Grilled Fish Keisuke, Tanjong Pagar Road

 

Nice! Keisuke has opened up a (mostly) grilled fish teishoku shop on the unit (101 Tanjong Pagar Road) that used to house his tendon-ya Ginza Tendon Itsuki which ended business earlier in the month. We (also read as 'I') needed this in between bridging the crazy queue at Nakajima Suisan and the pricey Suju.

They've stepped up with the condiments in this shop featuring a briny mentaiko ika, a beefy savoury gyu shigure ni and a salty spicy karashi tanaka.

Teishoku comes with rice, miso soup and a fried egg. They're bottomless along with the condiments except for that fried egg and the protein of choice.

Which made it dangerous because the condiments were intensely flavoured and well salted to pair with rice. I had seconds.

Gratuitous molten yolk porn.

We had the gindara and akauo misozuke yaki. Grilled black cod and Pacific Ocean perch that's been marinated with miso in English. Both fishes were nicely done with crisp skin and a layer of light smoky sweetness from the marinate. I look forward to coming back - I spied gyutan and kinmedai.

Kinki, Japanese unagi and yellow croaker at Nakajima Suisan

Another satisfying breakfast at Nakajima Suisan (一, 二, 三, 四, 五, 六, 七, 八, 九, 十, 十一, 十二, 十三, 十四, 十五, 十六, 十七, 十八, 十九, 二十, 二十一, 二十二, 二十三).

Pretty surprised that they have kinki. Seems like they're also pushing the envelop with that since kinki isn't cheap and this was the most expensive set we've ever gotten at $49.90. That being said, I recognise that this was a lot less expensive than what most places charges for a fish like this. If you didn't know, there's a prawny flavour to the fish and it was delicious.

There's also a limited quantity unagi kabayaki teishoku featuring Japanese eels. Equally as pricey as the kinki but sadly not great. Meat was a little mushy. Don't expect the standards that one gets from Man Man/Unagi Tei. Or even Uya and Unatoto for that matter. Won't be getting this again.

Their yellow croaker is still available and still huge. Great value for quantity and the fish, though leaner and less flavourful, wasn't bad at all.

Natto, shoyu and rice.

Breakfast of akauo, yellow croaker, portabello and natto at Nakajima Suisan

Breakfast at Nakajima Suisan (一, 二, 三, 四, 五, 六, 七, 八, 九, 十, 十一, 十二, 十三, 十四, 十五, 十六, 十七, 十八, 十九, 二十, 二十一, 二十二). This was the akauo hiraki teishoku with natto added on.

I don't know when this happened but the rice has changed. I remember them being dryer in the past...less Japanese-y. Came to attention today that the bowl we got was starchy and short grained so I guess it's a small upgrade. One of various little ones they've made through the years. Natto + shoyu + rice = 👍🏼

Trying their yellow croaker for the first time. Never seen them here before. The fish was huge.

Meaty and flaky with a little bit of fat. Not bad. Hope they're still around the next time we come back.

Grilled portobello caps are $5 a pop here.

Kimukatsu, Takashimaya

Kimikatsu (#B201-5 Takashimaya Food Hall, 391A Orchard Road) does mille feuille tonkatsu; it's the only type of tonkatsu they do. If you didn't know what that was, it's a katsu made with thinly sliced pork rolled into a tight package before it's panko-ed and fried. Unlike the common variety which is made with thick sliced pork that's panko-ed and fried. It's not new or unique and it's available from folks like Tonkatsu by Ma Maison, Tonkichi, Tampopo back in the old days and even Gochi-So Shokudo.

They opened up a few years back. Been wanting to try them for a while but whenever we're in the area, we kinda inadvertently get drawn to Nakajima Suisan. Orders here were accompanied with a sauce platter which came with tonkatsu sauce, tsukemono and ponzu.

Tried the salted egg katsu which was a National Day limited flavour. Pork was tender with a nicely browned crunchy surface. Salted egg sauce was decent tasting; not as intense as I was hoping for in the salted egg department and I'm sure it's from some powder. Wonder if it's one of those from Knorr.

I like the garlic flavour more because the flavour from the pork came through all the garlic unlike the one with the salted egg sauce. Not bad tonkatsu here. Will come back and try other flavours.

Grilled sea bass teishoku from Nakajima Suisan

Came across the grilled sea bass at Nakajima Suisan (一, 二, 三, 四, 五, 六, 七, 八, 九, 十, 十一, 十二, 十三, 十四, 十五, 十六, 十七, 十八, 十九, 二十, 二十一) recently. I believe this might be my first time having grilled sea bass. Or at least the shioyaki version of them

There's a mix of lean and fatty parts on the fish. Salting wasn't uniform so some parts were bland-ish. Not bad tasting as a whole and lots of meat but what bothered me a little was the amount of bones I had to navigate.

Maguro nodo teishoku and buri kama shioyaki at Nakajima Suisan

Haven't gotten the maguro nodo at Nakajima Suisan (一, 二, 三, 四, 五, 六, 七, 八, 九, 十, 十一, 十二, 十三, 十四, 十五, 十六, 十七, 十八, 十九, 二十) in a while. Portion appeared to be a little smaller than what I remember previously when every other fish seemed have gotten larger. Also, getting breakfast here in the morning feels a little competitive. 😬

Tuna's still smokey, oily and delicious though. 👍🏼

Got an additional order of buri kama shioyaki (grilled yellowtail collar) on the side because...it's nice to have more fish. The meat from the collar felt a little more "refined" compared to the tuna because it wasn't as oily and had a finer texture.

Akauo hiraki teishoku & sanma shioyaki from Nakajima Suisan

Back at Nakajima Suisan (一, 二, 三, 四, 五, 六, 七, 八, 九, 十, 十一, 十二, 十三, 十四, 十五, 十六, 十七, 十八, 十九) for their teishoku. It's their akauo hiraki set with extra sanma shioyaki today. Heh heh heh......

I've been favouring this over the much smaller portioned kinmedai. Think it's gonna be that way for a while.

Hon maguro hire, sanma and shake shioyaki from Nakajima Suisan

 

Haven't had the hon maguro from Nakajima Suisan (一, 二, 三, 四, 五, 六, 七, 八, 九, 十, 十一, 十二, 十三, 十四, 十五, 十六, 十七, 十八) in a while. There's jellyfish for their side dish today.

Those tuna fin were still the same unctuous and delicious morsels flavoured with little but salt and the char on their surface. 

Topped my teishoku with an additional sanma. Love those bitter sweet innards in the fish.

While I generally don't do salmon much, I even thought their shake shioyaki was delicious.

All at the price point to quality ratio that's still hard to beat.

Uohama, Clarke Quay Central

New grilled fish stall which I've previously never noticed before at the Don Don Donki food court at Clark Quay Central (#B1 Clark Quay Central, 6 Eu Tong Sen Street). Yes, that's the one with Kanda Soba which doesn't seem to be in business anymore.

Got myself the "red fish" teishoku. Akauo if anyone was confused. Loved it. This was proper grilling done there with a good amount of salt to make it savoury, light smokiness from the browned surface and moist meat beneath.

The size was kinda puny compared to the one at Nakajima Suisan though. Noticed that they have tachiuo (beltfish) on the menu but the proprietor said it wasn't available yet. Will come back another time.

Breakfast at Nakajima Suisan

We were at Nakajima Suisan (一, 二, 三, 四, 五, 六, 七, 八, 九, 十, 十一, 十二, 十三, 十四, 十五, 十六, 十七) one of the recent weekends for a grilled fish teishoku breakfast. A happy meal big breakfast kinda thing involving freshly grilled fish, rice, hot miso soup and some other things.

Got a double up saba mirin. Because an additional portion of fish never hurt. Topped the rice with mentaiko.

Seem to recall it not having so much bones previously. Anyways, it was deliciously savoury on the inside beneath that sweet caramelized mirin glaze on the surface.

Noticed that the saikyo mero looked larger than how I remembered them. Deliciously oily and flavourful as always.

Today's shishamo were disappointingly skinny and were oddly not salted at all. Not as much roe as I would preferred them to have.