My friend and I meant to head off to another place for dinner. But with my not-so-good habit of making reservation at the very last minute (at times. Ha), we were left stranded when we were informed they were full for the night. And with my mind fixed on wanting Japanese, I suddenly remembered Syun, a new restaurant which had opened in Sentosa in December 2014.

And yes, we were successful in making reservation just 30 minutes prior to arriving at the restaurant. Keke. Guess not many have heard of the newly opened restaurant yet?

Quoting Resorts World Sentosa’s website, Syun is helmed by celebrity chef Hal Yamashita who hails from Kobe, Japan. It’s his first venture outside of Japan (after nine restaurants in Japan), and the menu is rooted in Kobe cuisine but presented with a modern twist.

Upon entering through the sliding door, I was a little taken aback to see the counter seats on our immediate right. My first impression of the sushi counter was that the area was slightly small and cramped. And with its counter top built (much) higher than our eye level, the design did not allow / encourage interaction between chefs and customers. Situation was not helped with piles of dishes put on the counter top which further blocked our view of the chefs.

And from the menu (pages 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7), we ordered:-

1) Premium 7 course, $120 comprised of:-

(A1) Chef’s selection (above) – Part 1 of 2, we were served half an onsen egg and braised kurobuta pork belly which was a beautiful balance of tender meat and fats.

(A2) Chef’s selection (above) – Part 2 of 2 was a cold dish. I thought I heard it wrong when the staff introduced it as “assorted fish”, but when I queried again, she explained that various fish were used. Meat was deep fried, braised before served cold. I did not quite like this dish though. I guess I would have preferred if the fish was fishes were served warm.

(B) Chef’s signature (above) – And chef Hal Yamashita’s signature would be the sea urchin rolled by wagyu beef. Also available on the a-la carte menu at $15. However, as we don’t take beef, the beef was replaced with flounder. And I loved the entire ensemble, although the flounder was slightly stretchy (note, stretchy and not crunchy). I would imagine this would taste better when paired with melt-in-the-mouth wagyu beef.

(C) Assorted sashimi (above) – Clockwise (from front), 2 slices of tuna in spicy garlic sauce, yellow tail in kabachu sauce and salmon in yuzu sauce respectively.

(D) Grilled cod with saikyo miso, yuzu miso sauce and dried mullet powder (above) – Available on the a-la carte menu at $28 (1 person) and $48 (2 person). My friend and I thought the dish smelled a little weird with the fish further topped with parmesan cheese, which the staff said was to further bring out the taste. But surprisingly, the dish tasted fine. We were cautioned against soft bone, and we thought it was interesting (or should I better say, slightly off?) that baby kailan was used.

(E) Charcoal grilled seabream with vinegar egg yolk sauce (above) – We were given 2 options and we chose sea bream over wagyu beef, which would be served with brandy soy sauce and wasabi. However, after having had a fish dish before this, it did feel as though there was an overload in our fish dishes.

(F) Assorted sushi with miso soup (above) – And for our nigiri sushi, we were given eel, flounder, tuna and swordfish. Except for the tuna, I was not too impressed with our sushi. And to sit at the sushi counter, I had hoped to see a little sushi-making actions. However, as with the design of the place, our sushi were not made one by one and placed onto our plates. As such, even though I could see that the tuna was treated (it being a deep rich brownish red with brown edges), I was not able to fully appreciate our sushi since I have no idea of what went into the preparation of our sushi.

(G1) Chocolate and azuki bean terrine (above)

(G2) Matcha monaka ice cream (above) – Served with a piece of maple leaf too.

  
  

2) Kurobuta pork shabu-shabu, $35 (1 person) (above) – With spicy ponzu and yuzu sesame sauce. And the staff assisted to cook and serve the pork and vegetables for us. I liked how they served the first bowl with no soup, and our second serving with soup.

3) Sea urchin sushi, $20 (above)

Besides the non-interactive chefs, service by the waiting staff was good. Although we were the only customers at the sushi counter (since most chose to sit at the table which was at another area), I appreciated that the waiting staff would always be around to make sure we were taken good care of. You know like how some staff would disappear, assuming there’s nothing to be taken care of just cause there’s only a few customers.

So while Syun was opened by a celebrity chef, I liked that he did not choose to head down the fine dining path. Allowing their food to be more affordable with their wallet-friendly prices. And thus, more accessible. However, variety on their dinner menu was a little limited. One would have tried almost everything if one came in a group of 3. Or a pair of big-appetite eaters, like my friend and I. Ha.

I read that Syun offer a yamashita-styled sukiyaki where diners dip wagyu beef in sea urchin instead of raw egg. Only available in Singapore! So one may want to try that for dinner. Else, one can read fellow blogger DanielFoodDiary‘s post on his take of Syun’s lunch. The lunch menu is pretty different from the dinner’s.

However, cause I am one who prefer a more intimate dining experience and that there’s nothing more on the menu to entice a second visit, I wouldn’t be coming back. Unless I am in Sentosa, and am craving for Japanese without wanting to spend too much.