Food,  Singapore

Kyoten Japanese Cuisine Tiong Baruh Review

SY and I wanted to have a small celebration recently and were searching around for a place to try.  I decided to ask my friend, HC, who is also an avid Japan fan for her recommendation after seeing her many interesting food photos. HC suggested Kyoten Japanese Cuisine with their reasonable lunch sets and their small plates were good for sharing. I told SY of HC’s recommendation, SY was keen to try and made a lunch reservation for Kyoten Japanese Cuisine via CHOPE. There was a note on the reservation that counter seats were not guaranteed.

 

() TEN Lunch Omakase SGD120

We got to Kyoten Japanese Cuisine around 12 noon and was shown to a table. I was surprised to find the restaurant full on a weekday. Kyoten Japanese Cuisine must be quite popular. After looking at the menu, we decided to go with () TEN Lunch Omakase which consisted of the following courses:

  • Seasonal Appetizer 先付
  • Japanese Steamed Egg 茶碗蒸
  • Seasonal Grilled Dish 焼き魚
  • Chef’s Nigiri Sushi (11 pieces) 握り寿司(十一貫)
  • Chef’s Finishing Dish 仕上げ皿
  • Miso Soup 味噌汁
  • Dessert デザート

 

Seasonal Appetizer 先付

The Seasonal Appetizer served was Ikura (Salmon roe). I was a little disappointed as it just seemed so ordinary until I ate some Ikura. There was a refreshing lime zest and juice that made it tasted more interesting. Was kinda glad it wasn’t Yuzu as that would be nothing special. The lime gave it a more fusion twist.


Japanese Steamed Egg
茶碗蒸

The Chawamushi was smooth with a hint of truffle. Nothing too outstanding at that point, and I began to wonder if it was just going to be an ordinary meal. Luckily SY and I were having an interesting conversation so that took my mind off the meal for a bit.


Seasonal
Grilled Dish
焼き魚

For the Seasonal Grilled Dish, we were served Garlic Butter Asari Clams with Shimeji Mushroom. Oooh.. that was a really good dish, one could never go wrong with garlic and butter. The Asari clams were fresh and the Shimeji mushrooms were not overcooked. I really enjoyed that dish and it began to whet my appetite.


Chef’s
Nigiri Sushi (11 pieces)
握り寿司(十一貫)

The () TEN Lunch Omakase course came with 11 pieces of Nigiri Sushi. I was glad they didn’t serve all 11 pieces at the same time but in 3 sets, one plate at a time.

Nigiri Sushi Plate 1
Kyoten Japanese Cuisine Omasake
Nigiri Sushi Plate 1 – Botan Ebi , Icelandic Tuna Akami and Hamachi

I made the mistake of starting with Akami Tuna because it turned out to be the best on this plate of 3. The Akami Tuna was so soft and tender, flavoured with a light touch of soya sauce. It melted in my mouth. I guess aging the Akami Tuna helped to give it that melty texture. Next, I tried the Hamachi which was also tender and soft.  Thinking the Botan Ebi would be that lovely sweet taste I had before in Japan, I kept it till the last. It was a disappointing ending to this set as the Botan Ebi was not sweet at all and tasted rather plain.

Nigiri Sushi Plate 2
Kyoten Japanese Cuisine Omasake
Nigiri Sushi Plate 2 – Kampachi with Radish Jelly, Aji, Scallop and Stone Clam

SY and I both like the Kampachi with Radish Jelly. The radish taste wasn’t overpowering, but added a nice refreshing flavour to the Kampachi sushi. The Aji sushi was also quite delicious and didn’t have a fishy taste that sometimes Aji (Mackerel) has.

The Scallop sushi seemed to be from a big piece of scallop cut into 2 as SY’s scallop sushi and mine had that straight cut. The soya sauce couldn’t bring out any sweetness in the scallop. As for the Stone Clam, it had a nice crunch but somehow there was a bit of blood taste. Not my favourites.

Nigiri Sushi Plate 3
Kyoten Japanese Cuisine Omasake
Nigiri Sushi Plate 3 – Bafun Uni, Kinmedai, Ootoro and Nodoguro (with Chef’s Finishing Dish and Atsuyaki Tamago Castella)

All 4 sushi on this plate were my favourites. I had to decide the sequence to eat them and hoped to avoid the disappointment I had ending with the wrong sushi for Plate 1. So I went with Bafun Uni, Ootoro, Nodoguro and end with Kinmedai which turned out to be the correct sequence for this plate. 😋

I always like to taste the Uni on its own before I eat the whole Uni Gunkan. The Bafun Uni was sweet and creamy, no funny smell or taste – very satisfying. Next up was the Ootoro sushi which was soft, fatty, oily and yummy. However, there was a small string of tendon at the back that wasn’t removed. It would have been a perfect piece otherwise.

The Nodoguro was delicious as the light aburi (flame grill) brought out the sweet fats, totally no complaints about it. 😋  I remembered how good the Kinmedai was during my trip with SY to Izu Peninsula, so decided to keep that last. What a fantastic piece of fish – sweet with a nice aburi (flame grilled) flavour. Yum Yum! 😋


Chef’s Finishing Dish
仕上げ皿

Kyoten Japanese Cuisine Chef Finishing Dish

The Chef’s Finishing Dish was a Ume and Perilla leaf roll. SY really liked it as the Ume gave a very refreshing taste and worked well as a palette cleanser. We were also served a piece of Atsuyaki Tamago Castella made with eggs and fish paste. Both the Chef’s Finishing Dish and Atsuyaki Tamago Castella were tiny bites. I did wish the Atsuyaki Tamago Castella was a bigger piece.

All 3 plates of Nigiri Sushi came with pickled ginger. Kyoten Japanese Cuisine’s pickled ginger was a little darker in colour compared to other places and tasted slightly different. Do try the ginger wrapped in Perrilla leaf as the combined flavours were really good. I wished they gave more pickled ginger with Plate 3 as it was a lot lesser than the other 2 plates. 😞


Miso Soup
味噌汁 and Dessert デザート

I don’t remember anything special about the Miso Soup, just that it was tasty and not too salty. We got half a slice of melon for dessert. Wished it was a full slice as the melon was so sweet and juicy.

 

Ala Carte Orders

After finishing the () TEN Lunch Omakase course, both of us still felt hungry and not fully satisfied (not shiok yet), so we decided to order some small plates for sharing.

Nasu Dengaku 茄子田楽 SGD18
Shallow fried eggplant with minced chicken in miso paste

Kyoten Japanese Cuisine Nasu Dengaku

Read a few online reviews that Nasu Dengaku was good, so we decided to order it. It definitely didn’t disappoint. The brinjal (eggplant) was well cooked and soft, and the slathering of minced chicken and miso flavoured it well. Would have matched really well with a bowl of rice.


W
akadori Karaage
若鶏の唐揚げ SGD15
Deep fried crispy chicken

The Wakadori Karaage looked very appetising but the flavour was quite disappointing. Kyoten Japanese Cuisine fried it very well as it was very crispy and crunchy, but the seasonings seemed to miss the spot as the taste was quite flat. Guess that’s why they provided a dipping sauce which tasted like Tonkatsu (pork cutlet) sauce. Chicken Karaage should be tasty on its own and not require any sauce to enhance it. I had tastier Chicken Karaage from Family Mart.

 

Service

First 3 courses came pretty fast, SY had finished hers but I hadn’t and they started serving the next course. Felt a bit rush, so we requested them to please slow down. At the end of the meal, we were still chatting when they brought the bill. We got the hint and realised we were the last customers, so SY paid the bill. We went out of the restaurant and as I was trying to take some photos, the manager came out to chat with us. He told us we could have asked for counter seats since we were taking the Omakase lunch. However, they seemed to have a standard time (likely 11:30am) if we wanted counter seats and our 12 noon timing didn’t quite fit in. Eating Omakase at the counter is definitely a different experience from being served food at your table. Overall, the service was pretty decent.

 

Prices

We paid a total of SGD321.32 (SGD120x2+SGD18+SGD15 plus service charge and GST) which came up to SGD160.66 per person. SY said the price is reasonable for Omakase meal in Singapore. I’ve only had Omakase at Teppei in Singapore many years ago, so couldn’t comment on the price. For the same price, I do know I could get more in Japan. But then again, this is not Japan and beggars can’t be choosers since we couldn’t travel for leisure during this Covid situation.

 

Final Verdict

Kyoten Japanese Cuisine

Kyoten Japanese Cuisine aged their seafood to tenderise and enhance their flavours. There were some really good pieces of sushi. I especially like the Akami, Nodoguro and Kinmedai. The Kampachi with Radish Jelly was quite interesting. I felt the Boton Ebi, Scallop and Stone Clam could be a lot better.

I’d just have to take SY’s feedback that it’s reasonable pricing for their Lunch Omasake. Overall, the meal was good with the exception of the Wakadori Karaage. I might bring my Mum to Kyoten Japanese Cuisine as she’s been wanting to eat a good Kaisendon which they have as a Lunch Set and try their other ala carte items.

 

Read Ling’s other Singapore Food Reviews or get Ling’s Travel Tips.

 

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