Miraku - Wonderful, One of a Kind Sushi Omakase

I’m back at Miraku again! Since this restaurant had actually made a very strong impression during my previous dining experience here. And yes, the experience here is still as unique, refreshing, engaging and enjoyable as ever. The chef even makes the effort to show the pictures of the rare fishes featured 👍🏻

I love all the dishes of Sushi Omakase.

Appetisers to explore different kinds of taste profiles

Minced Toro with caviar is creamy, sweet, lovingly contrasted by the thin monaka cracker and briny caviar.

Fish Roe with Bonito Flakes has such interesting texture, being bouncy with lots of micro pops yielding mild briny juices when biting into it.

Mantis Shrimp, a rarity, with vegetables, is full of briny sweetness and features a nice slightly chewy texture.

Aburi Tachiuo is so good, with the sweetness highlighted by the char surface with roasted aroma. Scallop is bouncy and mildly sweet. Chutoro is pure indulgence with its melt-in-your-mouth texture.

Yagara fish, another rarity, is clear in taste, with an iota of spicy, zesty goodness to perk up the taste. A very good start for the repertoire of sushi.

Kinmedai has a wonderful bouncy texture and clean taste.

Shima Aji is unbelievably sweet. And this must be the lightest Shima Aji in taste, which is actually awesomely unique. 

Akami shining like a red jewel, is zesty and sweet.

Japanese bluefin, another rarity, features a total different taste profile from the fishes before it, which is simulating for the palates. It features a stronger oceanic taste and surprisingly melt-in-your-mouth texture.

Shore fish, another rarity, is lighter in taste and has an unique, firm texture.

Black throated sea perch creamy sweet with roasty char aburi is strength of this place

Akagai is very crunchy and sweet. I love this change in texture and taste profile of the array of sushi featured.

Otoro in aburi form actually works wonderfully with its melty goodness and an additional complexity in taste.

Uni sushi is of course good! I’m so happy to see this!

Sukiyaki A4 wagyu, expertly and lightly cooked in broth to maintain the juiciness, has this super sweet meatiness and is so well balanced in taste. Chef even adds in an extra sushi ball for this at my request.

Totokaku Roll is super creamy and briny sweet, accentuated by the crunchy zesty pickles. An excellent treat to indulge in.

Black Persimmon is super sweet. Best persimmon!

Thoughts: Exciting Experience!

12 Gopeng Street ICON Village #01-01~04

Miraku - Surprises, Unique flavours, Gratifying Experience

With many good choices of omakase restaurants available, I set my sights on Miraku because I just have this feeling that this omakase restaurant will bring something new and unique to the table. I am excited about it since dining is an adventure of the five senses. And this restaurant totally meets my expectations.

Update: And yes, still as good as ever on second visit.

I love it that the food here explore the new tastes and add little unique touches while retaining the core basis of Japanese cuisine. Every dish here is a joy to savour.

The place is of calm, soothing zen ambience with the pale wood furnishings and an open kitchen in the middle of the space. Perfect for Japanese omakase.

The service crew here, including the chefs, are awesome and meticulous, always going the extra mile for patrons. I feel so well-taken care of while dining here. The five senses are thoroughly engaged through the preparation of food, taste, texture and smell of the food and the hospitality of the staff here. This is the place to be surprised, delighted and pampered.

The beautiful trio of appetisers start things on a very promising note. Shiromi, which is white fleshed fish, with black pepper is full of distinctive, subtle harmonised flavours that spellbound the palates. Toro with caviar is so wonderfully rich and packed with briny sweetness. Shellfish croquette is the first surprise of the day with buttery, earthy brininess that goes perfectly with the deep-fried breadcrumbs.

Bonito with gingerflower is refreshingly good.

Oyster from Iwa is so plump and juicy, and its distinctive milky, briny sweetness is accentuated and made more exciting by the ponzu jelly.

Deep fried Ayu is surprisingly creamy in texture, which is awesome. Best savoured with the snow salt.

A lovely contrast of taste profiles between the mild sweet flavours of Ishi and the intensity of Tachiuo, a kind of fish rarely featured in Japanese restaurants. The Tachiuo is perfectly grilled to have that rich smokiness layering upon the briny sweetness of Tachiuo. One of the best aburi sashimi.

Another one of my favourites is Miraku’s signature of chutoro with egg yolk shoyu. The pure indulgent richness of churoro is perked by the buttery, savoury egg yolk for that lovely unique experience of savouring chutoro.

Carefully cooked in boiling water to get the perfect balance between rawness and doneness, Hokkaido A4 Wagyu with onsen egg is wow at first bite. It is unbelievably creamy! And full of meaty goodness.

Fried fish with vinegar is a nice complimentary dish that refreshes the palates and exceeds my expectations.

Isaki, grunt fish, starts the round of sushi with a bang. Its light, delicate sweetness is highlighted by the hint of mild spiciness of the sauce. It tastes so refreshing and exciting.

And the shari is interestingly made with 4 kinds of vinegar: one white and 3 reds, for the additional nuanced flavours in the rice.

Kinmedai sushi evokes that warm feeling when I savour it. So lovely!

Botan Ebi wins my heart over with its crunchy, smooth texture and pure sweetness.

The intense flavour Saba is so well-rounded by the accompanying sauce to yield that lovely briny sweetness.

Aburi Kamasu, which is Barracuda, another rarity in restaurants, features this intense umami made even better with the flavour of char.

Chutoro is considered as one of the pinnacles of indulgence. Yes, it tastes that awesome to deserve that spot.

Lots of sweet, creamy uni that I love. It is a moment of "Satisfaction level maxed". 

Tamago made without flour is so fluffy and soft. And it tastes like castella cake, which is awesome.

Miraku Rice Bowl is highly recommended if one has the appetite for more indulgence. The treasures of the sea, my favourites seafood: Uni, Crab, Negitoro, decked out generous portions, this is opulent seafood feast dream comes true.

Super sweet Musk Melon with a unique dessert of custard wrapped with arrowhead dumpling skin. A great combination of refreshing sweetness and sweet creaminess, I love this too.

Sweet, excellent sake served in a unique, pretty glass pot.

Thoughts: Wonderful Dining Experience filled with Awesome Surprises

12 Gopeng Street

ICON Village #01-01-04

Park Bäckerei - Delicious German Breads

Being into German language and culture, it is a matter of time I will visit Park Bäckerei to get German Pretzels.

One of the highlights is the service here is very good and friendly, a notch above those of other bakeries or cafes.

And yes, their selection of breads and pretzels is delicious. They feature their trademark smooth, perfectly browned surface bellying a soft, dense and fluffy interior that is full of the goodness of wheat. The texture and taste is uniquely good.

Cheese Pretzel is the perfect marriage between cheese and bread (Pretzel is kind of like a bread). The nutty goodness of cheese makes the taste more exciting. Highly recommend.

Karamel Igel is filled with just the right amount of caramel for that intense burnt sweetness, juxtaposed with saltiness, to delight the palates without the overwhelming. Another star of die Bäckerei.

Speculoos Apple Laugen Bagel is like a nice apple pie with cinnamon and stretchy dough. Refreshing and rich in taste, I like this too.

Thoughts: Love the Bakes here!

12 Gopeng Street

Icon Village #01-41/41, 52/53

Nearest MRT: Tanjong Pagar

Ami Yaki - Grilling Goodness

This restaurant is no longer in operation

I do have a craving for grilled food for quite a while and have searching up on grilled food restaurants. But who could have known that my craving is totally sated by the grilled pork in this humble little kitchen that I visit due to curiosity instead of craving for grilled meat. This restaurant is one pleasant surprise find that proves to be kind to the wallet too. Icon Village does look so much more exciting with so many unique choices of restaurants and bakeries.

As said, this is a humble little kitchen, so everything is self-service, including payment. The good news is this in turn makes it possible to maintain the price at super wallet-friendly range, so I sure don't mind the self-service in this case.

The set meal consisting of grilled meat, 2 sides and a soup, with the option of adding various sides.  All these makes for a very hearty and sumptuous meal.

The Grilled Pork comes in amazingly thin, smooth, juicy slices, where the sweetness of grilled meat is accentuated by a thin line of char at the rim. It taste so good on its own, and also awesome after dipped with the special sauce.

The 16 grains rice is a good and healthy accompaniment to the grilled meat.

The seaweed with pickled cucumber is refreshing and tangy in taste. I like the potato salad, which is unique in taste  due to the peppery goodness in it. The Tonjiru is nourishing and has the extra herbal taste due to a good variety of vegetables added into it. I enjoy munching on the Japanese yam in it due to the springy texture.

The Grilled Squid is so delicious, being briny sweet and have the aroma of grilled seafood.

Yakitori is nice and juicy, but the aroma of char is not as distinct as compared to the grilled pork and squid.

It is pretty therapeutic to watch the licks of flames peeping out from the grill station. 

I totally enjoy my meal here. It is so satisfying on so many levels. It's one of the great choices to just enjoy delicious food at a budget.

Thoughts: Humble little place that totally impresses!

12 Gopeng St
#01-16 Icon Village

Nearest MRT: Tanjong Pagar