Lunch @ Sushi Yoshida

Lunch with Junie & Chris. This secluded sanctuary (reservations required) looked like one of those shrines of Japanese food where people with discerning palates should make their pilgrimage to at least once for the experience. Incidentally, Sushi Yoshida was one of those that actually did not disappoint after being washed thoroughly by the eddies of hype though multitudes of reviews, professional and private. Deep inside, I had quietly suspected that it was probably as good as people said it was. Or close to the praises it has received. I've been planning to visit (10 Devonshire Road) for quite a while, but never quite found the time and company until today. I mentioned that it was secluded and that only applies to those coming for the first time without specific instructions to the actual location. After the first enlightenment, you'll know where to look out for the small sign atop large potted plants that front the inconspicuous entrance of the restaurant.


The interior is wallpapered in a dull wasabi green and clad in dark wooden furnishing creating a stark and darker, but much appreciated reprieve from the blazing afternoon sun that filtered in from various tinted windows. Counter seats are limited to 10 with approximately 20-25 table seats and and a private dining room. The highlight of lunch came from their chiraishizushi (sashimi on rice box) at $38. Speaking of which, prices have been upped from the previously much more economical $28. Prices listed are on nett basis so one expect to pay just exactly as the menu states.


Their onsen tamago was the starter. Served chilled and bathed in light soya sauce that was flavoured with yuzu. On the top, a sprinkle of seaweed and a dollop of grated wasabi. The wasabi which awoke the taste buds. I had thought that I'd be getting a runny yoke but apparently it was poached enough to be in solid state, albeit very soft. I thought this is pretty damn good.


I think what I got was hokkagai, unagi, hirame, chutoro, ikura, shitake mushroom and crab sticks (??!!). Maybe hamachi as well but I'm not too sure if it was. This chirashi box was pretty looking. There were a few gripes. I thought that a couple of more pieces of sashimi would have been great so that it wouldn't just be only the ikura and the sakura denbu at the end. I would have been happier without pickled ginger as well. The rice was incongruous mix of sour from the vinegar, the seeping pickled ginger, daikon and more purple pickles at the bottom. It was hence much more infused with flavour than I expected. As my lunch mate aptly put across, crab sticks perverses the Japanese of this lunch. 


This was indeed otoro sushi ($17 a piece, so go easy). While many claim to attain some sort of epicurean nirvana while having this, it was ultimately just a tasty and oily piece of tuna belly. It will not give you an orgasm. Sorry to burst your bubble if you had one but the truth is not always as pretty as fat marbling.


The asari butter itame piqued my interest because of the word 'butter'. This dish is essentially round necked clams stir fried in a butter sauce. It was both salty and tasty. The sauce almost overwhelmed the natural flavours of the clam though. I thought it would have made great beer food.


Lunch also came a soup of choice between clear and miso. I like miso. It had some pieces of salmon. This one is really sweet in a good way. So good that I was tempted to mention a particularly dreaded three letter abbreviation that begins with M, followed by S and ends with a G. But I won't.

I managed to sample a spoonful (uni-ful as well) of their kaisenmushi (chawanmushi with ikura and uni). I'm surprised that this dish came into existence as I personally thought very little of it. I maintain that uni should be served fresh and un-tempered by heat. Interesting as it may have appeared, I didn't think it deserved the $30 price tag that was attached to it.

I can see myself coming back. The place can get a little noisy from the chatter of the crowd but it was paired with very attentive service (albeit mechanical). While they're not Aoki, they're also not as expensive.

Another lunch at Sushi Yoshida

It's been some time since my last visit. Noticed a couple of changes. For starters, the plastic lobster under the bridge at the entrance of the restaurant doesn't exist anymore. I'm not sure where that crawled to but the area where it once resided is now filled with plants. Also, it seems that there's otoro these days in the chirashi box. Or has that become the norm?

I decided to try something different today and ordered a unagi shiroyaki set from the lunch menu (the onsen tamago from the lunch set is still good). As implied in the name, the eel is white as they were grilled without the tare and the flavouring comes from the accompanying shoyu and grated wasabi. The eel was served hot from the grill with the oils on the surface of the fish still bubbling. It was okay. I was actually thinking that it might have tasted something like anago but I guess they're just different.

I recalled that I've never actually had uni here so here's the obligatory uni test for myself. This stuff was pretty damned good. Although they weren't as chilled as I would have liked, the creamy texture and aroma made up for it. It seemed that there is a typhoon happening in Japan according to the chef and that the prices of uni had gone up. Although the restaurant didn't raise any prices, the prices of the uni gunkan here were already one of the higher ones I've come across. In the end, it still etched a smile on me so I guess that was the thing that really counted for $16 a pop.

And then, there was still the chirashi. But I'm pretty sure enough's been said about them. Nice of them to have otoro instead of chutoro as they did serve previously. I've thus incentive to come back again for that. I've noticed, the sushi set for the lunch looked pretty decent as well. Hmmmmmmmm...

A return to Yoshida

I came back again for lunch because the chiraishizushi was so memorable. I think I got some fish liver today which wasn't in the box the last time I was here. The chutoro seemed to melt more smoothly. I was wondering if that was psychological for the chutoro part. Everything was as good as I remembered it. I'll be hard pressed to want to pick anything else from the lunch menu if I come back again and I'm wondering if this was a good thing or not. Lol. If I really had to find a fault here, it'll probably be the pickled ginger which I was quite willing to overlook. The sashimi moriawase (I believe there was salmon, hamachi, maguro and a juicy scallop) turned up smaller than I had expected. I didn't get to taste it but it looked as good if not as impressive as the chiraishizushi box. And not to forget, the wonderful chilled onsen tamago in yuzu infused soy sauce. Mouthwatering is god damned right!

Back in Kazu

I'm not sure why some of the photos that I take from Kazu tend look worse than usual. Not that it's a deterrence for me from coming back to visit again and again. The menu seen minor changes since the previous visits. No, I'm not referring to the seasonal items that rotate throughout the year. Some of the regular items that are being offered now comes in differently sized portions - which was not available previously. The old prices for those said items are now tagged onto the smaller potions. Some of which, are smaller than the original ones (single size portion available only) that they previously had. That means that while you get to choose larger portions of your favourite items, prices also have gone up. Now that was a bit confusing.

short neck clams cooked in butter

These clams aren't as buttery as those from Sushi Yoshida, but are pretty tasty along with the salty broth filled with golden mushrooms. The portions I felt are a little small.

salmon milt (sperm)

This item seemed to be seasonal on the menu and taste like something I've had before in Chinese mixed fish soups. The pinkish appearance on the exposed sections indicated that it was not fully cooked. The texture of the salmon milt is akin to a harder tofu. I couldn't taste much of it when eaten with the ponzu sauce and spicy grated radish.

foie gras

fatty pork with apple

I'm not sure if there is a change in the preparation of this pork with apple but I they did come with some apple sauce the first couple of times I had them here. Those were definitely much better than these ones without.

prawn and scallop wrapped with bacon strips

shimeji mushroom in pork belly

chicken hearts

lamb chops

beef and cheese roll

squid ink rice

The squid ink rice was quite heftily priced at $20 for a small pot. A pot of it has enough to fill 2 bowls so you can do the math on how much it costed per bowl. The squid ink flavour was very apparent in the rice which also had some mushrooms, vegetables and bits of squid. It wasn't bad, just another one of those items that wasn't spectacular.

grilled whale tongue

This grilled whale tongue was from the seasonal menu. Womething I probably will not be ordering again. The taste was not bad. Just unremarkable. The meat has a fatty texture much like satay but the fatty portions was tough and chewy instead of soft. In fact, it was chewier than the beef tongue.

japanese sweet potato

These Japanese sweet potato takes time to grill, so it's good to have them ordered early. Hot and buttered, these will make you hot and bothered. Lol.

grilled beef tongue

Kazu's tiramisu

Revisiting Man Man Japanese Unagi Restaurant

So, we managed to get a reservation for a weeknight dinner at Man Man. On hindsight, it wasn't the best of idea to be seated at the counter. It was a little smoky and we left smelling of the greasy charcoal grill.

I wanted to try their hitsumabushi because I've only had it once before years back at the defunct Wakashachiya. Man Man's bowl was smaller and no surprise here, tasted much better because of the quality of the unagi.

We ordered a side of their kimoyaki because I liked the liver from the first visit. Sweet charred eel livers.

Because the hitsumabushi didn't feel like it was enough food, we added on their shirayaki - unagi grilled without the sauce. Also coincidentally something that I've only had once before years back in the also defunct Sushi Yoshida. There was nothing but salt on the eel so the little flavours that they had came through. I liked this.

Nogawa, Le Meridien

I've been contemplating this restaurant (100 Orchard Road, #03-25 Lobby Level, Le Meridien, tel:6732 2911) for a while now, wondering about how much it might cost to eat here since this place is associated with the now defunct Akane - a bastion of quality Japanese cuisine. That translated into expensive. Fortunately, lunch was still a viable option. While one cannot reasonably expect to eat for low cost here, there is still an element of value for money as the restaurant did appear fairly affordable if you picked the appropriate options.

The food here was good. No complains at all. What I have are comparisons between the other places. Chiraishi ($35 with chawanmushi) here looked visually slightly less impressive than say Sushi Yoshida, Botan or the mazechiraishi from Aoki, but the quality was by no means inferior. Let's just say that frills are minimal, but the quality remains unquestioned.

The order of otoro ($24 for 2) and uni ($20 for 2) came out exquisite as I had anticipated. They were very enjoyable. The well marbled otoro had arrived with the requisite smooth fattiness and I thought that it was almost buttery as the tuna belly fell apart in the mouth. The uni was very well chilled and creamy and was definitely one of the better ones I've had. I'd eat loads of them if they weren't so costly.

Here's their chirashi set with the sashimi served in a separate container. The sashimi box included sake, maguro, chutoro, ama ebi, some white fish which I couldn't identify and something which appeared to be a cross section of a thick sliced squid tentacle. On the main box with the rice were some boiled vegetables (root and green), tamago, ikura, shredded egg, nori and sakura denbu which I like. The steaming chawanmushi came with a single fat shrimp and a chunk of chicken. Miso soup was likewise, just a plain miso soup with the usual tofu cubes and seaweed. It would seem as they claim, that their focus is on the freshness of the ingredients, not embellishments. Accompanying fruit dish comes with a fragrant and sweet slice of rock melon.

A chirashi from Kaiho Sushi

So I've heard about Kaiho Sushi (5 Koek Road, #03-01/02 Cuppage Plaza, tel : +65 6738 1315) for a while now and have been meaning to come check the place out. This little restaurant located in the little Japanese hub around the Cuppage area is run by an affable Bernard Tang who is the man with the knives behind the counter. Here's a chirashi from the lunch set that comes pretty packed with a selection of sliced raw goodies over the top. Here we have some toro, bonito, ama ebi a small blob of uni, some small slices of sake, some white fish which I couldnt really identify, and another silver skinned fish which I couldn't tell and a couple of slices of chilled tamago.... all resting above a dusting of the sweet pink fish floss over the rice.

One week later...


A second visit exactly one week later saw some differences in the offerings of the chirashi bento. Noticeably this time round, there was no more ama ebi and bonito but the lunch box got a little more uni, a fresh addition of ikura and hamachi.

While it didn't quite feel as laden as the offerings from Sushi Yoshida, this was really quite a compelling alternative as it comparatively didn't cost as much too.