It is a small and pretty resturant, with dim lights and furniture made from dark-coloured wood. The place feels really cosy, but I thought the seating was a little cramped. A small little fence was all that segregated my table from my neighbouring diners'. So its a no-no if you are looking for a romantic date at the restaurant. A bit noisy (cos popular mah, with the place always being full-house) but generally a pleasant setting for one to enjoy the food.
I have friends who love this restaurant, so I was really looking forward to this meal. Perhaps my expectations were too high (with all the rave reviews) or maybe it's because my appetite was not that good (post-exams stress perhaps?) but I didn't think that the food was all that fantastic. My family tried the foie gras, and my hubby thought it was so-so. The grilled wagu beef tongue was not bad, but I have tasted better ones (this one a bit too fatty for my liking lah). Garlic fried rice average only (the best I have tasted so far - Corus Hotel in KL) and the sashimi was about average too (I much prefer the sashimi at Rakuzen). The chicken wing was probably the most yummy..but, as a typical Singaporean, something felt amiss without the chicken rice chilli =) So my thumbs-up still goes to the $1 chicken wings at FengShan hawker centre, which is coincidentally where I am going for dinner tonight.
Overall, I'll give it a 5.5/10. The score is a bit harsh, but maybe with age, I don't enjoy oily grilled Japanese food as much. Sashimi and sushi probably goes better with my palate, which is why I enjoyed dinner at Rakuzen much more.
Other sumiyaki restaurants that I have tried are 1) Gyu-Kaku at Chijmes; and 2) Shunjuu at Robertson Quay.
My dining experiences at Gyu-kaku were good...I ate there twice, and both times, I enjoyed the experience of bbqing my own food..takes the monotony away from the mechanics of eating, chewing, swallowing. The cosy box seats provide for ample privacy, and barbequeing the foodwas quite fun. The combination of excellent marinates and the bit of hands-on cooking we had to do made the food taste extra-delicious. I still recall the bbq garlic chicken and wagyu beef..excellent! The hot stone rice was quite a novelty to me too and tasted pretty good. And don't worry about bbq smoke in an enclosed area...I don't recall that there was much smoke to bother with in the first place.
For Shunjuu, the dishes came out pretty yummy. I cannot remember exactly what we ate, but for sure, my family and I ate lots. The ones that I remember (which are probably the ones that tasted better) included the century egg tofu, grilled bacon (with something) and grilled prawns. But I kinda missed the experience of bbqing my own food. At Shunjuu, I chose to sit outside the restaurant, and despite the fact there was no air-con, I think the cosy dining ambience at Robertson Quay made up for it.Overall, I think the sumiyaki at Shunjuu is better than Kazu. Will rate Shunjuu about 7.5/10. But because I think the self-bbqing at Gyu-kaku made my dining experiences more memorable, plus the cosy ambience at the resturant, Gyu-kaku is presently at the top of my sumiyaki list with a rating of 8/10.
2 comments:
Mmmm yum I still remember Gyu-kaku. The various meats were good, and so were the veggies and mushrooms :D Thanks for lunch today and see you at the bbq! If you're very free you can go and visit my blog but just warning you first, the font is quite small, I don't blog "properly" and I blog a lot at once. Hehe. And in case you haven't guessed, it's Ee Ling here. Good luck studying and see you soon :)
Hello,
now that your topic is on Japanese food, I definitely need to add on! So far I have enjoyed Tom Ton @ Central - tried the Kobe beef cubes (limited servings a day), scallops and Tonkatsu とんかつ (can fight with Tonkichi @ Ngee Ann City). Only the corn for S$7 was definitely not worth it. Other than that, this was one of the more authentic Japanese meal I had back here.
Try it!
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