Japanese

The Kabayaki & Tempura Don ($16) comes with a delicious piece of chargrilled unagi and mushroom and egg tempura. The unagi is brushed in a sweet and savoury glaze and is infused with smokiness. The meat is soft and moist, and it is not fishy. The tempura is crispy and not oily, I love the shimeiji mushroom, and the runny yolk ties everything together. Oishi🤤!

Wagyu Suji Don ($17.90) comes with A4/A5 Miyazaki & Australian Wagyu beef cubes stewed with seasonal vegetables and topped with onsen egg. The beef is tender and flavourful, while the stewed carrots, radish and chewy konjac add sweetness and texture to the rice bowl.

I topped up $3 to complete the set with clam miso soup, salad, seaweed appetiser and dessert, which is quite a good deal. The matcha pudding with red bean is not too sweet or bitter. Overall, this is a pretty hearty and value-for-money lunch set - enjoyed this!

Hei-Bi Pasta ($22) features al dente linguine cooked in a spicy dried shrimp sauce that is packed with unami. The “kelong” tiger prawns are big, fresh and meaty. Topped with onsen egg and ikura, this is one addictive pasta that I can’t get enough of.

Butadon ($22) comes with torched pork belly, onsen egg and ikura on top of Japanese rice and it is so good! The thinly sliced pork belly has a good balance of sweet and savoury notes and it is torched to smokey perfection. The runny onsen egg wraps up everything and each mouthful is a delight.

I tried the Inaniwa Udon Set ($27.80), which came with hot or cold udon, assorted tempura and salad. I opted for cold udon and it is so refreshing! The tempura is fresh, crisp and not oily at all, and it goes well with the dipping sauce. The variety is great too - there is even eel and a crab leg. It does get a little jelak after a while (partly because the serving is really generous) but the salad with sesame sauce helps keep things at bay. What a treat!

Initially, I was a little skeptical about having mayonnaise in my mazesoba but the Mentai Mayo Mazesoba ($17.80) actually worked.

There is a generous amount of mentaiko and it goes very well with the mayo. The mayo added creaminess to the noodles but it was surprisingly subtle. A squirt of vinegar helps to balance out the richness. The chashu is soft and the noodles is firm, and together with bamboo shoots, egg and spring onion, this is one satisfying bowl of mazesoba.

The Tonkusen Toroniku Ramen ($22++ for small) comes with a plate of aged iberico pork cheek that is very soft and absolutely delicious. The noodles is firm and it goes really well with the savoury and flavourful kara-miso broth. Would definitely opt for medium portion next time!

The Truffle Fries ($16) is tossed in white truffle oil and topped with freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, black pepper and parsley. The fries are thin, crispy and aromatic.

The Wagyu Don ($32) features torched Wagyu beef on rice topped with onsen egg, ikura, pickel and spring onion. The beef is soft, smokey and full of flavour. The runny egg ties everything together and each bite is packed with umami. So good!

I’m pretty late to the game as I only tried Sukiya recently, but better late than never because I love it! My favourite would have to be their Gyudon (rice bowl topped with sliced beef and onion). The thinly sliced beef is well seasoned and incredibly soft🤤

There are many variations of gyudon, such as the Grated Daikon & Ponzu Sauce Gyudon ($6.50 for M) and Kimchi Gyudon ($6.20 for M). The grated daikon and ponzu sauce brings a refreshing and citrusy edge to the savoury beef. The flavourful kimchi is a great match with the gyudon as well.

Overall, this is a very wallet-friendly and satisfying rice bowl - love that there are many portion sizes to choose from. Thumbs up！

Headed down to Hana to try their Omakase ($58++/pax) which came with:
1. Chilled Japanese women with Sakura ebi
2. Shisamo salad
3. Assorted sashimi
4. Grilled lobster with mentaiko
5. Battered Hiroshima oyster
6. Beef tenderloin with garlic chips
7. Ikura & tobiko sushi
8. Unagi sushi with tanuki
9. Yellowtail sushi with truffle kombu
10. Caramelised salmon sushi
11. Truffle chawanmushi
12. Kisu tempura donburi
13. Miso soup
14. Dessert

The sashimi and sushi were very fresh. The sushi were excellent - the addition of tanuki (Japanese breadcrumbs), truffle kombu and aburi char elevated the texture and flavour of each sushi. The torched mentaiko went well with the lobster and the combination was full of umami. The deep fried oyster was soft, plump and not fishy at all. The beef tenderloin cubes were served medium, tender and juicy. The silky chawanmushi was thoroughly infused with fragrance of truffle.

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from a relatively cheap Omakase but this exceeded my expectations. The food was solid and quite a number of dishes turned out to be a delightful. The portion of each dish was small but they definitely add up. What a pleasant surprise!

I seldom order tempura don because I often find it too jelak by the end of the meal but the Special Set ($17.80) from Tenjin is an exception. The rice bowl comes with a generous portion of tempura prawn, assorted vegetables and runny egg, with a choice of spicy or regular tare (sauce). The tempura batter is light and crispy, and it goes very well with a drizzle of the savoury sauce. The tempura is not very oily and the salad and miso soup helped to balance things out. Good stuff!