Japanese Dining

The skewers are delicious and filling enough, with the tsukune my favourite of the lot. The chicken wing skewer was tasty but a tad too salty for my liking. Apart from that, we had the aburi saba mackerel, agedashi tofu and chicken karaage which were all really well done. Would return once in a while for the food and ambience but price a bit too steep to return regularly.

Ma Maison’s Oyster and Rosu Tonkatsu set seems healthier than most other Tonkatsu(s) around Singapore but we don’t love it any less.

Yes, you have the deep-fried crispy goodness from the crumbly panko exterior. Yes, you have that chunky strip of fat along the side of the leaner pork loin.(MY FAVOURITE OBVIOUSLY) Yes, you also get the juicy yet gooey flavours of oyster in your mouth too.

What sets it apart from others is the fact that it gives you the option of brown rice over the usual Japanese white rice, refreshing for a try-hard health junkie like myself.

The Tonkatsu sauce was mostly sweet but equally well-balanced by its salty and sour tastes too, slightly better than its counterparts from many other joints.

Their Tonkatsu sets are served together with refillable sides of Japanese pickles, cabbage and their notable miso soup, which reminded me more of a hearty Tonjiru soup than anything.

Massive chunks of fresh sashimi atop a bed of fluffy sushi rice. The Sushi Bar sets the absolute standard for what a solid bowl of Chirashi Don should be.

Salmon, tuna, hamachi(Japanese amberjack fish), scallop, mekajiki, ikura and salmon belly. Such an extensive selection of fresh fish presented on a “Normal” Chirashi Don. You simply cannot miss it out.

Pair it together with their popular Aburi Salmon Roll, a wonderfully-charred and almost “melt-in-your-mouth” creation, and you have an extremely satisfying meal.

Unagiya Ichinoji is one of those places you’re gonna hit up once or twice a year when you have that sudden Unagi craving outta nowhere.

We had the signature medium Unagi Hitsumabushi ($35++) and I kinda have mixed feelings about it. On one hand, the unagi quality is impeccable and extremely fresh. The unagi was plump and deliciously tender, I dare say having an almost melt-in-your-mouth kinda texture.

I also really like the mix of flavours I get from their 3 different methods of tasting: first eating it straight from the bowl, then eating it mixed with wasabi, white spring onion and seaweed flakes, lastly with the house made dashi stock poured in.

We tried the 10 sticks Omakase Skewer set and Tori Soboro Don from The Public Izakaya and needless to say, they were perfect complements for our sake! The skewers were a solid mixture of tender, gamey and crunchy, although some were slightly too salty for my liking. The Tori Soboro Don had a pretty good rice-meat ratio, and the combination of juicy chicken thigh and ground pork made it a savoury explosion of flavours in your mouth. Simply a great place to enjoy above-average izakaya food and alcohol together with friends at decent prices!