the dashi jelly gives a lovely contrast to the refreshing, buttery taste.

Goma saba is specially prepared as alternative to the Sea Bass, and this dish really showcases Chef Brandon's creativity and talent. The fish was deep fried and paired with Chef Brandon's specially created buerre blanc sauce that was made with dashi. Yes, French sauce prepared Japanese style! Goma saba, which is farmed mackerel that is suitable for sashimi, is specially chosen because it can maintain its firm flesh after deep frying. This has a good contrast to the texture of the crispy batter and panko. The briny sweetness of the fish is perfectly balanced by sweet refreshing seaweed.

Takiawase is packed with different kinds of light sweetness: briny sweetness of Snow Crab, milky savoury sweetness of Scallops, vegetal sweetness of Japanese Summer Vegetables, earthy sweetness of Sweet Potato, all soaked in the mild savoury thick broth for a refreshing yet comforting taste. The Hokkaido Scallops is super plump and juicy, so is the Delicious Snow Crab. Winter Melon, being specially steamed for 4 to 6 hours, is so amazingly juicy while retaining a firm texture. Best Winter Melon! I never know winter melon can taste so good until now. I love this so much. Yes, I know I just said it just now for the Tako.

A5 Wagyu Miyazaki Beef is thinly sliced and seared with binchotan to yield this amazing taste of meaty sweetness imbued with the earthy aroma of char. Yet is tastes light at the same time. The first bite immediately evokes a moment of wow. The murasaki uni, which is in season, adds a umami rich creaminess to the dish, nicely punctuated by a hint of spicy pungency of the pepper plant. All these goes perfectly well with the Yamaguchi Matcha soba, which is prepared al dente. This dish also has the taste that is full of the feelings of summer.

Goma sashimi, a special and complimentary dish, is dressed with herbs to cut through the fish's strong briny sweetness, tastes sweeter with each subsequent bites.

Braised meat and crunchy sweet corn are such perfect match when paired with each other in the Donabe. The braised meat, made from specially chosen ribeye, really changes my mind about braised meat being soft and gamey. This braised meat has the tenderness while still having the slight firmness for a good bite. And it is incredibly meaty sweet, which is elevated by the refreshing, floral buttery sweetness of the corn. Paired with the rice, it is pure awesome comfort food.

Wasabon Pudding, made with a blend of brown and white sugar, showcases super silky smooth pudding juxtaposing perfectly with the caramel goodness of the burnt liquid sugar. This is very difficult to make, and the results is totally worth it because it is so good.

Long Island Iced Tea specially made by Chef Brandon. So smooth and so good.

Thoughts: Wonderful Refreshing Tastes of Summer!

86 Telok Ayer Street

Misato - Quality Japanese Food made with Passion

I’m back at Misato, a Japanese restaurant famous for food crafted and made with love, and the boss’ singing videos on Misato’s social media. Relocated to Orchard Gateway, the venue is slighter larger, with the exact same decor and feel as the previous location at Centrepoint. The food here is still as good, featuring hearty, robust flavours yielded from quality Japanese ingredients and condiments. And the service crew is as friendly and warm as ever.

I’m not exactly a Donburi person but I absolutely love the Wagyu Donburi here, which is served in a hot Japanese claypot to ensure every bite is piping hot. The medium rare beef is so tender, juicy, meaty and sweet that every bite makes me feel so blissful. The meat tastes and feels so luxurious, when paired with the smooth starchy Japanese rice, tastes so comforting. A must-order here.

The Corn Soup pleasantly surprises me how incredibly sweet it is, with laces of savoury goodness. A dash of pepper makes it even more exciting and lifts up the creamy sweetness. Best corn soup? Yes!

The signature Okonomiyaki here is packed with lots of goodies, such as cabbage, mayo and bonito flakes, yielding a taste that packs lots of punches. The texture is excellent too, where the custardy core juxtaposes so well with the crunchy cabbage and slightly crispy exterior.

I order Grilled Mochi because I’m simply curious on its taste. Grilled mochi is more chewy after grilled, but is still easy to bite, completed with a layer of char for extra dimension in taste. My favourite part of this dessert is actually the matcha soup with red bean. The clear astringent, slightly bitter taste of matcha is perfect match with the earthy sweetness of the red bean.

The Lemongrass drink here is loaded with most amount of the aromatic herbal goodness of lemongrass. Even more concentrated than the lemongrass drinks in Thai restaurants! This is definitely, 100%, the best lemongrass drink.

Thoughts: Comforting Excellent Food, with no Holding Back

Orchard Gateway #B1-11

Kemuri - Wonderful Refined Izakaya Experience

I always want to go back to Kemuri after an awesome meal here. And so here I am, enjoying quality traditional Japanese cuisine with additional interesting twists. The menu changes quite a bit, and the food is still as good as ever. And it is a treat to see the chef in action at the robatayaki grill station.

The negitoro here is super sweet and smooth, and as I bite more into the roll, the warm earthy zest and savoury goodness of vinegar rice takes over, creating a lovely transition in taste profile. Tastes so satisfying, especially with a good crunchiness of the finely chopped pickles to contrast with the texture of the minced toro.

Corn mousse is so amazingly good that makes me go, "wow" at first spoonful. The floral buttery umami of corn, makes it taste like uni of vegetable kingdom, and punctuated by the herbal bitterness of the flowers for an even better and more complex taste. I love this.

The Charcoal Grilled Mushroom is surprisingly very good. It tastes so warm and earthy, whiole the texture is  soft and tender. Soaking it in light yet concentrated chicken broth is a very different way of presenting mushrooms and it totally works. Feels so comforting to savour this.

The Charcoal Grilled Tiger Prawn is plump and juicy, full of briny sweetness, topped with a hint of char. The tangy taste of lemon accentuate the sweetness and make the taste more varied. Another highlight is the cauliflower paste, which has slight vegetal earthiness, adding dimension to the taste of the prawn. The slight grittiness within the smoothness of the paste makes every bite of the prawn more interesting and enjoyable.

Charcoal grilled A5 Kagoshima Wagyu Sirloin is so tender, so juicy, so meaty sweet. The richness is balanced by the miso paste, wasabi and salt. And best of all, the meat got the sweetness of grilled meat and the light sweet aroma of straw. Every bite of this is a bliss.

Mozuku is very smooth and zesty, best enjoy at the start, to whet the appetite.

The warabi mochi here has this unbelievable liquid like, soft texture, with an iota of chewiness. This makes for such awesome mouthfeel. The earthy aroma of kinoko makes the sweetness of the dough even better and more varied. One of the best warabi mochi.

Thoughts: Absolutely Enjoyable Hearty and Authentic Japanese Meal

5 Koek Road #04-02

Ikkoten Omakase - Amazingly Crafted Omakase that satisfies all the Senses

After the awesome Spring menu, I'm all for more specially crafted gastronomical surprises from Chef Brandon at Ikkoten Omakase. It is such a joy to enjoy the premium ingredients being prepared, cooked and paired in rare ways that please and surprise the palates. There's also the awesome pairing of different textures to make things varied and exciting. And I discover the best croquette and sukiyaki here!

Specially curated and crafted appetisers 💖

First appetiser of Hotaru with Spinach, Oba, Miso and Tomato is so surprisingly refreshing yet earthy and mildly briny sweet at the same time. This tastes like the breath of fresh air of spring.

Potato croquettes with slightly spicy sauce potato is like the best potato croquette I ever have. The potato tastes so earthy sweet, and this sweetness is balanced by the spiciness and tanginess of specially homemade sauce, making it so exciting. The texture of the potato is so fine, contrasting perfectly with the crispy deep fried exterior.

Specially curated giant Hamaguri features a lovely milky briny sweetness, elevated by the creamy warmness and crispy texture from the burnt top, making for a unique taste experience.

Chef Brandon takes things up a notch even more by serving an entire Baby Sea Bream for sashimi course. And yet every mouthful of the carefully sliced fish tastes so different from each other because of the different pairing of sauces and condiments. Yes, one fish with ten different ways of enjoying it. Five are dotted with wasabi gel while another five with yuzu gel. These gels make the fish slices taste incredibly sweet in different ways. I love it with the spring onion that brightens up the briny sweetness of thh fish. Pairing them with cherry tomatoes or the herbs also works. Absolutely no soy sauce needed. And the fish is wrapped in kelp beforehand to impart the umami sweetness to the meat, making this course a gastronomic delight.

Intense sweetness of Ayu is lifted up by the refreshing cucumber sauce that makes the result tastes almost magical. The balance of flavours is so on the point. The deep fried enoki mushroom tastes so sweet due to the contrast from the sakura salt and edible sakura soaked in brine. The tempura bits add awesome crunchy bite to the texture.

I get to try Japanese version of popian where the plump scallop is being wrapped with seaweed and then coated with tempura batter before being deep fried to yield a thin crispy skin, which accentuates the juiciness of the super juicy and bouncy scallop. The briny sweetness of the scallop is elevated by the tangy, earthy specialty sauce, making for an exciting and complex taste.

The best sukiyaki comes in the form of Wagyu Dumpling and vegetables soaked in a savoury umami sweet broth. The broth is lighter than the usual sukiyaki sauce, but packed with more meaty sweetness, thus is perfect for sipping on. It feels so good and warm to sip on the broth served boiling hot in a claypot. The thin slices of Kagoshima Wagyu is packed with buttery meaty goodness, going perfectly with the texture of cubed vegetables packed within the wagyu slices.

I always look forward to savouring the Donabe here because Chef Brandon always adds new special ingredient to the donabe each time I come here. And every time, the donabe makes me go, "Ahh, so delicious, so flavourful, so satisfying!" Every starchy smooth grain is pumped with soft briny umami of the collagen broth and hamaguri, and the taste is lifted up by the abundance of chopped vegetables added. This is oh so good.

Special homemade Sakura Ice-cream is creamy, smooth, slightly earthy and completed with a hint of savoury goodness from the sakura salt. I enjoy this so much, especially with the buttery, earthy pine nuts that adds the extra oomph and crunch.

Super rare Sparkling Sake curated by Chef Brandon. It is so smooth, with soft bubbles to excite the palates. Best Sparkling Sake!

Another Sake specially curated for the course, and it goes so well with the meat.

Thoughts: Simply Fantastic and Exciting!

Ikkoten Omakase - Amazing Meticulously Crafted Dinner

I’m back at Ikkoten Omakase for this year’s first experience of the taste of spring, and yes, this proves to be an exciting start for this spring. Where the light herbaceous freshness of vegetables and leaves brightens up the taste of the dishes and subtly refreshes the palates. Carefully and specially prepared, drizzled with specialty homemade sauces to bring another unexplored dimension in taste, every dish of this menu is a standout on its own.

Cold Nanohana Chawamushi embodies the lovely mellow, fresh taste of spring. The freshness of the rare Nanohara vegetables, the zesty creaminess of the egg custard, tangy sweetness of the tomato work beautifully together to create a taste that is subtle, exciting and complex. The flying fish roe adds nice crunchy pop texture to contrast with the smoothness of the custard. 

Sakura Shiraou is full of light, airy briny sweetness and is amazingly super crispy. The sakura salt is light and carries a tint of earthy flavour to balance the briny sweetness. Delightful snack.

Otsukuri of Katsuo Tataki Sashimi with Ponzu Foam is immediately wow and shiok at first bite. The spiciness from Tabasco and fresh pungency of Japanese Negi cut through the rich taste of Katsuo to actually highlights its sweetness. The light balanced zest of foamy ponzu sauce adds the excitement, also highlighting the sweetness of the fish. The dish also has awesome texture due to the crunchiness of negi juxtaposing well with the texture of the fish.

Tai Sashimi with Midori Su showcases the bright, clean, refreshing taste of spring, in the form of sashimi. Clean, clear taste of Tai is made exciting by the tangy umsmi of midori su sauce, crunchy, spongy texture and refreshing freshness of Kyuri aka Japanese cucumber, and clear tangy sweetness of tomato. This is a brilliant dish that comes after the tastebud simulating Katsuo Tataki.

Chef Brandon specially prepares one of the three kings of the fish kingdom: Kinki! (And Norugoro and Maguro are the other two kings).

Kinki fish has this lovely intense sweetness harmonised by the kelp with vinegar sauce harmonises for a balanced awesome taste, amazingly bringing out a softer and smoother sweetness of the kinki. This is like magic. The refreshing freshness of the kelp also cuts through the intensity of the fish for an even more balanced awesome taste. The crispy skin of the kinki creates an awesome texture for a good, exciting bite.

The sakura leaf wrapped around the uni is the taste of spring realised in Oshinogi dish. The leafy, fresh taste of the leaf contrasts so well with the rich creamy umami of the uni. A treasure trove of different kinds of earthy goodness: steamed handmade goma tofu’s nutty earthy sweetness cut, mushroom's earthy, woody rustic taste, lily bud's clear earthy pureness nicely soften the briny sweetness of the leek soup for a well-rounded taste.

Yuzu sauce is the magic is in this dish, where it pairs wonderfully with the creamy, perfectly cooked A5 wagyu beef and the specially prepared foie gras. So good that it is unbelievable. The foie gras is amazing in taste and most probably the best I ever have because it is lighter on the palates, buttery, smooth and not as oily. This is due to the extra preparation to manage the oilness and get the tendons carefully removed.

The Donabe is so amazing in taste. Every smooth starchy grain is packed with briny goodness and vegetable freshness, invoking the feeling of bliss in spring. Amaebi is so briny sweet and has an awesome firm texture with a slight crunch. And Chef Brandon is so generous in adding lots of them. Lots of vegetables are added, which elevates the taste and texture so much. Love, love this.

The dessert showcases how hojicha and pine nuts can work beautifully when paired together. The balanced roasted smoky astringent taste of hojicha is elevated by the buttery nutty taste of pine nuts. The slightly crunchy texture of the nuts also render the texture of ice-cream exciting.

Thoughts: Awesomely Amazing Gastronomic Experience