Shakō-Ba SG - Izakaya with awesome Food and the perfect Atmosphere

After a howling good time at Shakō-Ba, I’m back again!

Different layers of savoury sweetness with a warm core as base, this is luxuriously creamy and awesome.

Pungent umami of Pi Dan goes perfectly with the briny sweetness of the crab. The flying fish roe pops adds a good texture to the smooth creaminess of tofu. This is the Star item for a very good reason.

Spicy Hotate Handroll is very spicy.

Soft briny sweetness of Lobster contrasts so well with deep fried starchiness of the rice. Yummy treat!

Thoughts: Exciting Food and Experience

12 North Canal Road #02-01

Shakō Ba SG - Best Izakaya

After an exciting omakase at Shakō Ba, I know I have to experience the Izakaya experience here. Guess what, after an outing here, with the cool, edgy, Tokyoesque vibe and interior, awesome and spontaneous service crew, and familiar yet unique, delicious food choices, I can say this is the best Izakaya in Singapore!

Lobster Crispy Rice features the creamy soft briny sweetness and springy texture of Lobster, juxtaposing perfectly with the crispy rice. A delight to enjoy. One of my favourite of the night.

Pitan Crab Tofu is another hot favourite of the night. It is bursting with distinctive, umami-rich yet harmonious flavours that wow our palates.

Mango Soft Shell Crab Maki is a very flavourful, satisfying treat, with a good amount of crispiness.

Arancini Okonomiyaki is the crispiest okonomiyaki I ever have and I love it! Arancini is actually Italian rice ball, I’m very surprised that this west mets east Izakaya creation actually works so well.

Nice, juicy Kagoshima Pork Jowl for the extra oomph in the meal.

Truffle Somen with Caviar and Scallop is oh so good. The thin strands of cold somen is soaked with briny goodness, served as the perfect base for the caviar and sweet scallop.

Good crispy bar bites in the form of Deep Dried mini Crabs.

Fresh oysters with refreshing condiments.

Welcome drinks for patrons 👍

Cocktails shots won through dice game ✌

Thoughts: Absolutely the best place to have a good party!

12 N Canal Road #02-01

Shakō-Ba SG - Exciting Experience, Tantalising Food, Best Izakaya

Amid the numerous awesome recommendations of restaurants on Instagram, Shako-Ba SG caught my attention because this place looks to be promising a very different dining experience with a strong theme on Japanese Daruma and sensory fun. And yes, a visit here proves this point.

The vibe is so edgy, fun, daring and exciting, with unique, one-of-a-kind dining concept, such as incorporating games into the dining experience. You read that right, fast and easy games are part of the experience, and there are fun little prizes to be won in these games. I totally enjoy myself here, with the upbeat, party mood here, the interactive chef and counter staff, and lots of drinks from the welcome drink, winning the game and treats from fellow patrons.

The neon lights (on both the decor and food/drink presentation), stylish cool interior and lots of Damruma’s posters, motifs and porcelain figurines really accentuate that edgy, modern vibe of the restaurant. I just feel like I can paint the town red and still be cool at this place.

The food here is delicious and features different profiles of flavours and special dishes such as Truffle GyuTataki and Caviar Uni Somen. And Izakaya features exciting food choices that have unique twists and are all so delicious.

The service here is wonderful. Everyone here is so friendly and cheerful. Pei Ying takes very good care of me throughout the experience making it even better. And Alice is such a wonderful, awesome host for my Izakaya experience with my friends here.

Given the buoyant vibe at this place, it is one of the best places to go for gathering and having a good time with good food. And I can definitely say this is the best Izakaya!

My awesome experience at the Izakaya on another post 😉

Sashimi features the Sweet Creamy Quintuplet of raw delicacies. All are so sweet and creamy in different ways. Shoyu foam is used instead for dabbing on the sashimi for that bit of savoury taste, without overwhelming the natural sweetness of the sashimi. I enjoy them so much.

Seasonal Appetisers served with a cute kitty Daruma

Shirako tastes like custard of the ocean, whose briny creaminess is well-balanced by the light zesty sauce.

Luxurious uni with its creamy umami is perfect match with tofu skin, which refreshes the palates.

Monk Fish Liver is like Foie Gras from the sea, so rich and buttery, with a hint of brininess.

Unagi with sea salt featrues this briny warmness, which is a good transition in the taste profile from those of the previous appetisers.

Miyazaki GyuTataki gets this awesome meaty, earthy flavour from magical combination of beef and truffle while the zest added makes it even better. I love the generous amount of truffle shavings added.

Another highlight of the night is Caviar Uni Truffle Somen. When this dish is served, chef offers to play a game of dice with me. If I win, I get extra hair crab topping on my somen. Otherwise, I will make do with the three gastronomic treasures of caviar, uni and truffle. Of course, I'm game for it!

The cold somen tastes so refreshing and every smooth thin strands is soaked and coated with the thick, clear, flavourful broth. It goes perfectly with the creamy uni, savoury caviar and earthy truffle.

Grilled Tuna Head is creamy and oily, well balanced by zest in the lime and yuzu with radish.

Abalone Claypot is da bomb. This is the first time I tried rice with abalone, and I find that it works beautifully due to the awesome juxtapose of fluffy, starchy texture of rice and the chewy, meaty texture of abalone. The briny sweetness of abalone liver sauce and earthy aroma of truffle and mushroom elevate the rice is pure goodness. As usual, I request half of it to takeaway to eat as breakfast next morning, and I can say this is pure comfort heaven.

The soup is milky, super savoury sweet and so comforting to drink. One of the best Japanese soups I ever have.

Another game comes in the form of shiny gold poker cards. I got a "9" and nine shots of cocktails stylishly, with lots of bling, presented to me. My favourite is the Sake Cocktail, and the most interesting one is the Watermelon with Volka. To go with the mood of the place, I treat the shots to the chef, counter staff and fellow diners. The party mood is in the air here, with everyone saying cheers while treating each other to drinks. There are fellow diners would treat me to lots of drinks also 😁

Sweet Japanese premium fruits is one of the best ways to round up an omakase.

At the start of the omakase, I get to play a game of choosing the cup to get the mystery complimentary drink. And I got Watermelon Volka!

Thoughts: One of the most Exciting and Unique Dining Experiences

12 North Canal Road #02-01

Tamashii Robataya - Comfort food for the Soul

This place is no longer in operation

Actually, I had holding off to try out the food at Tamashii Robataya for quite a while despite taking note of this place a few months ago. For one, I am too busy to do so and if I have the time, I spent it on one of my favourite dining haunts instead since I have been getting wary of wasting my time on mediocre food (and I have been getting picker, will rather cook a quick meal by myself than to trudge down to those chain restaurants)—it makes me angry and yet, I do not have the energy nor time to spend on ranting about it. So when I finally find the time to visit Tamashii Robataya and find out what their food is all about, I am so glad that I did.

While decor of the place is simplistic chic, the glorious display of fresh Japanese produce at the counter is absolutely impressive. Beautiful, bright hues of vibrant orange from the tangerines, attention-grabbing red from the tomatoes, sweet mild green from the honeydew, creamy yellow from the enoki mushrooms, earthy light brown of the onions, crisp green from the various vegetables and more ... it is tempting to order them if the budget allows it. With all those ingredients in front when dining, the experience is turned up a notch. It helps that the menu states the price of the food on display, so I will not be dining in trepidation at how surprising my final bill will turn up to be.

As for the food, I give thumbs-up for them. Since this place is about robatayaki, I got to try it, thus ordering the grilled sweet onions. Hardly any seasoning is added, the onions are lightly and skilfully grilled before being served. The light hints of charred taste adds dimension to the taste but is minimum enough not to impart any of that bitterness typical of burnt food. The onions, being quality produce, truly do not need the seasoning, saved for the optional miso paste, as they are clean and sweet in taste with a dash of the onion's pungent flavour. 

The Kushiyaki set lunch consists of three kinds of skewers, sashimi, chawamushi, tonjiro, mushrooms in butter and dessert, all at an affordable price of $38—this is the most expensive of the set lunches though, I chose this since I am not into generic set lunches of the usual suspects. The skewers of a thin slice of pork wrapped around tomato are sublime: one bite into it, the tangy, sweet juices of the tomato burst out to soak the pork in them. Hardly any seasoning is used, but this skewer is full of flavours due to the wholesome goodness of the juicy tomato and very fresh pork. I also love the smoked duck with zucchini due to the innovative element—how often can one find duck dishes in Japanese cuisine—and the great marriage of the intensely flavoured duck meat and the relatively neutral, clear taste of the zucchini. The mushroom with minced chicken meat is nice with a small dash of salt, and the mushroom is very tender in texture. Though this one pales in comparison to the other two.

The much raved about truffle chawamushi (need $8 top-up) is truly good due to the strong earthy aroma of truffle. This is most probably the best chawamushi I had tried. However, I feel that the combination of egg and truffle is just excellent, but not amazing since the egg does not accentuate the flavour of the truffle. In fact, I was bowled over by the mushrooms in butter instead. The meaty, earthy taste of fresh mushrooms goes in perfect harmony with the sweet-smelling, creamy flavour of the butter. Tuck into this while it is hot for optimized taste.

Even the rice is so good that I finished them all (I usually have difficulty finishing a bowl of rice). The moist, shiny, fluffy, complete grains of rice is packed with fragrant, starchy wholesomeness, even just looking at them can whet the appetite. The sashimi consists of three thick, fresh, succulent slabs of raw fish: one mekajiki and two salmon. The mekajiki is very fresh with no hints of that typical fishy smell and when paired with the wasashi peppered with yuzu, the fish tastes literally sweet! Since I always love the Kyoho grapes due to the hints of taste of wine, I definitely enjoy the Kyoho sorbet here. 

The weak links are the appetizer that is too salty and ordinary, and tonjiru that has lots of ingredients but the flavours do not mesh well together (maybe some with acquired taste may appreciate this). And the chairs do not have solid back for patrons to stuff the bags snugly behind. One of the patrons' bag actually dropped off and gave me a huge shock with its loud thudding sound. The good part about the chairs is that they are wide and comfortable.

Service is good and attentive, especially this friendly male service staff who even takes the effort to pour the soy sauce for me. I got to give the props to the chefs for serving the dishes with the oars, which adds on to my enjoyment of the meals due to the uniqueness, novelty and the sort of personal touch there. This is definitely one of the factors that I will bring others for a meal here. And one last thing that seals the deal for me: the staffs bade farewell and thanked the patrons when leaving.

Not only am I going back again, I am going to bring my friends and family to there.

My Thoughts: Very Nice!

Nearest car park: URA Roadside Parking along North Canal Road or UOB Plaza's car park

Nearest MRT: Raffles Place

12 North Canal Road

#02-01

Singapore

Contact No: 62220316