Food

Unagi Benedict

Consists of a Low Temp Egg, Mushroom Duxelles topped with Yuzukosho Hollandaise that was served on Fried Mantou "Patties" with a side of Prawns and Potato Kempie Mayo Salad accompanying it.

What did I liked about the dish? Probably the buns; fried exterior with a sweet taste (The usual you would expect from any asian restaurant.) What did I not like about it? Many things. Now the things on the plate individually tasted fine, the Unagi was well seasoned and tender, egg was cooked well, yolk broke beautifully but they just didn't go well together. There was already the hollandaise sauce and the runny yolk going on within this dish but then came the Unagi that was coated with its own sauce. It didn't add any texture to the dish but it ended up rather "slimey" because of all the runny liquids and there was no bite that would provide a satisfying chew like the usual salmon would as the Unagi meat just seperated too easily in the mouth. Also as the Unagi sauce itself had a distinct taste to it, that yuzukosho sauce can't be tasted and was hence overpowered.

The sides were alright but I wouldn't say that it complemented the dish in any way? Overall, it felt like the attempt of replacing Salmon with Unagi was a terrible attempt and the classic Egg Benedict dish should be better left alone. I had a couple of other dishes at XYT but let's just say they are basically selling hawker fare dishes at 3.5 times the prices we can get anywhere else in Singapore.

Other dishes:

Crispy Otak Otak Rojak $16
Pork Knuckle Fritters $18
XYT Chai Tow Kuay $16
XYT Lu Rou Fan $13

In my opinion, their brunch menu is not great and I wouldn't come back for it as it's not the cheapest. However, I have not tried the other menus and I can't say for those but for brunch, just no.

Chicken Yakitori with Minced Chicken and an Onsen Egg lay on a bowl of rice. It did not taste bad but neither did it taste like anything. It was not only bland, in addition to that, the bowl came so cold that I felt the need to add some soup that accompanied the don for some heat and flavour. All our food came cold including the yakitori sticks. From there you can see that their planning for the cook of the yakitori is not planned out well nor sychonised for one table request.

Was surprised that it was even on a Michelin Guide for Singapore. Probably time for a reevaluation.

This dish came with plenty of clams, prawns and octopus on a bed of squid ink rice. At first sight, the cook of the rice resembled more of a risotto than paella as it was wetter and was quite fearful to jump into this dish as we were plenty full from the previous dishes we've ordered. However, the squid ink rice was pleasantly light yet still retaining flavours from the seafood broth that it was cooked from.

The seafood that accompanied the rice were definitely fresh and might I say that the baby octopus were super tender, probably one of the best I've eaten.

Service was great as well, staff were attentive and even when we had a dish mixed up, it was quickly fixed. Overall experience was great as most dishes hits expectations.

Other dishes that we've ordered:

Soft Cooked Eggs w Chorizo
Crispy Pig's Head w Egg Yolk, Capers
Gambia Ajillo
Dehesa Signature Octopus (Not up to expectation but might be due to the change in ingredients from Lardo to the Iberico pork on that day itself)

Mangalica Pork Belly

Served with pickled cauliflower & burnt onion purée. Pork Belly was great, soft yet had a thin layer of caramelised skin that gave it a little bit of a nice chew on the edges. The pickled vegetables cuts through to the oiliness of the pork with its acidity making the dish well balanced.

Had the 3-Course Set Lunch ($35), had a few different dishes shared among me and my friend. I would say each dish is carefully thought out and executed and I appreciate that their creativity is not at all a gimmick and attentions to details (Be it the cook of the ingredients to the plating) was on point. Their desserts are pretty darn good - especially the Chocolate with Mascarpone & Coffee (Not a big fan of chocolate) but enjoyed it a whole lot.

Will be back for dinner.

Had the Premium Kagoshima Wagyu Don. Came with an Onsen Egg, Caviar, Uni, Black Truffle, Foie Gras, Gold (If you wanna count tiny specks of tastelessness an ingredient) and Wagyu slices. The Onsen Egg was well cooked definitely, Wagyu slices were tender however lacking in flavour. Black truffle did not have as much as a pungent smell nor flavour that added much to the dish. Neither did the Caviar and Uni. Just imagine these premium ingredients as branded pieces of clothes or accessories but when piece together as an outfit - Not as amazing as you thought it would be.

Also tried the Signature Truffle Wagyu Don. Fell pretty flat for me and my friends. The manager did come over to check on our food, which was nice. However, when explaining about why the truffle taste wasn't as strong, he gave a pretty lousy excuse as to comparing Black Truffle with Winter White Truffle, and that they are using Black Truffle therefore the quality is not as good.

Now when I say it is a bad excuse is because Black Truffles are usually paired with red meat or poultry as when cooked in heat, releases an earthy aroma and flavour compared to the White Truffle. White Truffle on the other hand is usually paired with pasta and risotto. Not often used in complex recipes as they have a distinct strong aroma with a slight garlicky aroma to it. I can go on about truffles but at the end of the day, the explanation he gave was not justifiable. This is not a bad bowl but overall could have been better and hopefully in the future with improvements will I head back to try it again.

Heard a lot of raved reviews before heading there, so I had expectations coming into it. Had the Unatama (Medium) and I must say it was nothing special. Kudos to the fact that it was char grilled to be crispy but other than that the fish itself have not much flavour to it. The charcoal pretty much masked the fish flavour and not much of the kabayaki sauce could be tasted. My friends and I had to add the unagi sauces provided to us for flavour. Pretty average and coming from a Unagi Specialty Restaurant is just a let down.

They made it sound like an elevated dish with ingredients such as Ikura Caviar, Sous Vide Egg, Chia Seeds Crackers. When it came looking like this, I was utterly disappointed. There was ONLY 3 fish roe hidden underneath the crackers, the so-called fresh prawns tasted fishy and costs $9 for its miserly size. And need I say more for the presentation? Attention to details is not at all there. What came after were dish after dish of cold food. Service was bare minimum just like their effort for food and their rating of 2.7 on Google is well justified.