Now It's Tomahawk

O'maJ had changed its name to Tomahawk earlier in the month, on 1 May. They fully embraced the tomahawk as its signature steak, and also expanded the cuts of beef on their menu. This also means it's harder to order vegetarian items now. Ah well. We stopped by a few nights later, and enjoyed its new offerings of steak cuts of hanger, tri-tip and cube roll. Tomahawk's menu is available for takeout and delivery now too, but we enjoy chilling out at the restaurant a lot more. We had to visit for one dinner before the dine-in ban kicked in. We don't know if this ban will extend beyond 13 June. We'll see. While the government have stepped on border control measures, the borders aren't exactly closed. The volume of viral load at the hospitals and at the airport is heavy.

We had reservations, but it was a crazy night. Like all 'festive occasions', many restaurants are stretched to the capacity on such nights, and the waiting time for food extends to at least 40 minutes. This was the very last meal before restaurants closed, so it was definitely hectic in that kitchen because many diners seemed to still expect starters and mains on their table within twenty minutes. Hmmmm. I mean, this is not the usual festive nights when kitchens have time to prep and there aren't excuses for any service lack. This announcement of pandemic closure of restaurants was sudden, but not unexpected. But it was still sad. 🤷🏻‍♀️ 

On this night, I was thankful that the restaurant gave us our usual corner where Choya is most comfortable at. It felt like a little quiet alcove in spite of all the hubbub. The dog was quieter than the family's screaming children. And their dog was way more well-behaved. Of course we had to have wine. It made the wait for food more uhhh palatable. It was also lovely to run into J and J. Was glad that they also got their food and such in a reasonable amount time (given the crowd).  

I was interested in the red grouper with garlic veloute, squid ink mash and flying fish roe. It's always my favorite dish. The man was curious about the 300g 35-day aged Welsh boneless ribeye from Rhug Estate, so I shared a bit of that with him. He could never resist that seafood squid ink risotto with a ton of chilli padi. Despite the humongous pressure to churn out food for all the tables, the kitchen kept their standards. Food was lovely, as usual. No complaints. We'll miss dining in at Tomahawk for a bit.

She wasn't enthusiastic that it was our last night at Tomahawk for at least a month.