Boston Lobster and Sushi with Sashimi

Oceans of Seafood is one of the interesting new seafood restaurants which has appeared recently in the Singapore scene. Full of the freshest seafood, laid out like a market. One selects the seafood, and the chefs prepare and serve it at the table.

From live Boston Lobsters to Canadian and French oysters, to the freshest sushi and sashimi airflown from Tsukiji Market daily.

We decided to try the lobster...

The sample we selected was agressive, alive...and weighed 1.1kg

Boiled, and served with two sauces...one garlic and another like a Japanese teriyaki type.

The meat was very thick at the body. Interestingly at the claws, the meat seemed to have retreated somewhat within the shell...the meat, removed, looked a bit rather smaller than the claw shell.

The meat was also rather sweet, but a bit too firm...perhaps a tad overcooked? The lobster was female with a small bit of roe which was rich and marvellous.

Then we had half a dozen Canadian oysters

Very nice. A bit mild flavour, but very fresh and very creamy. Very enjoyable.

One can also order sashimi and sushi...we had a serving of mekajiki

Magnificent. Beautiful, fresh, creamy. If I had to nitpick...just a tad too cold. But still very very good.

As was the sushi plate...11 different kinds. For $35, thick cuts and very fresh, not a bad price.

Overall, quite nice, though, if truth be told, we found the raw dishes better than the sole cooked lobster, which was half the cost of the lunch. I would return for the chirashi sushi and more of the mekajiki.

Oceans of Seafood
PasarBella @ The Grandstand Bukit Timah Singapore
200 Turf Club Road #02-06 (#02-K2 to #02-K11)
64661005

Best Chirashi Sushi: The Sushi Bar at Far East Plaza

Chirashi sushi, a champion's meal, if ever there was one. Freshest sashimi, cut, placed on top of a bowl/box of rice. Just wonderful.

Not many great ones are found within reasonable prices in Singapore. The Sushi Bar, a small shop, tucked amongst the hair dressing salons in Far East Plaza. From other blog reports, service can be spotty, but the afternoon when we arrived, it was rather cheerful.

The regular Chirashi Sushi is $25, and huge chunks of shashimi, aburi salmon, salmon, tuna, mekajiki, salmon roe, roasted egg.

And the Premium Chirashi Sushi, at a seasonal price. That afternoon, it was $48.

In addition to the fish one gets in the regular but in larger quantities...for example, 3 pieces of thick cut mekajiki in the premium instead of 2 in the regular. There was the also the addition of premium ingredients, depending on what was available that morning was added. For that afternoon, uni, botan prawn, scallop.

Each, succulent, thick, very fresh, wonderful tasting. My only slight nagging nitpick was that they only used maguro, and not the best example I have eaten. No chu-toro or otoro, even in the premium version. I felt that if one is up to splurge, the premium version is well worth it. The fresh, creamy, fragrant uni and the botan prawn was alone worth the price differential.

I enjoyed the chirashi very much. The stall's speciality is their aburi salmon, which was superb in the chirashi sushi box, but also available a la carte. Highly recommended. But be prepared for the bare minimum ambience...looks and feels like a canteeen, and the spotty service. But also be prepared for excellent, fresh, value for money cuts of raw fish.

The Sushi Bar
#03-89, Far East Plaza, 14 Scotts Road
Mon - Sun: 11:30 - 21:30

Itacho Sushi's Blue Fin Tuna Promotion, now on till Sept 30, 2013

I have written about value for money sushi and sashimi at Itacho before. It is still one of our favourite places to imbibe some raw fish, and recently, they came up with an interesting promotion...they performed the cutting of a blue fin tuna.

The ceremony was performed in Ion Orchard...and as outlined in my Tsukiji article, the entire process is quite spiritual for the tuna master.

As part of the “Bluefin Tuna Festival”, ITACHO will launch a Bluefin tuna promotion at all ITACHO outlets (from 13 – 30 September).

For this occasion, Itacho demonstrated the tuna cutting ceremony in which the master chef filleted portions of the huge fish into tuna blocks, and then into prized cuts of the fish.

These are then used for selection of premium slices for turning them into ruby red sashimi. Tuna cutting is no mean feat and calls for one ranked in the superior skill of Japanese food culinary which requires years of skilled training, precision technique and calculated speed.

ITACHO outlets in Singapore are at ION Orchard, Plaza Singapura, Bugis Junction, Changi Airport Terminal 3, JCube and Star Vista.

Itacho Sushi

Various outlets around the city
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Itacho-Sushi/158303486802

Itacho Sushi: Cheap and Good?

I often shy away from sushi and sashimi restaurants in Singapore. After eating well at speciality sushi-yas in Japan, one never quite gets used to the drop in taste and flavours of fish which is shipped, however carefully it is done, is not quite as fresh and tasty as being in Tsukiji market at 7am and having a sushi breakfast. But as a foodie nation, I think we are fighting back. Singapore's sushi scene has improved a lot. The top restaurants are always very good, but super pricey. And the low end ones are not worth mentioning. Enter Itacho.

Looking very much like a chain restaurant...indeed they are...with branches in at least 2 locations in Singapore, more than 10 in the place of origin Hong Kong and even in China. I did have a meal at their APM outlet in Beijing, but it was nothing to shout about. This meal, at their Ion Orchard outlet, however is something to shout about. One of the better sushi meals I have had in a long time in Singapore.

Arrive early...a long queue often forms at the rather large restaurant. We arrived about 11:40, and it was begining to fill up. I guess fresh, succulent sushi, done well needs little prose to describe, so I will mainly let the photographs do the talking, safe a few notes.

Remember this is a meal for only 2 persons...though I imagine the average Singaporean foodie might eat a bit less than this humongous meal...

A mixed platter of squid, soy sauce roasted salmon. Very good indeed. Limited to 4 pieces per person, this was offered at an incredible S$0.40 per piece!!!

The chawan mushi looked like a soup...indeed it was a shallow layer of scallops in a beautiful broth covering the traditional steamed egg with chicken and ginko nuts.

Hand roll of soft shell crab. We wanted deep fried salmon skins, but they didn't have those.

Some sashimis next....fatty yellowtail and fairy shrimps. Nice touch is to have deep fried the prawn heads, for a tasty, crispy, eat everything...every bit delicious.

More sashimi

And the grilled eel sushi...look at how large the fish is on top of the rice!

And this amazing flame scorched fatty yellowtail

This is amazingly good. The flame scorched parts have a slightly burnt, smokey flavour, and the inside of the fish just explodes in the mouth. Fantastic.

Uni rice

Creamy uni, on top of rice. Superb.

Swordfish sashimi

Assorted sushi

Scallops sushi...whole scallop on rice...

And some grilled pork sushi to round up...

Overall, value for money. In total, this was sub S$200 for all you see above. Not super cheap, but for the quality and quantity we ate, I think very good value for money.

Itacho Sushi
B2-18 Ion Orchard

Tsukiji market and the best sushi ever!

Tsukiji Market is a real revelation. Always. I have been to the market, perhaps 3 or 4 times, and each time, it is a wonderful experience. The arrangements for tourists to view the auction has always been changing...and currently, they take about 120 pax who must all be present at 5am, and will be allocated into 2 groups...one batch at 5:15am and another at 5:45am.

I missed the auction this time...as I got to Tsujiki with Unicorn at about 5:10am, and we missed the registration. Feeling a bit down, we looked around elsewhere in the market, looking at shop upon shop of bonito sellers...we then found the fish wholesale place. Where the fish comes out after the auction. And actually met a fish monger who is practicing his craft of carving entire tunas into restaurant sized chunks.



And surprises! He welcomed us to look and photograph, and he spoke English!



Two red tunas were delivered...one about 40kg, and the other 80kg



It is a two man job wrestling the tuna onto the cutting table.

Then after some cleaning of the fish, and knives. I forget to ask him what he was using to clean the fish, but I think its an alcohol...like the alcohol swab you get before the doctor plunges his needle for your injection.



The process seemed almost ritualistic...zen like. He seemed totally focussed...almost like in a trance.



After a few deftly executed cuts...the head's off




And he began with a large knife, making incisions along the back, filleting the large fish. Alternating from a large, sword like knife and a smaller one which looks like a cook's knife.



Ah, a smile lit up his face as he opened the fillet..."very good!", he exclaimed in English...looking at us,"this is a very good day. I am very happy".



We talked for a bit, and went across the small lane, avoiding the little motorized vehicles which were towing trolleys laden with tuna, and came across one of the few sushiyas which did not feature a long queue. And had sushi for breakfast.

Look at the slice of otoro...



Unicorn with the Maguro Sushi set Y3500



A closer look at the set



The otoro sushi...yum...



The taste was unbelievable. Unicorn pronounced it the best sushi he has eaten. The fats just dissolve in your mouth almost on contact and the slightest tongue pressure. Almost like caviar.

We just had to then share another order of maguro sashimi



Look at the shimofuri (snow flake, a term also used to describe the similar look on a piece of wagyu)...and the beautiful, marbling...amazing!



And I totally concur with Unicorn...best sushi I ever had.





Not sure of the address...the row of shops just outside Tsukiji Fish Market wholesale area.
Tsukiji, Tokyo, Japan

Apologies for inconsistent colour temperature...instead of using the AWB in my GH-2, I mistakenly set it for tungsten.

Kaiho Sushi

Sushi...where to go for a good one? I usually shy away from sushi and sashimi joints in Singapore...too many mediocre ones. Especially when compared to what real sushi/sashimi can be like in Japan. But every once in a while, I do crave for a nice sushi...and one of the "secret" places to indulge...um, reasonably priced...is Kaiho Sushi.

Run by chef owner Bernard...I hear he is a protege of the godfather of sushi in Singapore...Nogawa...but I did not confirm with him when I was there.



The place is in a small corner, tucked away in a building, which is not known for its kosher activities...many Japanese themed bars and clubs abound as its neighbours. But step into this little restaurant, and one is almost transformed into a little diner in Tokyo. During peak hours, the place is filled with Japanese salarymen, eating and drinking. This is a good sign. But how's the food?

We decided to try the less expensive first, and if it proves good (cut to the chase, it DOES prove very good!!), we'll come back for the Chef's Omakase ($60 or $100), which strikes me as very reasonable.

Kin had the sushi set...first the sushi:



Actually superb. Not frozen seafood here. No icicles on the fish. Properly thawed...the fish is almost room temperature, like it is served in Japan. Fresh. Very nice.

The set comes with chawanmushi and a hand roll together with a bowl of miso soup.



All were delicious. The chawanmushi is very smooth, creamy.

Edward had the fish set, which, surprise, came as two servings:

A salmon and ikura don



Again, superb quality salmon slices, with a nice heap of ikura. Very good.

And a grilled saba and simmered vegetables bento.



The saba was superb. Oily, fresh, and perfectly grilled. Accompanying is a small tempura vegetalbe and simmered daikon.

I had the anago set...fresh grilled sea eel.



The eel was superb. Very light tasting, the sauce is gently applied, and sparsely so as not to upset the delicate balance of the anago, the eel is superb. Beautiful, oily mouthfeel without any of the nasty oil taste. The meat was smooth, creamy...very nice.

For desserts, we had a trio of ice cream/sorbets...clockwise from the top...Green Tea, Lemon sorbet, sesame



Nice way to end a great meal. Certainly value for money, as all three sets were below $30 each. And certainly worth many more return visits.



Sushi Kaiho
5 Koek Road
#03-01/02 Cuppage Plaza

Tue–Sun: 12pm – 2.30pm, 6.30pm – 11pm
(Closed on Mon)

Sun with Moon: heavenly dining?

with SJX and CC

Sun with Moon is one of the modern Japanese diners and very popular in Singapore. The place seems to be perpetually buzzing with activity. I have eaten at the Wheelock Place branch several times, and each time came away fairly impressed with the efficiency of the service, and the quality of the food.

We had three set meals for lunch.

First I had the Ramen sushi set:



This came with a rather interesting bowl of ramen.



A thick broth drowns the noodles (more about this later), and semi-floating in it is a thick slice of braised pork, and half a seasoned egg. And a knob of butter adorns the bowl.



Stir the bowl and it reveals the noodles...this was quite an interesting noodle...I am unable to find a reference from my usual consult site at rameniac.com as to the origins of the noodles. It looks and indeed tastes a little like the chinese yellow kee noodles.

But it went very well with the pork bone soup, and the braised pork belly was gorgeous. The egg was nice, but not as good as Tampopo's where although the outside of the egg is totally seasoned and cooked, the inside is slightly runny. In this Sun with Moon version, the egg is cooked through.






The accompanying sushi is rather good, but not top grade. It was sufficiently fresh, and tasty.

The set also came with a small pot of chawan mushi, which I found ok, but ordinary.

CC had the sushi roll with unagi...



This was a mix of regular sushi rice and fish rolled inside a piece of seaweed and also reverse rolled with fish inside, and rice on the outside...like a California roll.



SJX had the same ramen as I did, and the same sushi roll as CC.

Overall, a satisfying meal, as usual at Sun with Moon. High quality ingredients and well cooked and presented. Certainly one of the better Japanese restaurants in Singapore. The food is decent, service excellent. The ambience is cheerful. Nice.


Sun with Moon Japanese Dining & Cafe
501 Orchard Road
#03-15 Wheelock Place
Tel: 6733 6636
Mon-Thu, Sun & PH: 11.30am - 11.00pm;
Fri-Sat & PH Eve: 11.30am - Midnight

The unagi looked quite appetizing, soft, creamy, and totally smothered with teriyaki sauce.