Dozo is a restaurant that's been around for quite a long time. I remember I had my first experience here 2 or 3 years back. That it's still around amidst an every changing landscape and plethora of competition, I think, is testament to the restaurant's standard.
Address : 491 River Valley Road, #02-02/03 Valley Point Shopping Centre (Tel: 68386966)
Official Website : http://www.dozo.com.sg/index.html
My companion and I visited the restaurant on a weekday recently. Valley Point SC is very unremarkable, so from the outside, Dozo looks like just any other Japanese Restaurant. The interior though, is decidedly western.
The restaurant occupies 2 shop spaces, and its big, looks sophisticated with ample seating and private rooms. If you've ever been to Michelin-star restaurants anywhere, Dozo certainly wouldn't look out of place. Interior design wise, at least.
While allowing us time to browse through the set menu, a little snack was placed at the table. Instead of your usual rolls of bread, they offered long Pocky-like noodle biscuits. Honestly, if they hadn't told me that was for eating, I might have thought it was purely decorative.
So they basically have the same menu for lunch and dinner, and all you have to do is select one course from each category. The difference between lunch and dinner that certain items are only available in the evenings and lunch is a 6-course affair as opposed to 7-courses at dinner. That and the slight difference in price.
Before our meal commenced, they served us a very light peach/ plum sherbet beverage, meant to help revv up your appetite...it was quite delicious though I don't really like peach that much.
Then came the starter. We were advised to have the Scallops with asparagus foam first(centre) followed by the Foie Gras on bread(right) and lastly smoked salmon with whipped cream. My favourite was the foie gras, which was really decadent. Didn't fancy the little raisin it came with though!
Then we come to our cold dish...I had the Bluefin Tuna Tartar with Avocado.
The tuna was good, nice clean fresh taste, and the slightly sweet and salty sauce went well with the whole dish. My only gripe is that they were a little stingy with the avocado.
My companion went for the more traditional Japanese option...assorted sashimi. It was of a reasonable standard considering the price we were paying.
Next was the side dish...once I saw the menu, being the goose liver junkie that I am, I knew I was having the foie gras chawanmushi.
It didn't disappoint. The chawanmushi was excellent. Soft and creamy with a hint of foie gras. Not too much to overpower the dish, but not so little that you can't detect the fragrance. Sumptuous.
My companion went for the tempura soft shell crab on the truffle mash. The tempura wasn't great, but for me the star of the dish was the truffle mash, though the mash could have been finer. Texture wise, it was a tad too chunky but you could definitely taste the truffle. Another excellent combination.
For soup, I had the Bacon infused pumpkin Veloute. I think anything infused with bacon, surely cant go wrong. And with this interpretation of pumpkin soup I was proven right. The pumpkin soup was exceptional! Perfect combination, though I think people who cant get their head round the fact that the soup tastes a bit like bacon, probably wouldn't enjoy this.
My companion ordered the safer Mushroom soup with truffles. The waiter advised us to chew on the truffle first before having the soup to enhance it's flavour. The soup was spectacular.
The taste of the mushrooms, coupled with the creaminess of the soup and the fragrance of the truffles was splendid. Honestly, if you don't know what to choose, just pick this option. I really can't see how anyone can possibly not enjoy this.
With our stomachs already 80% filled to the brim, we came to the main course. I had the beef tenderloin on the hot granite stone whilst my companion had the pork cheek.
Honestly, I was a little let down by this dish. Perhaps it was the expectation I had built up for this dish after reading online reviews of the restaurant. But I felt the beef wasn't fantastic. It was alright, but really nothing special.
The pork cheek was quite tasty, but personally, I feel that the sauces they served with the pork killed the dish. The meat itself was soft and flavourful, but I actually had to scrape away most of the condiments before I ate it. The sauce was a little bit overpowering.
Finally we come to the dessert and drink. We ordered the same combination - Iced Rose Lemon Tea and Japanese Cheesecake.
The drink was light and refreshing, especially after such a heavy meal. Whilst the cheese cake was quite normal. Certainly not unlike those you can buy outside from breadtalk or four season's bakery.
Conclusion:
For $70/pax (inc GST) I would say it makes for a really good and satisfactory dinner. Though perhaps the quality of the food on show isn't exactly premium, but all in all, with the excellent service and ambience that the restaurant exudes, I would give the place a 7/10.
Modern Japanese cuisine takes many forms. At Dozo, the restaurant takes pains to incorporate European influences into their fare. Dining there, you will see European favourites like truffle and foie gras (ingredients which are very un-Japanese!) complementing very Japanese dishes like chawanmushi. So at the very least, dining here makes for some interesting eating.
Definitely a decent place to dine.
I was shocked that they used "artificially fat-infused beef" and called it "tender-loin" for the steak as a main dish in the course dinner.
ReplyDeleteFor someone who don't know what the fat-infused beef is: It's basically processed meat that is originally very tough part of meat in cow's "hip" that nobody buys. So that they infuse cow fat into the otherwise fat-less very tough meat to make it soft that restaurants buy to sell as "tender meat".
It's actually NOT tender but it rather crumbles because the fat in the meat doesn't belong in the meat but artificially infused using a special machine and besides that they normally use some sort of edible "glue" to keep the meat together.
It shouldn't be illegal to use such a processed meat but calling it "Tender LOIN" is outright "Fraud" because it's NOT Loin to begin with.
The waiter who tended to us specifically said the "tender loin" can be ONLY served "medium rare" meaning it can NOT be served Rare during the introduction of the main dish.
No wonder that's the case because such a processed meat with fat artificially infused should NEVER be eaten rare as it can cause diarrhea or more serious problem.
I highly advise against eating such meat but if it's sliced, you can hardly notice. If it's a steak, it's easily noticeable, however.
Such a practice is more than just "dishonesty" but should be illegal but this is Singapore...
I highly advise against this place as you never know what other "alternative ingredients" are in use to help cut the cost down.
The course menu I had included:
Starter with scallop: overcooked and unimpressive
Sashimi: no particular comment
soft skin crab: very heavy, oily
soup: no specific comment
Tender loin steak: not loin, disgusted
The fact that we should keep in mind is that dishonest people commit dishonesty because they think they can get away with it. Hopefully they will think twice about continuing such dishonesty.