Ikkoten Omakase - Amazing Experience and Awesome Surprises in Traditional Japanese Cuisine

Omakase is a special dining experience, in which it is more than good food and trusting the chef on it, it is also about the showmanship (quoted a fellow patron) and the interaction with the chef. This is why Ikkoten Omakase is my favourite omakase restaurant among the tough competition. Chef Brandon Low ensures that the dining experience is a multi sensory one, fully engaging all of our senses. It is a place where tradition is made exciting with unique touches, where Japanese cuisine is subtly reinterpreted to explore new tastes that pleasantly surprise me.

Every moment here is full of excitement, from the beauty of the dishes, the stories of the ingredients and cooking philosophy, the textures of the food, the aroma and to the taste of meticulously crafted dishes.

And this time, I’m back again, to enjoy the newly crafted Uni feast for the first time! As an uni lover, I totally love it! Best of all, the uni used here is of premium high quality, chemical free and has the pure creamy custardy sweetness.

5 dishes of different taste profiles to experience the bountiful harvest from the sea, earth and fields.

So how well does peanut tofu go with uni? Excellently, amazingly and unbelievably well! This is match made in heaven. The roasted nutty taste of peanut holds up so well with the creamy umami of uni. I’m amazed.

Being prepared with various methods, Ankimo here tastes and feels like foie gras terrine from the sea. So unique, so creamy and so luxuriously good.

The Ginko Nut sprinkled with sea salt is so simple and so good.

The eggplant dish here is the beat eggplant dish I ever have. Made with Japanese eggplant, the taste is so refreshing with a layer of savoury goodness. And the texture is perfect, featuring a slight crunchiness not typical of eggplant.

Fish with Japanese peppercorns is so good, especially with the peppercorns to perk up the taste.

Tsukuri, Seasonal White Fish Sashimi with Bafun Uni is probably one of the best uni dishes. The contrast of crunchy, refreshing, juicy, thinly sliced cucumber, rolled with mildly sweet white fish, and the creamy briny sweet uni is out of this world. It’s wow at first bite.

Kobachi featuring Bafun Uni Chawamushi with yuzu is one of the best chawamushi because the subtle flavours are so well-balanced between creaminess, zest, savoury goodness, vegetal pungency and buttery egginess. And the taste is so awesomely unique.

Yakimono is Binchotan Charcoal Grilled Seasonal Fish that really surprises by how good and different a fish can taste. When eaten on its own, the fish is creamy and fresh with a natural briny sweetness. When sprinkled with lemon juice, oh my, the taste transforms to pure toasty goodness with that lovely aroma of roasted meat. It is so good! I’m amazed by how much lemon can changes the taste.

Nabemono is Uni Shinjo Japanese Hot Pot. It looks so beautiful, like white flowers blooming. And it tastes beautiful too. I can immediately catch whiffs of the beautiful aroma of the soup when it is set in front of me. The taste is so warm, comforting with a soft sweetness of the sea and the earthy flavours of the mushrooms. The “flowers” are made from a special blend of fish paste with a hidden ganache of uni, yielding an unique texture with a slight bit of bounciness typical of fish ball mixed with cake texture. Another awesome surprise.

And it is a must to request for takeaway of the rice since the chefs will wrap it up in Japanese Bamboo leaves. Imbued with the aroma of bamboo leaf, it is so, so, so delicious.

Signature Sakura Ebi Donabe Meshi with Miso Soup & House-made Pickles is pure comfort tasty food. The premium Niigata Koshihikari rice is cooked in fish bone collagen broth to imbue each grain of fluffy starchy rice with that milky briny sweetness, and yield a smooth texture and pearl-like sheen. This is so-so-good. And with the intense umami of Sakura Ebi and smoky umami of freshly shaved natural bonito flakes, it tastes even more complex.

Mizugashi of sweet, refreshing Yubari Melon and Kyoho Grape ❤️

Sesame Pudding with Kinako powder is full of earthy goodness.

Chef Brandon pouring free flow house-made sake for patrons. We have lots of fun drinking it.

Thoughts: Unique, Amazing Experience

86 Telok Ayer Street

Toku Nori Handroll Bar - Interesting, Satisfying Japanese Fusion Handrolls

I always love handrolls. There is simply something satisfying about chomping down  on a roll of starchy sushi rice wrapped in seaweed with various toppings. So when I hear about Toku Nori, promising done unique creations, I jump right onto the bandwagon. And I said bandwagon because this place is so popular, being full-house on a Saturday night.

What I love about the handrolls here is that all feature different profiles with the fluffy, starchy, well-seasoned sushi rice as base and delicious, tempting toppings.  The premium handrolls are highly recommended.

The place is like cool bar where patrons dine at the kitchen counter or the bar counter. I have to admit that the seats are placed pretty close to each other. So it feels pretty crowded when full house.

The service here is good, being friendly, polite and professional. I enjoy my time here.

Uni Stack is luxurious creamy umami, topped with gold leaf. There are so many bafun uni stacked on top of the fluffy starchy rice, and lots of caviar added too for pops of briny excitement. This is so sinfully good.

Complimentary miso soup is full of flavours due to the clams added. Clam Soup never disappoints 😉

Hotate is one of the surprise of the day due to unexpected but brilliant pairing tangy yuzu kosho, lime, clean tasting chives with the briny hotate. I’m absolutely impressed.

Engawa with ahiro miso and roasted garlic is another surprise since it is unbelievably creamy and smooth. Love this too.

Wagyu & Uni is rich luxurious marriage of creamy umami with meaty goodness. And it works perfectly.

Foie gras is earthy, creamy with hints of excitement from the garlic soy glaze and spicy leeks.

Buta Kakuni Skewers is meaty and fatty. It goes very well with the shiro negi to cut through the richness.

Maguro, not part of the premium set menu, is interesting in taste due to the smoked onion cream and crispy shallots. But it is plain in comparison to the premium rolls. Maybe I will be more impressed if I start with this roll instead. It’s like once you go premium, you can’t turn back.

Warabi Mochi sprinkled with kinako, goma, matcha powder. These are so refreshing and feature the perfect balance of chewiness and easy to bite texture.

Exciting sake pairing with the premium menu.

Thoughts: Satisfying and Interesting, with hints of Excitement

200A Telok Ayer Street

Ikkoten Omakase - Awesome Unique Dining Experience

After an awesome kaiseki dinner full of unique surprises made from quality produce from Japan, I'm back again at Ikkoten!

And yes, I totally enjoy my second experience too, with chef Brandon Low remembering that I was here last year, thus changing up some items in the menu for more surprises.

Sakizuke is a luxurious starter of Awabi (Japanese abalone), Uni and Shungiku. The abalone is so tender and packed with mild buttery brininess, going very well with creamy sweet uni. Shungiku, a type of leafy vegetable with slightly bitter, herbal flavour does the magic here to elevate this flavourful dish to be absolutely delicious.

I love it that lots of flowers come with Hassun. White Sesame Tofu with Crab is full of lovely nuanced sweetness form the sea and the earth, Crunchy Kuruma Ebi with fine briny Mozuku and Water Shield is so refreshing, being perfect as representative dish for summer.  Yuzu Sushi is a very unique refreshing sushi is tastes so satisfying.  Ladyfinger Fishball tastes so amazing that I just blurt out about how awesome it is. Using tiny Japanese ladyfinger, this unique fishball, made from many different fishes for the right taste, has this crunchy bite that that I love. Fig with Yuzu Zest is sweet, savoury and unique, 

Chef Brandon adding the royal treatment to Suimono

Suimono is a bowl of very heartwarming, satisfying Venus Clam Soup with Japanese vegetables that is full of clear savoury sweetness. And the clam is so briny sweet, plump and juicy.

Tsukuri comes in a surprise of the rare deep sea flatfish, Magochi, which must be served in super thin slices for that perfect texture. Creamy uni and gelatinous savoury tangy jelly is perfect match with the mildly sweet fish. Love this!

Ootori Aburi is like a hearty chuck Wagyu of the sea. So rich, so luxurious and so smooth. The layer of charred meat adds dimension to the meat and the bubble soya sauce makes it more exciting.

Complimentary Sweet Corn Soup with Cherry Tomatoes is so amazingly sweet and creamy.

Kegani is briny goodness that tastes even better with the jelly for variation in texture and taste.

Special Sushi Negitoro made exciting with egg yolk, spring onion and toasty rice puff. This is so rich and so good!

Yakimono in the form of Ayu Ichiyaboshi is creamy and full of savoury goodness.

Takiawase is like one of chef Brandon's specialty since simmered dish needs lots of care and thoughts put in to be good, and his Takiawase dish always hits the sweet spot. And I meant it literally this time since the Anago is sweet in taste while maintaining its firmness after simmering, which it is amazing. Tamago Tofu added is also very good.

Shiizakana Binchotan Charcoal Grilled Kagoshima A5 Wagyu is pure meaty goodness with that lovely layer of char, lots of flavours packed between the thin layers of wagyu, made creamy with the raw egg.

Shokuji is Signature Unagi Ebi Donabe Meshi is full of beautiful nuanced flavours. Best part is the claypot rice can be packed into onigiri and wrapped with bamboo leaves from Japan. The sweet smell of bamboo leaves infused into the onigiri makes it so delicious.

The desserts of Japanese Fruits and Homemade Warabi, specially coated with matcha for a change in taste, round things up beautifully.

Thoughts: Totally enjoy my dining experience. Looking forward to going here again!

86 Telok Ayer St

Ikkoten Omakase - Amazing, Varied and Memorable

I go to Ikkoten Omakase with the intention of enjoying a good omakase, and it turns out to be far more than that. The various traditional Kyoto methods of preparation of food, the extra touches such as gold dust and mist, use of charcoal, hay and bamboo leaves, and grilling of food over charcoal in a clay stove right in front of the patrons. Plus the friendly, engaging Chef Brandon Low who explains in details the story behind each dish, it is an awesome feast for my 5 senses.

Every dish here is unique and delights my palates. And for the Hana course, lots of dishes have the Shiro Uni from Hokkaido. As someone who loves savouring uni, I am of course real happy with this.

The interior of restaurant is of minimalist Zen style, which is perfect for omakase session. Hidden within Kura Oyster & Highball restaurant, this place definitely feels exclusive and private, plus a hint of cosiness. To add it on, the service crew is very friendly and attentive.

Update: And I'm back again to enjoy the kaiseki here. The experience is as good as ever.

At my third visit, I try the Uni Menu, and it is awesome!

I have one of my best meals on my fifth visit 💖

The sixth visit, seventh visit, eighth visit are so awesome too. Chef Brandon always manages to make my time here special.

New menu is awesome too! With new improvement afterwards.

Summer 2025

I need to talk about my favourite dish first: Chef's Signature Sushi of Minced Otoro with Hokkaido Uni, a dot of seaweed essence and fine spring onions decked on top of Crystal Rice Puff. Without the whole sheet of seaweed, the minced toro and sweetness of uni really showcase their unadulterated creaminess and sweetness in their entirety. The tiny bit of seaweed essence and spring onions add hints of excitement to overall taste.

Yes, this is one of the best minced toro and uni combi I ever have. And the crystal rice puff has an interesting crunchy texture to sushi.

Gold dust sprayed over the sushi for a touch of luxe. I like this!

First appetiser is impressively served with a mould of shiro uni stacked on top of sesame tofu soaked in dashi sauce. Very flavourful dish and the sesame tofu is so sweet. I suggest savouring the uni on its own to appreciate its pure umami and leaving a bit to eat with the tofu.  

Hassun is a beautifully plated assortment of appetisers consisting of vegetables prepared in various forms. The dark bowl with golden edge holds a refreshing and appetite-whetting medley of needle-shaped seaweed, Hijiki (I love this seaweed due to the nutty flavour and the soft texture), shredded carrot and sesame. The clear bowl has super silky tofu skin soaked in thickened dashi. Sweet, sweet pumkin coated with deep fried miniscule rice cubes introduces a nice change in texture. The slice of tako is surprisingly easy to bite, and the dot of sauce elevates the mild briny taste of the octopus. The eggplant has a nice juxtapose between its sweetness and the savoury taste of the mellow miso sauce.

Water is sprayed on the top of the cover in front of patrons, replicating the Japanese royal experience where the water droplets are the proof that the soup had not been tampered with.

Suimono is a dish that grows on me. Without any additive, this sea bass and vegetable clear soup tastes very light at first mouthful. And as I drink more, the layering effect kicks in with the natural sweetness of the ingredients starts to get more pronounced. Enjoying soup this way is delightful.

Tsukuri, seasonal sashimi, is another one of my favourites, for an obvious reason: uni! I always like the clean taste of flounder, and this time I like it even better when it is wrapped around each uni to highlight the intense umami of the uni. Another thing I love about this dish is the texture: firm, crunchy flounder is a perfect match with the custard-like creaminess of the uni.

Otoro being grilled over charcoal. The smoky aroma heightens the anticipation.

Look at the beautiful mabling of the otoro.

Grilled Otoro is definitely another highlight of the dinner. With the melt-in -your-mouth texture, the smokiness from the charcoal and grilled surface, this thick slab of fish tastes like super melty steak from the sea. I love this. And I heard another patron gushing about it.

Hokkaido sweet baby corn being grilled over charcoal stove. I know this will be good the moment I caught a whiff of the sweet smell of burnt husk.

Kobachi features incredibly milky sweet, fresh, crunchy baby corn infused with the aroma of burnt husk. The light butter soya sauce adds traces of lovely buttery umami to it. And lots of uni put on top of the baby corn, yes! Like the appetizer, enjoy the uni on its own and left just some to eat with the corn.

Yakimono is grilled Barracuda fused with scrambled egg. It tastes so good, especially with the lime juice. It also hits the right notes texture wise, with the egg adding moisture and create variation in the overall texture. The two cute sweet potato slices worth a special mention here because they are so sweet and full of earthy flavours.

Takiawase is the surprise of the night for me. For one, I'm not really into eggplants and much less simmer dishes since I find simmered dishes too mashy in texture. But this dish wins my heart over. The big slices of eggplant is so sweet (yes, I know I have used the word "sweet" countless of times on the vegetables in this note, but fact is fact) and refreshing in taste. In addition, it has a bit of firmness that I like, The dashi, spring onion, bubble soya sauce and bonito flakes make this dish taste even more exciting.

My course of Shiizakana is changed from Wagyu Beef to Tuna Collar at my request. The flesh is so succulent and juicy, dispelling my initial worry that the grilled fish will be dry and plain in taste (I had such experiences at top notch restaurants).

The chef hard at work shaving the super hard 3-year aged bonito into umami rich flakes.

The reveal of Shokuji: Donabe, aka the Japanese claypot rice.

Cooked in 8 hours brewed broth, the rice is amazingly flavourful, packed with the goodness of the ocean. The Ayu fish, nicely and throughly deboned, is added for extra punches of umami. It goes very well with the freshly shaved bonito flakes and refreshing pickles.

Video shows the making of Donabe into Onigiri. And the chef lovingly wraps them up into bamboo leaf so that the aroma of the leaf will infuse into the rice.

My kitchen is filled with the lovely aroma of bamboo when I steam them for breakfast. They taste oh-so-good!

Traditional Matcha Preparation to yield nice foamy matcha tea. This is my first time trying foamy matcha, and I love it.

Mizugashi consists of matcha pudding with azuki and soya powder, and Japanese fruits of Pione Grape, Peach and premium Melon. I love the intense grassy notes and umami of the matcha pudding, rounded up nicely by the earthy sweetness of the red beans and soya powder.

The fruits are so sweet and is packed with their own distinctive aroma. Specially the melon, which is like floral honey water in solid form that melts in the mouth.

Nice Interesting Jasmine Umeshu.

All the dishes here are so memorable and very distinctive that I have no problem recalling each of them while writing this note. This is really one of a kind awesome experience.

By the way, the chef can also change the menu slightly to accomodate patrons who don't eat raw food, so this is a good choice to bring one's non-raw-food-eater loved ones to enjoy traditional Omakase here.

Thoughts: Awesome and Unique

86 Telok Ayer Street

Nearest MRT: Tanjong Pagar or Telok Ayer