The man recently came back from Tokyo gobsmacked by the food. He has gone to Tokyo many times on work trips, but the recent two trips were the ones he truly had time to ditch big names and touristy draws to explore little shops or famous enough quality eats. Well, he's now armed with a full list I drew up for him, and he even bravely ventures into unknown little restaurants because he knows he can either send photos of the menu for me to decipher, or put me on the phone with the server. I'm his concierge to call and make restaurant reservations (which I'm hesitant to do so since his schedule is unpredictable). WIN LOR.
Among all the delicious stuff he inhaled on this trip, he came back raving about freshwater eels, unagi (鰻, うなぎ). He has never tasted such well-treated unagi in his life that came as courses paired with sake. He wanted to find a restaurant offering something similar in Singapore. I literally laughed in his face. DON'T HAVE LAH. Pay many money also cannot find.
While I prefer anago, I’m not averse to unagi; I'm just very picky and rather not eat them in Singapore because I haven't found a restaurant that does it the way I love.
The man had tried a few restaurants that claimed to serve good unagi and had come away unsatisfied. Tonight he decided that we should try our luck at new-ish Unagiya Ichinoji (鰻家一の字) at Robertson Quay. It's the Tokyo restaurant's first overseas outlet. Their eels come in from Indonesia. Apparently the restaurant doesn't take reservations, but on the week day night we went, there wasn't a crazy queue out of the door, and it was half empty.
The man ordered the eel fins and liver, and had the main in Nagoya style (hitsumabushi, ひつまぶし). He didn’t mind the food that turned up, but of course it was nowhere near the exquisite standards of Ryo (翏) in Tokyo. Please. You can’t even begin to compare. With only nine counter seats and I think six at the tables, Ryo (翏) also plays alternative and indie rock music as background. Good taste abound! 😉 At this less exciting restaurant in Singapore, I chose a safe dinner set that offered the least amount of grilled eel—in Osaka style (mamushi, 鰻まむし飯). Like I said, I wasn’t expecting any pleasant surprises. The yamatoimo (Japanese mountain yam, 山芋) was disappointing. Never mind, as long as there were eggs and potatoes, I was happy.
Among all the delicious stuff he inhaled on this trip, he came back raving about freshwater eels, unagi (鰻, うなぎ). He has never tasted such well-treated unagi in his life that came as courses paired with sake. He wanted to find a restaurant offering something similar in Singapore. I literally laughed in his face. DON'T HAVE LAH. Pay many money also cannot find.
The man had tried a few restaurants that claimed to serve good unagi and had come away unsatisfied. Tonight he decided that we should try our luck at new-ish Unagiya Ichinoji (鰻家一の字) at Robertson Quay. It's the Tokyo restaurant's first overseas outlet. Their eels come in from Indonesia. Apparently the restaurant doesn't take reservations, but on the week day night we went, there wasn't a crazy queue out of the door, and it was half empty.
The man ordered the eel fins and liver, and had the main in Nagoya style (hitsumabushi, ひつまぶし). He didn’t mind the food that turned up, but of course it was nowhere near the exquisite standards of Ryo (翏) in Tokyo. Please. You can’t even begin to compare. With only nine counter seats and I think six at the tables, Ryo (翏) also plays alternative and indie rock music as background. Good taste abound! 😉 At this less exciting restaurant in Singapore, I chose a safe dinner set that offered the least amount of grilled eel—in Osaka style (mamushi, 鰻まむし飯). Like I said, I wasn’t expecting any pleasant surprises. The yamatoimo (Japanese mountain yam, 山芋) was disappointing. Never mind, as long as there were eggs and potatoes, I was happy.
2 comments:
thanks for the Ryo suggestion although we didn't have a chance to go there. we saw the website and it mentioned placing reservations months ahead. Haha.
next round!!! yeah, they are crazy packed.
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