Shima Restaurant @ Goodwood Park Hotel, Singapore (Nov 2020)

 To all Japanese food lovers out there, read this!

WARNING - This is an extremely poor review and may offend you who may like this place but I'm doing it because it is only fair to us consumers to know the truth of the unauthentic and horrendous food and experience that this fake Japanese restaurant is cheating our wallets of.

What you see on photogrid above is what you get for the $250 Omakase teppanyaki menu at Shima restaurant. Given this is one of the oldest Japanese restaurants in Singapore that pride themselves on authenticity, I figured let's give this menu a shot since there was a 1 for 1 promotion. I initially had doubts about coming here but my conscience told me to just try it out and sadly, it turned out to be the worst Japanese meal of my entire life.

Yes you read that correctly, it was the worst Japanese meal I have ever had. And quite frankly not just the worst but this restaurant is a cheat and a fake. What they served during the $250 Omakase course is not Japanese food but ordinary food made to look like it was Japanese and sold to you at that premium "Japanese" price. There was nothing Japanese about this meal and I felt cheated and robbed not just of the experience but my money as well.

Unlike most reviews where I would present the photos of my meal and then do a simple conclusion, I'm going to go into detail with what went wrong on every dish and then talk about the experience as a whole at the end of it.

Piu M @ Orchard Plaza, Singapore (Sep 2020)

 

Piu M is a small hole in the wall type of restaurant on the 4th floor of Orchard Plaza. The owner/chef Jun Matsubara is a friendly and chatty one man show. He serves home style Japanese-Italian food (i.e. his food can be replicated at home) and a variety of alcohol to accompany it. The whole atmosphere of the restaurant is a very cozy and relaxing one; one could almost say it's almost like you're eating at someone's home especially since the food served looks simple and has that "home feel" to it. Anyway, let's have a look at the pictures of my two meals here shall we:

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?

Mott 32 @ Marina Bay Sands, Singapore (Aug 2020)

 

If you're a HK fan or a dim sum lover, you'd probably heard of Mott32. This post is a combination of 2 visits and will be focused on their Dim Sum and signature apple wood roasted peking duck. So let's get straight into it! I've been wanting to try Mott32 ever since they opened in Singapore and in case you're wondering, yes it was an instant hit when the Hong Kong restaurant opened their Singapore branch right in Marina Bay Sands. I recently got the opportunity to dine here thanks to the phase 2 of the circuit breaker measures in Singapore and I instantly loved it when I tried their dim sum. In fact, I loved it so much, I came back for the peking duck just a week later. So let's look at the photos!

Bistrot Etroit @ Orchard Plaza, Singapore (July 2020)

 

Bistrot Etroit was started late in 2019 by chef-owner Doi Yasunori who comes from a background of french cooking as such his tagline for his restaurant is "french cuisine by a Japanese chef". He had a pretty slow start and the circuit breaker measures in Singapore due to the coronavirus pandemic didn't help either. However, it seems like social media like Instagram and good word of mouth soon turned his small 7 seater restaurant into one of the hottest deals in town. For $88, you get 6 items including an A4 Wagyu steak. Before I carry on, lets look at the pictures:

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:

Ushidoki Wagyu Kaiseki @ Tras Street, Singapore

Believe it or not, I've been to Japan for food adventures more than 15 times and I've never once even come across the term "beef kaiseki". This was truly an eye opening experience for me, not in terms of the giant hole in my wallet after that, but I've never had a multi beef course before. I was excited and thrilled especially after reading up that Ushidoki Wagyu Kaiseki was one of Singapore's top restaurants. Thank God, I was not disappointed with my meal here and was in fact very satisfied at the end of it. Anyway, I ordered the $200 menu which consisted of 9 courses:

Dosukoi Sake Bar @ Orchard Plaza, Singapore

Shoyu Chako Nabe Portion for 2

Since the hotpot craze is still pretty much going strong in Singapore especially with names like Hai Di Lao, I'd like to draw your attention to a Japanese version of hotpot, specifically one for Sumo Wrestlers. Yes I'm talking about Chanko Nabe, which is essentially a pot full of chicken and pork meat and lots and lots of vegetables. Dosukoi Sake Bar is a Japanese restaurant owned and run by Japanese staff, and apart from your usual Izakaya food, they have a chef who specializes in making Chanko Nabe. Anyway, a minimum order is two portions, so for example, a portion of shoyu chanko nabe cost $33, you must order at least $66 worth. I would highly recommend you come with a group of friends or unless you and your other friend are big eaters.

In Piazza @ Novotel Scotts Road, Singapore

The dish to come back for

I decided to give this place a try after I came across a post on instagram that featured their pizza with a really nice charred and fluffy crust. After checking the prices online and some of the items on the menu, I convinced my parents to give this place a try since my Dad is a huge pizza fan. Anyway, if you couldn't already tell from the picture above, the dish that really stole the show wasn't the pizza but the Bistecca Alla Fiorentina. Before I explain why, lets have a look at the pictures shall we? By the way, these pictures were taken during dinner time and I had to brighten them quite abit because the lighting was really poor.

IL Cielo @ Hilton Hotel, Singapore

Ever since I read that a Japanese chef became the head chef of IL Cielo, I've been wanting to come here for the longest time especially since I'm a big fan of Japanese-Italian food (thanks to my adventures in Tokyo). Cut the long story short, I came here for dinner on a Friday evening and ordered from the Ala Carte menu. I was initially considering taking the set menu but thankfully the waiter warned me that the portions were a lot smaller than that of the Ala Carte menu. Anyway, I ordered 4 items - appetizer, pasta, meat and dessert - which added up to about $140 after GST and service charge. Apologies for the dark pictures, the lighting wasn't exactly the brightest.