Lunch @ Sushi Mieda
December 18, 2014 in Japanese by thywhaleliciousfay
I really love Japanese cuisine, which I guess it doesn’t take much to figure that out too. =p And instagram is a wonderful platform to search for new restaurants. After a few clicks, I got to know about Sushi Mieda. And I was immediately sold once I learnt that Sushi Mieda is opened by 1 Michelin star kaiseki master chef Nobumasa Mieda. Hahahaha.
Sushi Mieda, a sushi and kaiseki concept, is located at OUE Tower and is chef Mieda’s first venture abroad.
And prior to making reservation, I was looking at the menu for lunch (pages 1, 2, 3) and dinner (pages 1, 2) from their website. A habit of mine. I like to plan. Ha! And I decided to go for their lunch’s omakase set ($250) which would feed me with appetizer, assorted sashimi, omakase dish, nigiri sushi, ohitashi, small chirashi sushi, roll sushi, miso soup and dessert. Had I gone for dinner, it would cost $80 more. And that’s without the chiraishi.
Then again, I went for lunch cause I had to satisfy my craving fast after a friend stood me up (for Japanese dinner). (^^lll)
As I neared the entrance of OUE Tower, the door opened automatically where a lady at the reception counter checked my reservation before sending me up to level 10. And once my lift reached level 10, a Sushi Mieda staff dressed in kimono escorted me into the restaurant, which was a room located within Tong Le Private Dining restaurant. So yes, with a capacity for only 8 people, lunch was an intimate affair.
I was a little worried as lunch started because for the very first time, I was dining alone. But then again, dining alone at the sushi counter seat was something I’ve always wanted to do too. Ha. =) Last order for lunch is at 2pm, and I only managed to rush down at 1.50pm. Since the office crowd don’t linger around during lunch, I had the entire place and head chef Keisuke Ohno to myself. Keke.
And with that, I started my lunch:-
1) Appetizer (above) – Clockwise from the top, I was served beancurd in jelly and topped with crab, monk fish liver and octopus. Octopus was boiled with sugar and soya to achieve a soft yet firm texture without being overly chewy. Nice!
2) Assorted sashimi (above) – Jack mackerel, chutoro and spot prawn (amaebi). What’s not captured in the photograph was the beautiful gradient of dark to light pink of the chutoro. It was so good!
3) Omakase dish #1 (above) – Snow crab with soya jelly. After seeing a particular picture by @little_meg_siu_meg, I have been wanting to eat something similar. So I was ecstatic when I was presented with this which allowed me to satisfy my craving. So good.
4) Omakase dish #2 (above) – Chawanmushi with crab meat and lily bulb.
5) Nigiri sushi (above) – Golden eye snapper, marinated tuna with sauce, chutoro, ootoro, ark shell, squid, tiger prawn (kuruma ebi) and sea eel done in 2 ways. Of all, the marinated tuna was the best! I learnt from chef Ohno that the tuna was boiled for 30 minutes (for the exterior to be cooked) before it’s further treated with sauce such that the interior was still raw but with an intense taste. So good. It was totally different from torched tuna or physically dipping our tuna sashimi into sauce.
6) Ohitashi (above) – Spinach with salmon roe and mushrooms.
7) Small chirashi sushi (above) – Rice with salmon roe, sea urchin (uni), flounder and golden eye snapper. This was so good. What I enjoyed about Sushi Mieda was the little twist / surprise they had in the dishes. I got a little preoccupied on my phone as chef Ohno prepared this in front of me, so it was a pleasant surprise to see (and eat these) pieces of sweet fishes.
8) Roll sushi (above) – Ootoro. Most restaurants would serve the tuna belly minced / chopped, which I actually feel is a waste as tuna belly should be properly savoured in slices. So I was happy when chef Ohno felt the same way cause within the rolls, the tuna belly was sliced to thin strips, and not minced.
9) Miso soup (above) – Clear soup with clams.
10) Dessert (above) – I was told in Japan, the meal would end with a tamago. But in Singapore, desserts meant ice cream or fruit. Ha. And the tamago, which was made of egg, yam, prawn and eel, was so good! It tasted like cake. A really rich and dense one. And for fruits, I had melon, mandarin with jelly and grape. Again, I was surprised when Sushi Mieda took it further by doing up a mandarin with jelly when I was expecting it to be only mandarin.
What set Sushi Mieda apart from the rest was the attention paid to the smaller details that ‘brought exquisite pleasures and surprises through the meal’ as with Chef Mieda’s philosophy.
And if anyone found head chef Ohno familiar, that’s because he was from Sushi Ichi. I knew I was in very good hands cause sushi is chef Ohno’s forte.
To have omakase comfortably, one should typically set aside 1.5 hours. Athough I came in late with only 1 hour before they close (for lunch), chef Ohno did not rush through my meal. With every sushi he made, he would wait for me to finish, let me act out my “Oh my god, so good” reaction (haha) before he continued to make the next sushi for me. And I really liked that cause sushi-making is very much an art, and I enjoyed watching him pressing and kneading my sushi away.
I would definitely recommend Sushi Mieda. Thank you chef Ohno san for the superb lunch, and for making my first dine-alone experience such an enjoyable and fun one too. He’s a great drinker, by the way. Offer him a cup or two of sake while you’re at it. Ha! =)
SUSHI MIEDA
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60 Collyer Quay, OUE Tower, Level 10, Singapore
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Overall: 8
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Opening hours:-
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Food/Beverage: 9
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Mon – Sat : 12:00 – 15:00 (Lunch)
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Ambience: 8
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Mon – Sat : 18:00 – 22:30 (Dinner)
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Value: 7
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* Closed on Sun
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Service: 8
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