So after our recent disappointing dinner, I was determined to make it up during our next meet up. Now… I have been interested to check out Kakure. And after viewing the pictures shares on Instagram, I was convinced the food wouldn’t disappoint. I mean, the food shouldn’t fare badly since it’s from Ki-sho, I assumed. And I had an enjoyable dining experience when I dined at Ki-sho.

And with that, reservation was made for a weekday dinner at 8.30pm. Parking wasn’t an issue as there was ample parking space within their compound. It’s also pretty manageable if one takes the public transport. It’s an estimated 15 minutes walk from Orchard MRT station.

And from the menu (pages 1, 2), we ordered:-

1) Pre-appetiser, $10 (above) – And we were served assorted pickles comprised of mountain vegetable, sesame cucumber, yuzu radish, lotus root and cabbage after our orders were taken. So no, we didn’t realise the pre-appetiser was chargeable. But it certainly helped to pacify our empty and hungry stomachs as it took a while for the first dish of our omakase to be served.

2) Kakure omakase, $138 comprised of:-

(A) Appetiser (above) – Starting from bottom left in a clockwise direction, we served clam, octopus, tofu skin with soya sauce and wasabi, and seasoned egg plant in miso sauce.

(B) Fish tempura (above) – Using belt fish (tachiuo), this was really good. And it being my first (I think) to learn about tachiuo, I asked the staff to repeat the Japanese name of the fish. But I (still) didn’t get its name. Haha. So it was nice that the staff googled the fish up and showed us a picture of a long silver fish on his mobile.

(C) Seasonal sashimi (above) – Comprised of tuna, big eye snapper (kinmedai) and squid.

(D) Sesame tofu tempura (above) – In a dashi-based Hokkaido king crab sauce.

(E) Pork belly braised in shoyu (above) – This was nicely braised such that it disintegrated nicely within my mouth. However, the pieces were too fatty.

(F) Ki-sho chirashi sushi (above) – Unfortunately, there was too many things going on at the same time; Sea urchin, tuna belly, salmon roe, omelette and cucumber. Yes, our taste buds got confused. My friend didn’t even bother to finish his bowl.

(G) Desserts comprised of:-

i) Fruits (above)

ii) Sweet treats (above)

3) Cured stingray fin, $12 (above)

4) Sea urchin and caviar, $98 (above) – Signature dish of Ki-sho. Seasonal sea urchin topped with oscietra caviar and rice vinegar dashi jelly. Unfortunately, this wasn’t as good as I remembered it from my dinner at Ki-sho. We were told by the staff that the supply was affected by a recent typhoon. And that they still went to purchase it (despite the heftier price). Unfortunately, the weather must have affected the harvest cause there was significantly lesser flesh. Didn’t really enjoy thist. Certainly wasn’t worth the $98 price tag.

5) Juyondai sake, $210 (non-bottle portion) (above) – And of the 3 sakes we tried, this was our favourite. And it was interesting that our sake was served in wine glasses. Apparently the use of wine glass enhances the sake’s attributes. I did a little research after dinner, and read from internet that it enhances by allowing the aroma to be collected in the glass; Enhances as one smells and consequently tastes it.

What’s my take on Kakure? Well… One shouldn’t come with higher expectation of their food than sake since Kakure is after all a sake bar. I committed that (mentioned) mistake of coming for their food, and was left much disappointed. Cause really, the omakase offered on Kakure’s menu is very much ‘finger food’ to go with their large range of sake.

And I blame it on the instagram feed too. The glorious dishes shared was misleading as those were food ordered from Ki-sho but served in Kakure so that the patrons could enjoy sake-pairing.

So yes to Kakure if one is after sake. But no if one is after a gastronomical experience. Head over to Ki-sho instead for that.

Related posts:

Dinner @ Katayama Dinner @ Akashi [Revisit] Dinner @ Bistro Du Le Pin Dinner @ G-ONE // CLOSED Dinner @ Nobu-ya