Thursday, June 07, 2007

Shunjuu, Robertson Quay

Shunjuu, Robertson Quay
Beside a couple of items which we thought weren't bad, the rest of the food was quite disappointing. To venture a guess, I speculate that there was a poor system of batching up the grills that are ready to be served. Most of what we had were already cold by the time it got to the table. We were thinking that there was no way the standards of the kushiyaki here can approach the quality at Kazu or Kushigin. To top off the experience, there was a cocky serving waitress that believed this restaurant made exceptional garlic rice which was better than what she labels as "other places". But there's more - the servers were apparently very adapted to "professional eye aversion" when you're trying to get their attention anytime after you've made your orders. This could be my first and last visit.

Shunjuu, pitan tofupitan tofu

Pitan tofu was quite good. Suitably chilled. The century egg sauce made with its yolk was sweet. This tasted almost like a dessert. The tobiko on the top added a touch of saltiness to this dish. We were pleasantly surprised.

Shunjuu, natto meshinatto meshi

I was feeling adventurous when I ordered this against the recommendation of the waitress. I'm not sure what her reasonings were for asking me not to try. I haven't had natto before and I didn't like her, so I went against her recommendations anyway. This was not very pleasant. While I'm not discouraged enough to be adversed against trying out unusual stuff, I don't think I'll order natto again. Not exactly tasty and the smell was pretty pungent. Having a raw egg over the top did add to the flavour.

Shunjuu, kushiyakiox tongue & chiizu aburage maki

Had to admit that the ox tongue was pretty good. The tongues were sliced thinly and then packed onto the skewers. They looked like they were in chunks but unfold as you pulled them out. The main gripe I had with Shunjuu's grills were that they weren't served hot which made them a vastly different experience from the other two Ks. The chiizu aburage maki are bean curd sheets that were stuffed with cheese. I couldn't taste much cheese in them so I though they were no good at all.

Shunjuu, kushiyakiquail eggs wrapped in pork belly & shishamo

Shunjuu, mentaiko yakiyaki mentaiko

Shunjuu, lamb chopslamp chops

The lamb chops were quite good. Comparable to what we had at Kazu but much more fatty. This was hot off the grill unlike the other items we ordered. While in that temperature, the fats are usually easy to eat but this one simply had too much.

Shunjuu, sweet potatojapanese sweet potato

We were thoroughly disappointed with the sweet potato. Looked almost totally a different thing from what we had in Kazu. The sweet potato here wasn't as fragrant and it was very dry. And also not served with butter which would have helped greatly. Do not order this here. It's not worth it.

Shunjuu, hamachi collargrilled yellow tail

This yellow tail collar tasted fine but the meat disintegrated easily. Pretty sure that's now how the texture of this fish is supposed to be like. This made messy eating with chopsticks. While the fish was properly flavourful, the crumbly meat made the quality suspect.

I'd clearly rather pick Kazu over Shunjuu anytime. Both experiences that I've had there made the former a clear winner in experience and value.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

what's that dish with the raw egg?
fermented soy beans natto?

gee .. how it taste?


on another note.... have you tried Tomton's yakitori dishes? Not really a lot of choices but I think it is quite well done.

LiquidShaDow said...

Yep, that's natto. The smell isn't pleasant and the taste can be described as pungent, but not overpowering.

I haven't tried Tomton, though it's one of the places that I intend to.

winterdreamz said...

hahha. yap, natto is indeed an acquired taste food. Like ang moh eat durian. Its pungent to one but yummy to the other.

The best of natto is it is very nutritious.. my Japanese friends love them :) Me?! so so la...