The friends took us to check out the newly opened Cho Omakase at 63 Chulia Street (OCBC Center East). It was our first visit. This restaurant is helmed by Chef YK Chong. They don't seem to have any social media presence.
Earlier reviews indicated that this was the same one at Lorong Telok that used to be headed by Chef YK Chong too. In a 2015 interview, he has said that while the flavors are heavily Japanese inspired, it's really a restaurant he named after three letters of his surname. I suppose this is the most recent incarnation.
Dinner options tonight were simply different tiers of omakase. Heh. Grinned when I saw the familiar appetizer — that tiny crab, tiny conch shell and oyster. Some standard things in local interpretations don't change huh. Tonight the sashimi was served piece by piece. Hmmm. Okay lor, but in the interest of time, I'd really prefer my sashimi to be served altogether, and the sushi, piece by piece of course. The friends said that the sashimi at lunch is served altogether on the plate, likely because lunch time is a tighter window.
I think it might be tough to arrange for food preferences. At least for the night, the chef remembered one of my requests, but completely forgot about my no ebi request. I gave the sweet prawn to the man. I asked for no fatty tuna. I was happy with akami and negitoro. In replacement for the otoro, they gave me a nicely seared engawa.
There was cooked food as well. There was a red meat in the form of a grilled lamb chop, of which I grimaced at the fats and ate very little of the meat. The chef came over to offer to sear the fats more for us, but I declined. I wouldn't be eating that anyway. Hahaha.
The sushi was perfectly fine. Kinmedai, yellowtail and all the familiar fish. The standout items for the night for me were the sushi of silver beltfish (tachiuo, 太刀魚, たちうお) and the seared sashimi of red tilefish (also known as 'guji' ぐじ, 'ocean whitefish' or 'horsehead').
Topped with ginger, the silver beltfish sushi was full of shiromi umami. It's still classified as a white fish although it has shiny skin. Apparently the shiny skin is delicate and can stain a chopping board silver if the knife skills aren't good enough. The restaurant prepped this one well.
I love tilefish, but I haven't bother to hunt it down at the restaurants recently or to cook it at home. I haven't seen it in restaurants for a while too, so tonight's piece of protein was awesome. The Japanese red tilefish ('amadai', あまだい, 赤甘) was seared along with its skin and scales. Crunchy delicious, and filled with the magic of the sea, I really enjoyed it. This is the kind of food that makes me wonder if I'll taste it again in this unstoppable decimation of the ocean's bounty.
63 Chulia Street OCBC Center East
#01-03 (along Philip Street) Singapore 049514
T: +65 6223 1276
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