Hamanoya Robatayaki

It's always great meeting up with fellow foodie friends, because it's always an adventure trying out somewhere new! Met Koi for dinner the other day, and when he told me he was bringing me somewhere he was pretty sure I've never been to, I was immediately excited. All I had to do was tell him what cuisine I wanted. Hmmmm. Since I'd been feasting quite a bit since it was my birthday week then, I opted for Jap - something healthy (hopefully). True enough, I've never even heard of Hamanoya Robatayaki, let alone tried it. And I was super impressed! Everything, from the quality of their food to the exquisite presentation was impeccable, a fantastic exemplar of Japanese standards.

We started with a seaweed appetiser, compliments of the chef. This was savoury, yet light, and tantalised our tastebuds to prepare us for the meal ahead.

The restaurant specialises in Robatayaki, which is a Japanese style of cooking where the food is grilled over charcoal. Every day, there are daily specials of the freshest catch, which are presented to customers should they be interested in having the fish prepared robatayaki/sashimi style. We opted for one of the fishes, and it was so delicious!! I'm not a huge fan of fish, especially those with bones (fillet FTW!!), but this was so incredibly fresh, the meat tasted almost sweet. It didn't require any additional seasoning, except a sprinkling of salt, and the essence of the fish shone in its simplicity. 

After this was where things started going a little crazyyy. There was a mind-boggling array of dishes on the menu and I didn't know where to start. We kind of ended up choosing an item from almost every category to get a good selection, which seemed like quite a lot for two people! Surprisingly though, while I was completely satisfied at the end of the meal, I wasn't overly full. That made me so happy! This is why I love Japanese food so much. How healthy it always feels!

See what I mean about the presentation though? Everything was soooo pretty! :) And I was so appreciative of the spotlight that shone right down on all the tables, which was the perfect lighting for all the photographs. No editing required! The slabs of Salmon and Tuna sashimi ($11.99 each) were generously thick, and of course, super fresh.

This is the Grilled Chicken Ball with poached egg ($4.99) if I'm not wrong. It was a really interesting dish, which I had no clue how to consume at first. It was actually a humongous ball of meat that was marinated in a sweet-savoury sauce, and you actually dip the meat into the poached egg and stir it around before popping it into your mouth. The combination was sublime!

Though I felt that we'd ordered quite a lot by now, I couldn't resist getting some sushi because they all looked so pretty. The Salmon and Mango Maki ($9.99) was a harmonious blend of flavours and textures that created a delicious taste explosion at every bite. 

Finally, the Tonkotsu Hot Pot ($17.99) was a comforting, belly-warming dish that was full of ingredients including carrots, pork ribs, tofu and mushrooms. The meat of the pork ribs were so tender that they could be prised off the bone easily, and I slurped up every last drop of the soup.

My experience at Hamanoya was exceedingly flawless and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Definitely one of the highlights in The Dining Edition at Marina Square, and I can't wait to be back to be impressed once more.

Hamanoya Robatayaki

Marina Square #02-106

Tel.: +65 6337 4245

Mon-Fri 11.30am-3pm, 5pm-10.30pm

Sat-Sun 11.30am-10.30pm

Arashi Yakiniku Charcoal Grill

get ready, for an all-out no-holds-barred sinful, meaty dinner at Arashi Yakiniku Charcoal Grill. if you're in the mood for some lip-smacking, artery-clogging indulgence, this is the place to go. i confess, i was floored by the end of the meal. Arashi is a pretty new kid on the block, just opened a couple of months ago and it aims to bring affordable yakiniku to customers. their specialty is in wagyu beef cuts, and i'm so excited to share what i ate with you guys! (: get ready for a feast for your eyes (literally!!)

started off simple with the appetizers ($7.80) and Arashi Kaisen Salad ($15.80). i really liked the pickled beansprouts which were perfectly refreshing, while having a lightly savoury flavour that made it so yummy. sauces were provided as condiments to the dishes later on, but i didnt really have to touch those because the natural essences of the dishes were delightfully robust. the salad was a very light, healthy way to begin, and it came topped with prawns and salmon which were delicious! be sure to mix the vegetables into the sauce below though, because i found it rather tasteless when i didn't toss the veggies.

almost immediately, we were presented with the MEAT. now look at that marbling! we were served the "Ohmi" grade A4 wagyu beef from Japan, and this is just shy of the best grade of wagyu. the most premium A5 cuts require prior reservation. we started off with the tenderloin ($68.80), and had two other cuts of beef. true to its name, this was the most tender out of the three types of beef we had. it came with a sauce for dipping, but it's really not quite necessary. these were so tasty on their own! probably my favourite cut.

on the other hand, the Ribeye ($68.80) was just a little chewier, but this was absolutely bursting with juices, oozing a smokey grilled flavour that was even stronger than that of the tenderloin. 

ooh finally a picture of the grill! i really liked how Arashi has a smokeless grill - while it doesnt guarantee a 100% smoke-free meal, but it really reduced the smell and smoke significantly! we were in the restaurant for around 3hours and i emerged with barely a whiff of any smells of food/smoke on me. 

back to the meats - just look at that fire!!!!! and here, i present my nemesis. i kid :P but really, after this set of meats, i pretty much surrendered for the most part. Japanese Sirloin ($88.80), super fatty, literally dripping with fats (hence the flames), simply melts in your mouth with juices that pack a punch. this is not for the weak hearted. 

with all that meaty goodness, i was really glad to have some vegetables to balance things out! and i've discovered a new favourite bbq dish! pumpkin. i really never knew that pumpkins were a barbecue dish. no one told me! and i fell in love with it when i tried it for the first time. all these veggies are packed with goodness, and are the perfect neutralizers to the grilled meats. 

i'm a fan of garlic fried rice ($4.80), and i'm glad to say that Arashi does it pretty well! :)

also loved the clam miso soup ($7.80) that we were served! (: an update of the common miso soup (which you can just get out of the packet), i love how the clams added a touch of sweetness to the soup. and there was quite a generous amount of clams inside, which was awesome ^^

despite the fact that Arashi's specialty is in its meats, i have to say that their fish/seafood took my breath away and appealed to me much more! this Japanese Cod Fish ($18.80) was done so beautifully. delightfully tender, and bathed in a sweet Japanese sauce, this is a simple dish that was done really well!

we had quite a selection of goodies with the Tempura Moriwase ($23.80), and i appreciated their light batter that was very palatable.

guess what! besides beef, we had other dishes to grill as well :O haha ^^ yummms.

this was another of my favourites. the salmon in butter sauce was divine! and i'll never forget those prawns ($12.80). i was quite hesitant about trying them initially because i'm just lazy that way (didn't feel like having to peel open the shell), but i was convinced to do so because it was apparently quite easy to open. well, i tried, and it did! shows how fresh those prawns are :) and gosh, they were HUGE. and super juicy!!!! i started squealing when i ate it, because it tasted so unexpectedly good :') the scallops ($12.80) and squid ($6.80) were not too shabby either.

from top: Japanese Kurobuta pork belly ($19.80), pork collar ($20.80), Momi Tare chicken ($9.80). absolutely indulgent, and it was such a pity that i was full to bursting by this point and i could only afford to taste a small piece of each kind of meat. nonetheless, each variety impressed with their brilliant dimension of flavours.

check out Arashi's charcoal grill! ;)

when the end of the meal came, i was so glad to be presented with this adorable Arashi Mango Pudding. and underlying the gorgeous presentation was a wobbly pudding generously studded with bits of mango. i was really pleased by the portion of mango in this dessert - not just what you see on top! it was sweet, yet not cloyingly so, and was the perfect dish to cleanse my palate at the end of all the meat.

Arashi's dining area spans three floors and includes an alfresco dining area as well! private rooms like these can be found on the third floor, and can accommodate around 10pax. walking out into the crisp night air after my heavy meal, i could just imagine how wonderful it'll be to sit along the Singapore river on a cooling day with some yummilicious yakiniku.

Arashi Yakiniku Charcoal Grill
48 Boat Quay
Tel.: +65 8118 6383
Mon-Sat 11.30am-3pm
5.30pm-11pm

*thanks to Calvin & the OpenRice team for the invite :)

Satsuma Sochu Dining Bar

this is a japanese restaurant that stands out from others in terms of its specialties! - it's famous for its grilled meats and sochu.

so of course we had to try their alcohol when we went to this restaurant! i wouldnt recommend the one we tried though :P the drinks are pretty expensive by the glass, so we decided it would be better to get a bottle to share among the 5 of us. well, it was a little too much after awhile, especially since we didnt really like the flavour we ordered :P the one we got was the Fusa No Tsuyu ($75 for 720ml bottle) - described as having a mild fruity nose of pears, showing harmonious balanced between fruits and grain. perhaps because the texture was rather dry, so we didnt like it much xP

instead of ordering the usual salmon sashimi, the waitress recommended that we try the horse mackeral instead! sounded so exotic :O haha. it's seasonal apparently, so since it was in stock, we decided to order it. pretty expensive though! alright, actually this entire meal was really quite expensive -.- the waitress kept recommending dishes that were pretty pricey. the horse mackeral sashimi was a whopping $55, but considering it was a whole fish, i suppose it was pretty worth it. i liked the taste and slightly crunchy texture! :) kinda reminds me of tuna.

in addition, to make your purchase worth the money, they even deep-fried the bones for us! deliciously crispy and surprisingly with a relatively generous amount of meat, this was quite a yummy dish!

we really loved the stir fry pork belly with kimchi ($18)! :) it was really flavourful, drenched in the kimchi sauce - absolutely wonderful ^^

the japanese yam tea rice ($12) was a really interesting dish! we completely did not expect it to be so soupy :P i thought it was fried rice!!! -.- but it was pretty interesting. felt like a wholesome healthy dish :) the tea soup had a mild flavour, kind of like soup for the soul :)

for grills we had the chicken thigh with leek ($6)

the savoury pancake ($6) was another surprising dish! erm, we didnt really expect the pancake to look like this :P hahaha. it was quite yummy anyway :)

we also liked the mushroom stuffed with minced chicken ($6) which had a good balance of flavours between the meat and mushroom.

Satsuma Sochu Dining Bar

1 Nanson Road

The Gallery Hotel #01-10/#02-10

Tel: +65 6235 3565

Weekdays: 12pm – 2.30pm

Sun to Thu: 6pm – 10.30pm

Fri to Sat: 6pm – 1am

Yakitori Enmaru

i read about this place on ladyironchef's post on mothers' day dinner! so i decided to check it out :) i had some misunderstanding with the pricing though! :/ on the food blog, and when i called to make my reservation, i was told that the set for 4pax was priced at $120. but i got a shock when i finished my dinner that day - the price for the set was $130! so yup, just take note of that. but the food was pretty good though!

when i called to make my reservation for mothers' day, the staff asked me whether i would be ordering the set since i enquired about it. when i told them yes, they said they would prepare it for me beforehand. and so when i arrived at my table, there was this steamboat all set up and ready! :)

okie here's what's included in the set:

caesar salad

chicken minced hot pot

sashimi - tuna, salmon, yellowtail, swordfish, prawn

enmaru roll

kushiyaki - wagyu beef with oroshi ponzu, chicken thai with leek, chicken minced with plum pulp, asparagus wrapped pork belly, enoki mushroom wrapped bacon

there were lots of ingredients in the chicken minced hotpot. besides the minced chicken (which the waitress helped us roll and put into the pot), there were also chicken slices, tofu, an abundance of veggies and mushrooms. the soup was absolutely delicious - plus the fact that it's supposed to have collagen inside ;) hehe bonus!

there was a complimentary appetizer, which was fresh cabbage with a fragrant bean paste sauce. it was so clean and refreshing and felt so healthy!

the caesar salad was tasty and i loved the bacon chips that came sprinkled on top! they were crispy, bursting with flavour and complemented the salad perfectly.

there was a pretty wide selection for the enmaru roll toppings, and the filling was so interesting! it was filled with pickled beetroot and other stuff, and it had a very refreshing taste. all the sashimi was nice and fresh too!

the kushiyaki was a set of five different grills, all interesting in their own way :) i liked the wagyu beef the most, which was bursting with a strong meaty flavour. the chicken minced with plum pulp came in the form of meatballs, that were succulent, savoury & sweet at the same time. the asparagus and mushrooms wrapped in bacon provided each other with a good contrast that was well balanced on the palate.

overall, the set provided a good selection of the restaurant's offerings. and for the five of us, it was more than sufficient to fill us! the service was pretty good too - the staff were super friendly and even gave mummy a flower for mothers' day! :) the set is available till the end of may/june if i'm not wrong, so you can try it out! :)

Yakitori Enmaru

ION Orchard #04-11

Tel.: +65 6636 7282

Mon-Sun 11.30am-3pm

5pm-10pm

Gyu Kaku Japanese BBQ Restaraunt

wagyu wagyu wagyu! haha okay i'm going a bit crazy from chionging all my post updates. two more to gooooo! this is madness haha. my hand is going to cramp from typing soon. but i shall finish this by today! anyway, more posts is a good thing right! means that i'm trying out new places! (: that was what was happening while doing Urban Relish. i'm really glad i got the opportunity to uncover so many eateries around school and get to know the people behind the business (: photos from christine!

we tried the fuku set priced at $179++ for 2 persons. but it was enough for 4 people to feel satisfying full! i think the menu has changed since then, so it might be listed under a different name though! the set consisted of different types of wagyu beef, from different parts of the cow i guess? it was absolutely decadent and meaty, but it was balanced out well by the other items in the set! (: we tried the wagyu fillet steak, wagyu karubi and wagyu rump cap. the marbling of the meat was beautiful, it is grade 8 or 9 (out of 12) if i remember correctly. really good quality meat. each kind of wagyu had a different texture. some were slightly springier, while others were softer, but they all melted in my mouth. ooooooooh (: (:

it's really interesting how the food is served here! i really learnt a lot. like the difference between japanese and korean bbq is that for koreans, they often season the meat copiously and leave it to marinade for quite some time before it is cooked. in contrast, the japanese prefer to be able to taste the original flavour of the meat which is why they don't season it much beforehand. also, i learnt that the technique to grilling is to not turn it too many times!!! cos the juices will ooze out, and turning it too many times will cause the juice to be lost and it will lose flavour as well. and you shouldn't press the meat to the grill cos likewise, it will squeeze out all the juices.

we had a few dipping sauces for the beef. not that it was really needed, since the beef was so perfectly flavoured in itself, but they added a nice touch to it. what i liked was the pink sea salt that complemented the beef just nicely! the saltiness helped to bring out the flavour even further.

beides beef, we had other meats like the kurobuta pork collar which was simply sizzling with fats. crispy and slightly charred on the edges, yet with meltingly tender meat, it was delicious. also popular was the french duck breast which came with a sauce that matched the flavours of the duck wonderfully.

the horenso salad is one of the signature salads of gyu kaku and it was a real favourite at our table! i loved the different textures and flavours from the veggies, mushroom and other little bits of stuff inside, plus the sauce. oh so yummy! (:

we ended off our meal with one of the most wonderful desserts i've ever tasted!!! it was a silky smooth milk pudding that was topped with a layer of...chocolate sauce? and sprinkled with soya powder. the powder lent an interesting texture to the dessert, and this was a unanimous favourite. we were scrambling to spoon it into our mouths! it was absolutely delicious. if you're feeling bloated from all the meat, try the yuzu sorbet which is a refreshing chilled dessert that will cleanse your palate after the meal.

Gyu Kaku Japanese BBQ Restaurant

30 Victoria Street, Chijmes #01-01/03

Te.: +65 6333 4001

Lunch (Fri, Sat, Sun) 12pm-3pm

Dinner (Mon-Sat) 5.30pm-11.30pm

Dinner (Sun) 5.30pm-11pm