Sushi Kenji @ Cuppage Plaza, Singapore (Aug 2020) [ CLOSED]

 

Sushi Kenji is one of those "hidden gems" that skyrocketed in popularity and now even has a loyal following of fans. If I'm not mistaken, Chef Kenji-san has spent a number of years in Singapore, most notably serving in Sushi Hashida and Sushi Jiro before setting up his own shop. When I read that he's located on level 6 of Cuppage Plaza, my initial reaction had me going "what? who sets up a restaurant on the top floor of Cuppage Plaza, who even goes all the way up there?" Well there you go, he does! Anyway, he has two course menus - $88 for a nigiri only and $128 for sashimi, nigiri and 2 more side dishes. There is also an ala carte menu but at the moment, this is just for adding on additional pieces to the course menus. Since it was already so difficult for me to get a reservation here, I decided to just go all out with the $128 course. Shall we have a look at the photos?

Sushi Sho Masa すし匠まさ @ Roppongi, Tokyo (Dec 2019)

This is my third or fourth visit to Sushi Sho Masa and honestly, it keeps getting better. Even though he's one of the more high profile disciples of Sushi Sho, I've always been rather curious as to why his tabelog score is much lower than the other disciples when he serves one of the most unorthodox sushi meals you can get in Japan. I don't know of any other place that will serve 50+ items in one meal. Anyway, long story short, this time round I broke my all time record by stomaching a good 64 items or so. 

Haramasa はらまさ @ Yotsuya Sanchome, Tokyo (Dec 2019)

My first visit to Haramasa back in 2018 left a very good impression. I was very impressed with the creativity of many of the dishes and looked forward to my second visit here. This kaiseki restaurant is known to be one of the more modern and creative ones, relaying heavily on stronger tasting ingredients like truffles, shirako and spices to make their dishes more impactful. I had the privilege of sitting at the counter seat this time and was able to witness Chef Hara making some of his claim to fame dishes like his truffle infused rice among others. I actually think meal was better than my first time here because the dishes I hoped to eat again were actually served again and there were some new ones that left a lasting impression. Lets have a look at the photos:

Takumi Shingo 匠 進吾 @ Aoyama Ichome, Tokyo (Dec 2019)

This is my third visit to Takumi Shingo and quite frankly, it keeps getting better and better each time! Located at the side of a small building in an estate, this is one of your typical high caliber restaurants in Japan that is randomly located behind someone's house lol. Just like Sukiyabashi Jiro and Sushi Sho Masa, this is a sushi ya which I try to come back to whenever I'm in Tokyo. I simply love the  experience of being served a variety of sushi and tsumami dishes. This is actually a specialty of the Sho related restaurants and though a number of chefs have gone to open their own stores. I've only tried 3 of them so far - Takumi Shingo, Sho Masa, and Sho Saito. For this particular visit to Takumi Shingo, I ate about 34 or so items. Let's have a look at the pictures! (I'm not gonna name all of them though)

Sushi Ryusuke 鮨 竜介 @ Ginza, Tokyo (Dec 2019)

Looking for a high quality sushi meal in Ginza at a very affordable and reasonable price? This is the place for you! Sushi Ryusuke is located in the basement (with a rather narrow staircase and entrance) of a building in Ginza. He entered the sushi scene together with rivals such as Sushi Arai but unfortunately seems to be overshadowed by them and never truly got the recognition he deserves. This is rather odd to be because my lunch here was easily better than a lot of other sushi yas in Ginza area such as Ishiyama, Kyubey, Tokami etc. These kind of deals are pretty hard to find lol. Anyway, let's take a look at the pictures!

Hatano Yoshiki 麻布十番 秦野よしき @ Azabujuban, Tokyo (Dec 2019)

Hatano Yoshiki has been on my radar for about a year or two ever since I read up about this talented chef who tries to make your sushi meal more creative by having some french and litany influence on it, or at least that's what I read. Well I can't say for sure that there was any influence, what I know for sure was that his sushi and tsumami dishes all had a very powerful punch to them. He could make shime saba melt in my mouth like Otoro and his conger eel...oh man his conger eel, I dare say is just as good as Sukiyabashi Jiro Roppongi. But enough talk, let's take a look at the pictures of my dinner here:

Grill Ukai グリルうかい 丸の内店 @ Marunouchi, Tokyo (Feb 2019)

Grill Ukai as the name suggests, is a restaurant that serves grilled beef. It is part of illustrious Ukai Group, known to many locals for their strong branding and provision of high quality food at reasonable prices, although the last part is subjective. Anyway, Grill Ukai is located on the 2nd level of Marunouchi Brick Square and good thing about this restaurant is that apart from the good quality food that they serve and the good pricing (in my opinion at least), it's a big restaurant which means you always have a great chance of getting a seat here. It recently entered the top 5000 restaurants in Japan according to Tabelog and I've noticed their score is getting higher every year. This is my 2nd visit here and I ordered the 12,960 yen course (now 13,200 yen as of October 2019) which serves 2 kinds of beef for the main dish.

Sushi Yu 鮨由う @ Roppongi, Tokyo (Feb 2019)

Sushi Yu is a one michelin starred sushi restaurant located in a small alley in the Roppongi area, very close to Roppongi Midtown. Straight to the point, this place is quite unique compared the other sushi restaurants in the sense that the chef, Ozaki Jun, serves many small dishes (tsumami), almost more than the sushi pieces. Furthermore, unlike other places that serve you the standard sashimi and maybe some grilled or simmered items, Chef Ozaki-san's items are rather creative like his monkfish liver paste rice, smoked spanish mackerel with shoyu and mustard sauce and even that hairy crab with sea urchin and caviar special sushi that you see on the cover of this blog post.

Roan Kikunoi Kiyamachi Branch 露庵 菊乃井 木屋町店 @ Kawaramachi, Kyoto (3rd Visit)

Roan Kikunoi Kiyamachi Branch is a micheln starred restaurant located very near Kawaramachi Station. In fact if you spot McDonald's, the restaurant is just down the lane. This is my third visit here and it seems like this place gotten very very and I mean VERY popular among tourists and I can totally understand why. Kaiseki restaurants in Kyoto are extremely expensive and more often than not you have to pay an exorbitant amount of money for dinner at one of these restaurants.

However, over at Roan Kikunoi Kiyamachi, they may not serve you the most creative or mind blowing food but they feed you A LOT and definitely give you your money's worth. The 2nd cheapest course priced at 16000 Yen is already good enough for me and that's exactly what you're gonna see in the photos below. My most recent visit was in December 2018.

Zenen 禅園 @ Herbis Plaza, Osaka (3rd Visit)

Zenen is a restaurant located in Herbis Plaza basement 2. If you ever encounter problems finding this place, just look for the restaurant closest to the Ritz Carlton entrance. I previously blogged about this place and stated that it was an izakaya restaurant. Actually, it's more of a combination of an Izakaya, Kappou and Kaiseki restaurant. You can order both ala carte dishes or a course menu here depending on how big your group is which makes dining here very flexible. By the way, their claim to fame dish is a snapper claypot rice; I liked it when I tried it last time but I didn't order it this time before my parents weren't fans of it. Anyway, This is my 3rd visit here and as much as I enjoyed my meal given the very classy but relaxed atmosphere and generally good standard of food, the tempura and karaage dishes were rather disappointing this time round. But before I continue with this short review, shall we have a look at the pictures of my meal:

Washoku iikura 和食 いいくら @ Minami morimachi, Osaka

Washoku iikura is an Izakaya restaurant opened recently back in December 2017. It is run by a very friendly husband and wife team and is located one train station away from Kitashinchi. This is my first visit here and boy did it leave a fantastic impression. Not only was the food really good but the atmosphere was really relaxed, which made the meal all the more enjoyable. Before I post the pictures, do note though, there are NO ENGLISH menus i.e. Japanese menu only. If you can't read Japanese, you can order either the 7000 yen course or the 10,000 yen course. If you can read some Japanese, you're free to pick whatever you want from the Ala Carte menu.

Lets have a look at the pictures shall we:

Teochew Paradise @ Scotts Square, Singapore

This is a real "hidden gem". The reason why I put the inverted commas is because Teochew Paradise is actually located right in the heart of Orchard Road but in a shopping centre which few people actually visit. Ya know that small glass building next to Tangs? That's right I'm talking about Scotts Square, which is more or less known as the shopping centre which London Fat Duck first opened, but it seems like the crowd has really died down at that place and instead, Techoew Paradise located on the top floor of Scotts Square seems to be gradually building a rather strong following. I've been here for lunch and dinner and I have to say both their dim sum and cooked dishes are pretty darn good. In fact I dare say this is one of the best restaurants for Chinese food in Singapore at the moment. I forgot to save my dim sum pictures in my computer but you can find it somewhere in my instagram. Anyway, for this post, I'll be sharing some of my pictures taken from two dinners that I had here:

Tanakada 田中田西麻布 @ Nishiazabu, Tokyo

This has got to be one of the scariest Izakaya places I've ever been to. Tanakada in Fukuoka is known to serve very good quality food but with NO PRICES stated on the menu. Tabelog estimates that people spend between 10k to 15k Yen in Fukuoka. In the Tokyo branch however, the budget is recommended to be above 15K Yen and of course I will say it again, there are NO PRICES stated on the menu. I can't believe my parents and I conjured up enough courage to try this place in Tokyo (actually it was mainly my idea...) knowing full well that we can easily blow this budget because of the abnormal amounts of food we can consume compared to average person. And unfortunately, that's exactly what we did....anyway here are some pictures of our meal:

Kawataro 河太郎 中洲本店 @ Hiton Sea Hawk Hotel, Fukuoka

Live squid sashimi or Ika Ikizukuri is known delicacy in Fukuoka; almost every Izakaya or seafood restaurant serves this dish. One of the more popular restaurants that specializes in squid dishes is Kawataro. There are a few Kawataro restaurants scattered across Fukuoka but this blog post will be based on the branch located in Hiton Sea Hawk. I came here for lunch with my aunt and we both ordered the same set lunch including a portion of whale bacon. If some of the servings in the pictures seem rather big, be reminded that it is for two people like the picture above.

Seimon Barai せいもん払い @ Nakasu, Fukuoka

If you are looking for an Izakaya restaurant in Fukuoka that serves high quality dishes at very reasonable prices, then this place is a must for you. Introducing Seimon Barai, a very popular Izakaya restaurant located in Nakasu; yes it's near the red light district fyi. Do make a reservation if you want to come here because it is always packed. Let's have a look at some pictures of my meal:

Sushi Ryu すし割烹 鮨隆 本店 @ Hakata, Fukuoka

Yari Ika / Squid

Sushi Ryu is one Sushi Ya in Fukuoka where you can sit down and order whatever you want. It serves semi high end Hakata-style sushi at a slightly higher price than most Sushi restaurants. However, the sushi pieces are bigger and usually decorated with different garnishing or condiments; all of which contribute immensely to the flavor of the sushi neta. Here are some pictures of my meal here:

Orankuya おらんく家 @ Kitashinchi, Osaka

This is a favourite of mine in Osaka. This is not a cheap sushi place, but neither is it an overly expensive joint like the Michelin Starred restaurants. I would describe Orankuya as a sushi restaurant meant for entertaining clients and businessmen. As such, the sushi you get here is of pretty high quality at a reasonable price (to me at least).

I've been going to this restaurant every time I go to Osaka for the last 7 years or so, shall we have a look at some of the photos that I've taken over the years? I'll be using a mix of English and Japanese in the captions.

Zenen 禅園 @ Herbis Plaza, Osaka

Zenen 禅園 is an upmarket izakaya restaurant located in Herbis Plaza (Umeda area) in Osaka; it is next to the basement lift lobby of The Ritz Carlton Hotel. I discovered this place purely by chance when my dad told me to take a look at the menu outside the restaurant for fun. The items did indeed look attractive, especially to a foreign visitor like myself. I figured, lets give it a try! Here are some pictures of the items we ordered.