Another Groupon dictated dinner location. Came across their Imperial Ohmi Wagyu Beef Set meal promo on Groupon, and bought one set to be shared between Lynn and me. Good call, since the set really contain way too much food for one person. The groupon also entitled us to 20% off their ala carte menu, so we decided that we will top up with some orders from the ala carte menu if the set prove too little for two.
We did flip through their menu and were a little entertained by the pictures of their fish dishes which were somewhat reminiscence of those coffeeshop zhi char fish dishes. Then we decided we should finish the set before we decide whether we had the stomach space for more food. So all we ordered were two green teas, not included in the groupon. While waiting, I noticed that there was a festive promotion going on for the same set. It was going at $168. Good thing my Groupon was cheaper than that at $128, else I'll feel like an idiot for believing in the deal.
We were served the first few dishes very quickly. Wafu salad and assorted sashimi. These were quickly followed by sharks fin chawanmushi. The salad was very refreshing, with seaweed bits we liked. The assorted sashimi was WOW! There was one kind of fish we were told had truffle oil on it and hence, didn't need any wasabi or soy sauce. I didn't catch the name of the fish, but it was so good. Delicately sweet, completely complemented by the fragrant truffle oil. The other sashimi were good too. Swordfish was so fresh and sweet, salmon and tuna were of the perfect texture - not mushy like some of the chain restaurants. The chawanmushi was served with real sharks fin, not glass noodles. It was fragrant, light and very good.
The next dish took a while to be brought up - oyster omelette. They had nicely cut it into two and serve on two plates for us. While I usually dislike oysters for the fishy taste, theirs was so fresh that all you taste is the briny oysters that went so well with the eggs. So nice that I could actually chew the oysters (as opposed to my usual swallowing whole to limit the fishy taste). Once this was out of the way, our star was served. Imperial Ohmi Wagyu beef cubes, medium rare. I immediately picked up one slightly fatty piece, and bypass all the sauces to savour the original beef flavour. MMmmmmm, so aromatic, so nice~~ The next two pieces were to try the sauces. I preferred the sesame to the yuzu sauce. The fried garlic slices served alongside the beef were very good too.
While we were savouring the beef, our beef garlic fried rice was served. Minced beef fried with fragrant garlic and Japanese rice. What's there to not love about this? Next was the fish miso soup, with fish slices inside. Sweet and fresh tasting, although not totally unlike a coffeeshop's 鱼片米粉. By now we felt we could handle a little more, and both were keen to try 'attas' sashimi. Upon enquiries, the price of $77 for five slices of tuna belly (Otoro) sashimi was too much for us to accept, so we tried the cheaper Otoro sushi instead. Their vinegar rice was actually very nice, so we didn't regret our decision to switch to sushi. Just the right amount of sourness, stickiness and chewiness - at least to my untrained mouth. The Otoro, oooohhh, it was unbelievable. It melted in the mouth almost immediately, so smooth on the palatte, and so fresh and sweet. I can understand why this part of the fish is the best, and why it's so expensive. It IS good stuff! Our final order off the ala carte menu was their mixed tempura, since there wasn't any tempura items on the set meal. Their batter was very light, non-oily, and nicely crispy. Their dipping sauce was a little different from the usual ones. It was sweeter, and there was an additional taste that I couldn't quite place, until Lynn pointed out that it may be bonito flakes.
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| Wafu salad |
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| Assorted sashimi |
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| Sharks fin chawanmushi |
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| Oyster omelette |
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| Imperial Ohmi Wagyu beef |
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| Ohmi Wagyu beef garlic fried rice |
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| Fish miso soup |
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| Otoro sushi |
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| Mixed tempura |
The food here is actually very good. I'm not very trained in Japanese cuisine, but from what this meal offered, I liked their freshness. The sashimi is actually very close to that I had in Japan, if not better. (Ah well, touristy food places probably weren't the most high quality food). But I'd be quite reluctant to return, only because of the price. A plate of 5 slices of salmon sashimi costs $30 on their menu! Too tough for my pocket without a Groupon. Still, I was happy to have my first blissful try of Otoro sushi here.
