If you've always thought of @fatcowsg as a Japanese Wagyu restaurant, it's time for a rethink. The newly-renovated section now boasts an omakase counter that seats 8 and a spectacular, spoil-you-silly menu to match.
Friendly Head Chef Shigeru Kasajima rules the roost and is the creator behind the omakase lunch ($120++) and dinner ($280++) sets.
What he serves is Japanese dishes with subtle twists, a few of which reflect techniques drawn from his past experience in the kitchen of a French fine dining restaurant.
Over the course of an evening, he prepared and presented us with the following sumptuous gems:
- A platter of three kinds of appetisers
- Refreshing chilled Japanese fruit tomato, soft jelly, tai sashimi and bafun uni
- A bowl of hot, soul-satisfying tai fish head soup
- Crab in shell with kani miso, yuzu foam plus a lovely housemade fruit vinegar dip
- Immensely tender Japanese abalone steamed in sake for 3 hours and given a kiss of truffle salt
- Sashimi of kai with grated-on-the-spot Himalayan pink salt
- Sashimi of whelk and geoduck
- Lightly grilled Grade 4 Ohmi Wagyu ribeye served with Chef's "secret recipe" ponzu sauce and a creamy goma dare
- A jaw-droppingly huge raw botan ebi served in a glass of ponzu and truffle oil
- Astonishingly good flounder sushi with soya sauce foam and oba leaf pesto
- Aburi otoro sushi
- Grilled foie gras sushi
- Uni sushi
- Baby leeks, sour plum paste and bonito flakes sushi
- Nikiri shoyu marinated akami sushi
- Chef's super-decadent signature sushi that heaved with Saga Wagyu beef tartare, uni, amaebi and ikura
- Hotate with yuzu foam and lime zest
- Anago sushi
- Tamago branded with "FC"
- Miso soup
- Japanese pear
I was fascinated to see that instead of pickled ginger, Chef made pickled chrysanthemum petals. Delicately succulent, they harbour a tinge of sweetness which was a nice change from the usual. He also chose to present his pieces of sushi on just a bamboo leaf alone.
I can imagine a few of you purists shuddering as you read my post but I say, be open to explore. You'll never know what new tastes and food experiences await. And in the process of discovery lies the fun.