Shoya

Yes, I'm going to die without chilli and sambal, but not just yet. The one thing I sorely miss is Japanese food, specifically sushi and sashimi. There was a lunch at Nobu, just because. But Nobu is Japanese-Peruvian, not quite the same although the quality is to be expected. Big names are dependable that way. It makes for intriguing presentation of food. However, I wanted to find a second-tier restaurant that isn't shite, and doesn't just do yakitori or teppanyaki. We didn't ask anyone for recommendations. We trawled the net and found one that sounded promising.

We braved Shoya in the evening drizzle, choosing to walk there instead of taking the car. An umbrella was more than sufficient to fend off the rain. The locale is ridiculously rowdy. I'm glad the restaurant's located off the main street and in a little lane that's quieter.

It's a big restaurant that seems to offer every style of Japanese food. We were seated at the sushi bar, took a leap of faith and ordered only sushi and sashimi. We weren't disappointed. Granted, the range of fish that evening was small, but they were fresh. The sushi rice passed the test. It was an odd sort of vinegar used, but it would do. I appreciated the freshly grated wasabi. It's a proper restaurant with decent chefs. I think people don't actually eat all that much sushi and sashimi here. The customers seem to order alot of cooked food. The chefs were a little taken aback at our orders. They scrambled to widen their repertoire of fish, but of course it was limited by their stocks.

Shoya is surprisingly satisfying. Those 2 huge plates of fish were filling! It left us with no space to try any other things. Luckily we could walk off unwanted calories. Heh. The omakase sets seemed good- innovative stuff fused with traditional offerings. Pity we weren't into trying it that evening.