Dinner @ Higashiazabu Amamoto 東麻布 天本 (Tokyo, Japan)

October 9, 2022 in Japanese

I get most of my Japan sushi-ya news from Instagram. And when Higashiazabu Amamoto opened in June 2016, it certainly took Japan sushi scene by the storm. All the Japanese foodie sushi lovers that I followed were posting pictures of their meals at Amamoto. And that of course made me wanted to secure a seat at this highly raved sushi-ya. However that wasn’t easy, especially with everyone in Tokyo Japan vying for 1 of the 8 seats.

And that became harder when Amamoto was awarded 2 stars by Tokyo Michelin Guide 2017 just 6 months after its opening. If my memory didn’t fail me, I don’t believe my hotel concierge ever managed to get through their line. But my glimpse of hope appeared when Omakase.in (a third party reservation website) was launched in April 2017 and Amamoto was 1 of the restaurants on it!!!

Amamoto accepts reservations for the next quarter at the beginning of every quarter:-

On 1 January: April through June
On 1 April: July through September
On 1 July: October through December
On 1 October: January through March in the next year

With Omakase.in, it’s a case of fastest-fingers-win. Which meant even if one refresh the screen right on the dot when seats are released, one may see some seats in one second and none in the next (second). I was unable to secure a seat for the specific dates for my February 2018 and January/February 2019 trips. But persistence and strategic planning paid off. On 1 January 2019, I chose to secure my booking at Amamoto before purchasing my flight ticket. Thus, my March/April 2019 trip. :) And yes, that’s my definition of ‘strategic planning’… Ha!

So it’s to note Amamoto releases limited seats on Omakase.in. Was talking to a regular seated beside me during the meal, and learnt she secured her seat just by calling. But I ain’t complaining. As difficult as it is to get a seat, I am just glad Amamoto is accessible to all by being on Omakase.in.

Amamoto has 2 seatings; 5pm and 8.30pm. I got myself the first seating.

And a little background update… Before opening his own sushi-ya Higashiazabu Amamoto, chef-owner Masamichi Amamoto spent nine years honing his skills under the late legendary chef Mitsuyasu Nagano san at 2-Michelin star Umi before moving on to Shinohara (now known as Ginza Shinohara) and Gion Sasaki.

And for my 5pm weekday dinner, I was the first to arrive at the restaurant. It seemed like customers are seated according to first-come-first-sit, and starting from the end of counter. So I was seated right at the end. But that was fine by me because every seat had full visibility of the open kitchen. Although from my seat, it was a little hard/tricky to watch head chef Amamoto san knead away at his sushi because he stood in the centre. Ie, it’s a straight sushi counter so my view was partially blocked by 3 heads.

Meal started promptly after everyone arrived. And I commenced my ¥35,000 dinner with:-

1) Dish #1 (above) – Mozuku seaweed.

2) Dish #2 (above) – Head chef Amamoto didn’t introduce the fish but went straight into telling me to have one slice with salt, and the other with wasabi and soya sauce. But this was probably flounder.

3) Dish #3 (above) – Scallop, and to enjoy with salt.

4) Dish #4 (above) – Firefly squid. These were filled with lots of goodies. Could I call these ‘pregnant firefly squid’? Like you know… Pregnant fish. Pregnant firefly squid. Haha.

5) Dish #5 (above) – Japanese whelk (tsubugai).

6) Dish #6 (above) – Baby white shrimps (shiro-ebi).

7) Dish #7 (above) – Spear squid (yari ika) stuffed with roe.


8) Dish #8 (above) – Japanese spotted prawn (botan ebi) marinated in Shaoxing wine, and sea urchin.

9) Dish #9 (above) – Oyster.


10) Dish #10 (above) – Charcoal-grilled black throat sea perch on rice.

  
  
  
  

11) Dish #11 (Sushi 1 to 8) (above) – Flounder, baby snapper, squid (ika), tuna (chiaigishi maguro), medium fatty tuna (chutoro), sea urchin, gizzard shad (kohada) and tiger prawn (kuruma ebi).

12) Dish #12 (above)

  
  

13) Dish #13 (Sushi 9 to 12) (above) – Horse mackerel (aji), big-eye snapper (kinmedai), bonito, and cherry salmon (sakura masu).

14) Dish #14 (Sushi 13) (above) – Tuna roll.

15) Dish #15 (above) – Tea.

16) Dish #16 (Sushi 14) (above) – Sea eel (anago).


17) Dish #17 (above) – Egg omelette (tamago). If one checks the feed on Instagram, one will sometimes pictures of tamago tower. Do note this is usually done for his regulars. The pair of ladies seated beside me were his regulars. They requested for 2 pieces each instead of 1 piece, which he also gamely went on to stack their 4 pieces together for their photo-taking. And a hardcore foodie will know this (trend) was created by instagrammer @andrew_gyokudari (head chef Amamoto san’s VIP customer and friend).

Head chef Amamoto san only started the sushi leg at 6pm. And I realised the reason why the meal took more than 3 hours was because he made the sushi pretty slowly. But that’s the whole intention because the entire dining experience was set up such that customers get to enjoy and watch him prepare every dish. From appetisers to sushi. And that’s stemmed from his past experiences from working at kaiseki restaurants Shinohara and Gion Sasaki. Sushi rice seasoned with brown sugar syrup and vinegar, his sushi was size L. So please come with an empty stomach.

For the non-sushi leg, head chef Amamoto san would tell me what condiments (ie, salt, soy sauce) to have the respective dishes with. But what he didn’t mention was the main ingredient. I suspect it’s because he wasn’t confident with English and he knew I couldn’t understand Japanese. But don’t get me wrong, he is friendly. Just that he doesn’t converse as much (with me). Though as he stood at the exit at the end of the meal to personally thank everyone for coming, he attempted a “謝謝” to me. Cute.

Do I recommend Higashiazabu Amamoto? Yes! It certainly lived up to the hype. The food was spot on. In fact, I read that head chef Amamoto san is able to source for quality ingredients despite off seasons or bad weather (eg, March/April are challenging months to obtain good tunas) thanks to his meticulous seasonal sourcing and perfectionism. So as long as one is able to secure a seat, one can be assured to be treated to a good meal! I strongly everyone to dine here at least once in a lifetime. I paid ¥38,900, including tax and service charge. Though that’s excluding Omakase.in’s booking fee of ¥270.

I will certainly be trying to secure a slot for my upcoming February 2023 trip. It has been a long time waiting. :)

Dinner @ Sushi Yujo | Sushi Restaurant in Tanjong Pagar

July 26, 2022 in Japanese, Singapore, Singapore, Sushi

I usually book myself in for a sushi meal only after my craving kicks in. But what I realised is that I typically miss one whole season by doing such. Not to say trying to make a booking with just 2-4 weeks advanced notice isn’t quite possible now, post-COVID. So these days, I try to be more diligent by securing 1 to 2 sushi meals every month, with or without my craving.

In fact, I further divided my to-try list of of sushi restaurants into expensive and affordable. Coincidentally (or not), the expensive ones are helmed by Japanese chefs while the affordable ones are by non-Japanese chefs. So yes. To manage budget, 1 expensive sushi meal and 1 affordable sushi meal per month. =)

Opened recently in mid 2022, Sushi Yujo is new to Singapore sushi scene. But not Sushi Yujo’s head chef Desmond Fong. He was previously at Sushi Jin. Though I didn’t find him familiar, but that’s because I dined at Sushi Jin back in 2014 when it was under the helm of Raymond Tan. But I digress…

Reservation was made via Chope for a weekday dinner. And in my reservation, I specifically requested for head chef. Glad I did cause it turned out there was more than 1 chef behind the sushi counter. And 2 days before dinner, the restaurant dropped me a WhatsApp text with their dinner menu. There were 4 options; Hogo Sushi set ($198), Chusei Omakase set ($198), Yujo Signature Omakase set ($288) and Premium Omakase ($348). After much contemplation, I texted back with the selection for Yujo Signature. Uh huh, I stopped going for the most expensive menu. Gasp.

I was unfortunately running late on the day of dinner and texted the restaurant at 6pm that I would only reach at 6.45pm. Thankfully it wasn’t an issue because they don’t start everyone at the same timing. Located at level 2 of Amara Singapore, the interior decor of Sushi Yujo certainly stood out with its kinetic flower sculpture which pulsated with blooming movements. I made eye contact with chefs far too many times because I kept staring at the sculpture (while trying to figure out the design). Ha. After taking my order for drinks, I started my Yujo Signature Omakase, $288 with:-

1) Appetiser (above) – Water shield, baby abalone, river crab, and baby white shrimp (shiro ebi), salmon roe (ikura) and caviar.

2) Carpaccio (above) – Sea bream with sliced truffle, caviar and drizzle of truffle oil.

3) Sashimi (5 kinds) (above) – Premium fatty tuna (otoro), scallop, medium fatty tuna (chutoro), flounder and sea urchin, and amberjack.


  

4) Chef’s Signature (above) – Abalone served with its liver sauce. This was really good. I wasn’t sure if I be served with any rice thereafter, so I tried to clean up the sauce as much as I could. So when the sous chef came round later with the rice ball, head chef Desmond must have noticed the (very) little sauce left and asked if I wanted more. “Yes. A little bit,” I replied. Keke. And it was also from this that I noticed their sushi rice (shari) was on the stickier side.

5) Cooked Dish (above) – King crab.

  

  

6) Sushi (5 pieces) (above) – Lightly torched (aburi) spotted prawn (botan ebi), short spine sea urchin (bafun uni), aburi tuna belly with chopped tuna, caviar and gold dust, aburi barracuda (kamasu) with yuzu pepper, and aburi scallop with foie gras, sea urchin, caviar and gold flakes.

7) Chef’s Finale (above) – Sushi roll (temaki) of chopped tuna, crispy bits and salmon roe. This was really enjoyable.

8) Soup (above) – Clam soup.

9) Dessert – Musk melon, mango and grape.

Head chef Desmond took charge of all the fish preparation. That meant he also sliced the fishes for his sous chefs to make their sushi. And it’s probably because he was busy with the fish prepping that his sous chef would do the plating of the non-sushi dishes. Including for customers seated at head chef Desmond’s end of the counter. But don’t get me wrong. I enjoyed the food dished out at Sushi Yujo. Both non-sushi and sushi legs of the meal.

In fact, because I went with the $288 omakase course instead of the $348 premium omakase course, I was pretty surprised when my course included ingredients such as abalone, truffle, premium fatty tuna (otoro) and sea urchin. It made me wonder how more premium the ingredients could get in the $348 course. So knowing that I didn’t go for the most expensive course yet was able to enjoy premium ingredients, it felt good. Keke.

However, I thought they could go on easier with their blow torch. 4 out of the 5 sushi were aburi. There’s a sushi course for dinner (Hugo, $198) which serves 12 pieces of sushi. I hope the aburi pieces are kept to a maximum 4. But that said, I really enjoyed the 2 fusion sushi pieces. They were fun and tasty!

Will I recommend Sushi Yujo? Yes! But do manage expectation, and know that the food here are not 100% traditional.

SUSHI YUJO
165 Tanjong Pagar Road, Amara Hotel, #02-26, Singapore
8877 8831, Website
Overall: 7.5
Opening hours:-
Food/Beverage: 7
Tues – Sun : 12:00 – 15:00 (Lunch)
Ambience: 8
Tues – Sun : 18:30 – 22:30 (Dinner)
Value: 8
Service: 7
* Closed on Mon

Lunch @ Sushi Sato | Sushi Restaurant in Dempsey

April 10, 2022 in Japanese

Opened fairly recently in November 2021, Sushi Sato has to be 1 of the hardest sushi restaurants to book to date. Seats for the following month are released on the first day of the month at 10am, on their website. Ie, seats for June are released on 1 April 10am. And seats are taken up… Within minutes?

My first attempt at booking was on 1 December for February 2022. Despite setting reminder in my calendar, I missed it because 1 December was a weekday. Had to work. Was in meeting… And during my 2nd attempt, I loaded the website only to see just a few weekday dinner and lunch slots left. Since I wasn’t too keen on dinner, I booked myself for a Friday lunch. Yes, even if that meant taking leave.

I reached the restaurant at 12.15pm for my 12.30pm lunch appointment. And seeing no one behind the reception desk, my first thought was “Oh, they only open at 12.30pm sharp.” So instead of trying to open the entrance door, I obediently waited outside. It was only after a couple that reached minutes after me and let themselves in that I realised how silly I was. I of course waited a few minutes before entering after them… Ha.


Interior (Picture Credit: Link)

I walked past a private room before entering into the main space where chef-owner Yuji Sato was. The L-shaped counter could sit at least 10 people. But I was surprised to see I was the last to reach for the 12.30pm seating despite it being 12.20pm only. There are 3 options on the food menu. A friend happened to have lunch at Sushi Sato 2 days before me, and shared the difference between utsukushi menu ($280) and tomi menu (from $350) was that the latter had an additional rice bowl (donburi) with grilled fish and the sea urchin-salmon roe bowl was replaced with 2 sushi instead. So thanks to my friend, making my choice of menu was a straight forward decision.

And with that, I started my utsukushi menu, $280 with:-

1) Seasonal starter (above) – Firefly squid.


2) Chawanmushi (above) – Steamed egg with seasonal ice fish.


3) Seasonal sashimi (above) – Smoked medium fatty tuna (chutoro) and flounder.

4) Sushi #1 (above) – Marinated tuna (maguro zuke).

5) Sushi #2 (above) – Flounder fin (engawa).


6) Cooked dish #1 (above) – Mountain vegetable (burdock) tempura. This was very nice. The batter wasn’t exactly paper thin, but I felt the thickness was necessary for it to be crunchy. And the batter wasn’t just plain flour. I could taste it’s seasoned. Good choice I say because while the burdock was juicy, it would have been bland on its own.

7) Sushi #3 (above) – Japanese spotted prawn (botan ebi).

8) Sushi #4 (above) – Gizzard shad (kohada). Head chef Sato san made a joke by saying “lizard” shyly. Haha.

After serving his first sushi, head chef Sato san checked with every customer if the rice portion was fine. I noticed mine was small. As though it was specifically made that way for female customers. Didn’t say anything until after I had my fourth sushi.

His sushi rice was slightly acidic and stickier than usual, but went really well with his neta (sushi topping). But with only a small portion of rice, I was left with just the neta (in my mouth) after a few chews. It’s as though I was eating sashimi instead of sushi. So yes, I requested for more sushi rice simply because I wanted to continue tasting the rice in my mouth! :) And I wasn’t alone. The female customer beside me ask for more rice for her sushi too!

9) Sushi #5 (above) – Arctic surf clam (hokkigai).

10) Sushi #6 (above) – Ink squid (sumi ika).

11) Sushi #7 (above) – Smoked baby tuna (meiji maguro).

12) Cooked dish #2 (above) – Grilled squid legs.

13) Sushi #8 (above) – Adult yellowtail (buri).

14) Sushi #9 (above)

15) Sushi #10 (above) – Chicken grunt (isaki).

16) Sushi #11 (above) – Scallop (hotate).

17) Rice bowl (above) – Rice bowl of sea urchin and salmon roe.

18) Soup (above)

19) Sushi #12 (above) – Premium fatty tuna (otoro).

20) Hand roll (above)

21) Dessert (above) – Strawberry, orange and warabi mochi.

I left the restaurant feeling really satisfied. The food was very on point! I especially enjoyed his sushi rice. It complemented the sushi toppings very well. In fact, I regretted not adding more sushi. My friend had mentioned the needlefish (sayori) was outstanding. But then again, it was a little tricky with my situation to ‘steal’ head chef Sato san’s attention.

My fellow diners happened to be head chef Sato san’s regulars. Like everyone in the room but me. I felt out-of-place because everyone were unconsciously (or consciously) making their presence felt by talking loudly, toasting head chef Sato san non-stop, making conversations with both head chef Sato san and the waiting staff, etc. In fact, I was thankful I wasn’t offered the drinks menu because I would have ordered just a 180ml sake while the other groups were ordering bottle after bottle. Gasp.

Although the rowdier lunch group slightly marred my dining experience, I would still strongly recommend Sushi Sato. For $280, my meal was very value-for-money especially with the range and quality of fishes served. I would recommend lunch over dinner as I heard dinner menu ranges from $380 to $580. But if money isn’t an issue, go for it I say! Though I reckon it’s going to be a challenge for a long while to secure bookings at Sushi Saito.

Can’t wait to be back!

SUSHI SATO
6B Dempsey Road, Singapore
6971 8265, Website
Overall: 8
Opening hours:-
Food/Beverage: 9
Mon – Sat : 12:00 – 15:00 (Lunch)
Ambience: 8
Mon – Sat : 18:30 – 22:30 (Dinner)
Value: 8
Service: 7
* Closed on Sun