Hamoru Japanese Restaurant, Food Republic @ Suntec

Food Republic seems to be making a noticeable effort in bringing up the standards of local food courts and setting a new benchmark for the other chain outlets. This I mean, applies to both the quality and the cost of having a meal. I've been lunching at Hamoru for the past 2 consecutive days and this place sending a message to other claims to serving Japanese food in food courts that they seriously need to do a whole lot better. Well, this place is noticeably better and claims a name by themselves with their own separated seats. Prices here get quite steep in the context of what most can afford to eat on a daily basis. Do not expect top notch quality, but honestly, its very much better than food courts elsewhere. The surprising factor here is that they actually serve foie gras, otoro and uni. Hmmmm.....

Lunch day 1

Shiok maki

This is looks really local in style, name aside. The presentation speaks little of elegance. It turns out to be pretty tasty and pricey at $15 a serving. What you get is unagi and avocado in rice topped with strips of salmon, blanketed some cheesy mayo like mixture followed with ebi roe. The whole is then torched for the char effect. Simple, fairly unimaginative, but tasty.

asari (shortneck clam) soup

I was recommended this by the waitress and it turns out to be clams in a miso based soup. It's not too bad in the cold weather actually. There's quite a bit of clams hidden at the bottom. The only minor gripe is that the miso flavor didn't quite come out as rich as I hoped. There's an option to have ramen/soba in them for a top up of additional $2.

chicken liver

I was a little taken aback when I saw the chicken liver for the first time from the color and some dripping blood. This is also the first time I am ordering these from a Japanese grill and to my surprise, this is more like foie gras, being soft and creamy than the usual chinese styled cooked chicken livers. Nope, do not expect melt in your mouth, it's only $2 a stick. It's actually also not too bad despite it's slightly gruesome appearances.

foie gras

You must be wondering if this is good. I'm just wondering if it was duck or goose. At $8 a stick, this is more expensive than Kazu, and I can only say that it's definitely better there than here. An Israeli colleague of mine also happens to be having them for the first time in his life. I think he's found himself a new sin. The crisp on the surface from the foie gras here was a tad lacking and the still creamy insides didn't disintegrate as smoothly as I hoped, but what the hell.

Lunch Day 2

shiro maguro

The menu describes this as white tuna and the meat comes lightly flavored with a hint of soy sauce. The consistency of the meat is quite firm and on the whole, not bad. The chill factor does need a bit of work though. Does anyone have any idea what's the difference of this from the regular tuna?

grilled saba shio

This soba shio isn't too large a piece and despite the grill, somehow retains quite a lot of juice in the meat. The greens on the side are topped with a citrus and sesame based sauce which is quite appetizing. On the whole, quite decent, but not remarkable.

cha soba

This is actually disappointing. Not that I expect top notch sobas to be had here, but the noodles are seriously, limp. Also it neither the soba nor the dripping sauce comes sufficiently chilled. Do not order this if you like soba.