One of the places I often frequent is Akashi over at Orchard Parade Hotel. It ain't cheap but I know I can count on the food to be good. The restaurant itself isn't that conspicuous, its right at the back end of Singapore's famous shopping belt, but despite that, during lunch and dinner time, more often than not, its packed with regular customers. So if you're making a trip down, please try to make a reservation!
Here's the official website : http://www.akashijap.com.sg/akashi/default.htm
They have 3 branches, Orchard Parade Hotel, Paragon Shopping Centre and Vivocity. I can't vouch for the other branches, but the one which I frequent over at Orchard Parade Hotel is really good. A safe bet to bring your family, friends or even business associates for a good meal.
Address : Orchard Parade Hotel, 1 Tanglin Road #01-01A S247905 (67324438)
Operating Hours : Lunch 11.30am - 3pm, Dinner 6pm - 11pm
Main seating area....
Sushi bar...
Whilst deciding what to order, we had a plate of sashimi to kick things off...
They have a set lunch/ dinner menus, so its not all ala arte...Not cheap but not exactly super expensive too. Averaging less than $30 per set meal depending on which set you order.
I had the Unaju set...$28 for lunch $32 for dinner.
The eel was premium grade, but even then, there are the soft bones so only order if you can get over that. No issues for me as I've been having this for the longest time, so I'm more than used to it. The rice was of course, Japanese rice, which made for a good combination of sticky rice and sumptuous fish. Sometimes in other places where I've had this, the chef can over do the sauce and make it too sweet, spoiling the whole meal, but this dish was nicely done.
The set came with pickles, miso soup and watermelon. So it was really value for money.
My companion ordered the Niku(beef) Udon, we've had this many, many times, and it's always first class. Both the Unaju set and the Niku Udon are sort of our comfort foods...would definitely recommend them. So if you can't decide what to eat, this is a safe bet as well($20)
We had some ala carte sushi too...all of them were very fresh and really good. The sushi here can be really burn a hole in your pocket, but you've got to remember that you're paying for really good quality.
The unagi sushi wasn't for me...but according to my companions the unagi went really well with the sesame seeds. One of our favourites... ($5)
We had otoro(tuna belly) sushi ($18/piece) and Uni(sea urchin) sushi($32/piece)...The uni was creamy and sweet with a hint of shellfish. You'd probably get something of a similar quality in Tokyo's tsukiji market. But at $32 its a little bit steep. The Otoro was just pure melt in your mouth goodness! The flesh and the fat of the tuna just blend together brilliantly. No wonder this fish recently sold at Tsukiji market for USD$2 million!
Ikura(salmon roe) sushi...Just look at the little pearls of tasty heaven. One of my favourite things about this sushi is that you can just roll the pearl with your tongue against the roof of your mouth and just pop them, letting the delicious liquid burst out.
Being in a Japanese restaurant, we made the customary order of tempura...
Good, but not fantastic...I really liked the mushroom and the onion though($18).
We ordered California handroll too...This I highly recommend! The seaweed, something which many restaurants fail to recognise the importance of, was very crisp and fresh. Call me a detail-freak but I really think you can tell the difference between good restaurants and excellent ones based on how they handle and store basic ingredients like the seaweed wrap, which is so fundamental to Japanese cuisine. It had roe and a slice of cucumber as well as crab, which all combined into one damn fine piece of sushi!($6)
The otoro was so good, we had to order the sashimi as well... ($106/serving) Expensive but well worth the money!
Finally we shared a kama shioyaki...which is grilled collar of the yellowtail ($30)
A picture truly speaks a thousand words...just look at that glorious piece of fish. Grilled with a little salt and squeeze a little lemon onto it. Honestly, all you need is a bowl of rice and you are good to go with this dish! Fresh, succulent and fatty fish...and its healthy too!
Conclusion :
Akashi is a really good restaurant to have lunch or dinner. Its pretty expensive but comparable to most top of the line Japanese restaurants. However, if you stick to the set meals then you shouldn't spend more than $50/pax, which for a good restaurant in central Singapore, is really reasonable and wallet-friendly.
Most importantly for me, Akashi is of a consistently high standard. In some restaurants, the taste varies with the change in chefs, but at Akashi you know exactly what you're getting.
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