Oishi-desu! 🍙

Super late into the game but better late than never 🥲. Nil queue on a weekday night and after 6 years of opening, so long later that they name rebranded to Unagi Tei Japanese Restaurant.

What makes these specialty unagi different from the usual is their quality of unagi, grilling and seasoning. Most of the unagi from other Japanese restaurant are drowned with a brown savoury sauce while theirs retain the original smokey flavour from grilling.

My favorite way of eating it’s actually with a little grounded wasabi and broth. It kind of bring up the sweetness in the dish. Nonetheless all 3 ways of eating is goood!

A 7 course dinner set, feels like an omakase but at the same time not as the serving speed of the dishes is mostly overlapping just short of serving everything at one go! 😅 But wells got it at a 1-1 deal with burpple beyond at Matsuya Dining along Beach Road!

The course started out light and it get heavier towards the end. My favorites of the set got to be the Oyster which was very plump, creamy and citrusy with the ponzu sauce; followed by the Sashimi Mori, with chutoro, tai and hotate sashimi being the leading choices in the platter. The Gindara miso was also torched to perfection. The cod fish was flaky, sweet and savory.

Their chawamushi is only tasty with the compliments of the Ikura otherwise, it’s like steam egg without stock. On the other hand find it a pity I didn’t get to really enjoy the Wagyu Niniku Rice. There’s a nice garlicky fragrance and aroma but the rice was a tad little too oily and the beef slices is a little overcooked to stomach after 6 courses of dishes.

It seems like they do better with their raw fishes and they do seem to have a group of regulars whom will frequent them! Ambiance wise it’s like an inbetween a tradition sake house and a Japanese restaurant. The staffs were pretty friendly too!

It’s such a pleasant experience with Rakuya. It’s like a 8+2 course omakase set! We started with pufferfish strips in ponzu sauce as appetizer. It’s chewy and citrusy, definitely whetting up your appetite for the remaining courses.

After which was the premium sashimi platter. Loved their choice of sashimi so much and each of them comes in thick succulent cut. There’s a variety of tuna, sea bream, otoro, chutoro, sweet prawns, swordfish, yellowtail and japanese silver needlefish. My favorites has got to go to the chutoro, full fat tuna that has such a creamy and melt in your mouth texture.

Next up was their chawamushi served with coriander broth. There’s no traces of pungent-ness of the coriander, instead it was rather clean tasting and fragrance. It makes you feel as though you’re drinking a soup but you’re actually eating a spoonful of smooth silky steam egg!

Followed by pufferfish base nabe. I love how they served up pufferfish in so many different ways! We then had a sushi platter when they have pre-paired it with condiments and seasoning that goes so well in flavors. Some of the sushi includes the surf clam, sea bream, the prawn and the flounder. Some of the seasoning includes truffle and miso.

Before our dessert we had maguro mixed rice topped with uni, caviar and ikura. At the side served with snow crab miso soup. While our desserts consist of the Japanese melon, mochi with rockmelon filling and a black sesame paste. The melon is so sweeet tasting and the texture is of soft-crunchy. The sweetness balances out well with the black sesame paste. It’s so good!

All the way from Kyoto, the famous Menbaka Fire Ramen has occupied one of the stores at cineleisure for almost a year and finally I had my hands on one of their bowls!

We went for their Shoyu Fire Ramen, Tonkotsu Fire Ramen and Crispy Charcoal Karage. It’s not just gimmicky but the flavor of the broth is really good. It’s rich yet light, and has a rich fragrance of spring onion from the firing of hot oil over it. The noodles are on the softer side and pleasantly soaks up the flavors of the broth. The crispy charcoal karrage lives up to its name of crispiness and the batter has a touch of wasabi to it. It’s kind of overwhelming for a non-wasabi eater but the yuzu and sesame dressing kind of downplay the pungentness, balancing the flavors.

Here we have featuring their Kaidan Set and Chirashi set.

A step ahead in their presentation for their Takeshi Kaidan Set ($26) and Salmon Kaiden Set ($18). Not only were the presentation Instagram worthy, exquisite and classy looking, it has proven it taste as good and fresh as it look! From the Kaidan set, all their cuts were so thick, plump and sweet. Particularly, their uni was so umami, velvety and melts in your mouth. Another highlight is definitely their scallop, so sweet, fresh and juicy! I like their ratio of rice to sashimi too. At least I don’t feel like I’m shortchanged in just eating the rice.

While for the chirashi set, we had their Takeshi chirashi Don ($38) and Aburi Salmon Foie Gras chirashi Don. They are really generous with their sashimi cuts! Really like how thick and sweet each cut is. Not to mention, the uncommonly addition of foie gras to a chirashi bowl is really magical. It provide that contrast in flavors to the bowl. Something savory and melt in your mouth kind of texture against something on a lighter, sweeter which has a bite to it.

It may although be on the pricier side, but I guess the portion and freshness of ingredients does justify well after all!

Are you missing Japan vibes from a traditional izakaya place? Then head down to Bincho where their entrance is well hidden at the back of the carpark. They dish out well seasoned and has a variety of all time favorites izakaya options.

If you’re a gizzard person, do go for their heart and gizzard skewers! The texture was superb, a good mixture of chewiness and crunchiness to it and the pairing with their flavored curry and matcha salt is amazing. Totally elevated the flavors of this dish. If you’re in to level up the game, try their cock combs! It has a chewy and filled with collagen mouthfeel.

Another of my favorite is their tempura, particularly the persimmon. It not only soften the persimmon texture but also brings out the sweetness of it.

To end it off, order their peach panna cotta! The flavor is that of the white peach 🍑, light, sweet and refreshing.

It’s an amazing meal with their cocktails too! Their cocktail options are pretty unique to Japan taste, and flavor is well balanced!

Izakaya hikari has a pretty good selection of sashimi and izakaya to choose from to go with glasses of sake. Their sashimi were sweet and fresh while their yakimono were well seasoned and fired. Pretty love their grilled ika too! It has a perfect chewiness to it!

Recommend to make a reservation if you’re heading down! They are pretty crowded!

Jin Chirashi ($35), unlike other chirashi which was usually served with normal white japanese rice, it’s served with seasoned rice which complemented well with the natural sweet tasting sashimi. Thick cut, variety and freshness is what constitutes a good bowl of chirashi and Jin Chirashi has more than fulfilled all!

Needless say more, the highlight of the dish was the piping hot thick sweet savory beefy sukiyaki sauce which mixes well with the rice making it a flavorful dish. But on a side note, the MSG seems to be a little on the high side.

It’s easy to determine if a Japanese place is good just by its freshness. What makes it better is freshness at a decent reasonable price. Portion at Umi Nami is rather generous and the sashimi are all sweet and succulent. If you’re not sure what to go for, go for their Aburi Scallop Salmon Don! Won’t go wrong!

Loved how their omu eggs are so thick, fluffy and creamy. And, it’s always a plus point to serve crispy fried garlic with the steak! The fragrant aroma with a crisp bite against the lightly salted, peppered and browned tender steak is the perfect combination.

They are equally generous with their portion too! Do check them out when you’re in the Orchard vicinity!

Mille Feuille Shoulder Katsu Curry is something rather different from the usual Tonkatsu curry. Layers of folded meat gave that extra mouthfeel and liked how the batter is not overly thick, floury and gelard but kind of light and crumbly. Portion is pretty generous too!