Tag Archives: Japanese cuisine in Singapore

Takumi Tokyo: Romantic First Year Wedding Anniversary Dinner

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9th September
Photo credit: Jenny Sun Photography
(Words by misterchewy, photos by missuschewy)

Hello all! This is misterchewy blogging about his birthday and first year wedding anniversary celebration with missuschewy on 9th September. The above was shot on an iPhone by Jenny Sun, the same photographer who took engagement and wedding shots for Jayesslee’s Sonia and her husband Andy. It’s such a coincidence the Jayesslee twins and I were born on 9 September, in the same year! 0909 is a nice date because it means 长长久久 which is why we tied the knot on my birthday last year 🙂

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Rewind a few weeks earlier, we met up with the other foodies and caught Jiro Dreams of Sushi at VivoCity. The fantastic cinematograph totally whetted my appetite for some sushi and sashimi! Had been searching high and low for quality Japanese food for weeks. As a surprise, the wifey promptly made reservations at Takumi Tokyo Restaurant, located at the laid-back Keppel Bay. Come to think of it, she brought me here for an advanced mini birthday celebration at Prive two years ago!

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Walking is our favorite mode of transportation when missuschewy isn’t wearing heels 😛 We were around town area and chose to take a leisurely stroll in after alighting at Harbourfront MRT Station. A stroll soon turned into brisk walking as we were famished!

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I might not express it but I was excited and looking forward to the dinner. My wife certainly knows how to make me happy and excited. -gasps- Stop letting your mind wonder. A woman who knows the way to her man’s stomach will tie him down automatically. HAHA.

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I think it was missuschewy’s first time wearing such a long dress to go paktor with me. So pretty lor 😛

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Our stomachs could not take it anymore and we finally continued making our way to the restaurant which is located on level 2. Turn left upon exiting the lift and you will find Takumi Tokyo after passing by TCC.

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Takumi Restaurant is said to be a fine-dining restaurant with interiors that create an ambience that complements the food and service for an authentic and unpretentious Japanese dining experience. It has a number of awards under its belt, such as Best Restaurant 2010, Singapore Tatler and Top 3 Japanese Restaurants, Singapore Press Holdings.

us @ takumi

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Gosh! We were so hungry when we reached the restaurant. Didn’t know whether to go for the set menu or select ala carte dishes. In the end, we decided to go for a bit of everything from the ala carte menu. Apparently, Takumi Tokyo specializes in robatayaki and teppanyaki.

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Shortly after placing our order, We were served Otoshi ($6), which we mistook as a complimentary appetizer.

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We were pleasantly surprised when we ate the Pan Seared Foie Gras with Plum Wine Jelly ($35). The radish was sweet while the foie gras was nicely crisp on the outside and melt-in-the-mouth.

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Like what missuschewy said on Instagram when she posted the picture: “Foie Gras so good I could have died and gone to heaven”. Yeah it was THAT good.

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The Australian Kurobuta Pork Yuzu Pepper Sauce 120g ($30) came thinly sliced and was quite flavorful but we would prefer it to be more tender.

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We wanted to order sashimi and Chirashi Sushi $38 but the restaurant manager advised us to go for either since both are highly similar, except that the latter comes with rice. There was quite a variety of raw fish and everything came in two slices, except for the prawn. Very value-for-money!

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We love sea urchin but the Hokkaido Scallops topped with Sea Urchin, Paprika Sauce ($28) didn’t wow us. The slightly sourish taste did not seem to fit in this dish.

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Although the Grilled Lamb Rack Marinated with Apple Miso Sauce $25 was a bit salty, it was very tasty and was more tender than the Australian kurobuta pork.

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We felt so shiok from eating the chirashi sushi that we decided to order the Assorted Sushi ($35) halfway through eating! The menu states that this features 7 pieces and 1 roll but it seems like we got an extra piece. Shiok! 😀

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The chef deep-fried the prawn head from our chirashi sushi for us. Very crispy!

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To my dear wife, thanks for putting in lots of effort to plan for my birthday and our anniversary. Can’t wait for part two updates! 😛 I really love the watch that you shipped over for me as birthday present and I will treasure it for a long long time. 🙂 在爱的幸福国度，你就是我唯一。我唯一爱的就是你。

Takumi Tokyo Restaurant
2 Keppel Bay Vista,
#02-01
Marina at Keppel Bay
Singapore 098382
Tel: 6271 7414

Opening Hours:
Daily
12pm – 2.30pm (Lunch)
6pm – 10.30pm (Dinner)

MissTamChiak’s Birthday Surprise @ Akari Japanese Dining & Bar

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Akari Japanese Dining and Bar

Our dear misstamchiak turned a year older recently! Initially, my plan was to give her a dinner treat, and it was supposed to just the two of us. Romantic right! LOL. We had agreed to dine at a particular Spanish restaurant but in the end, we settled for Akari Japanese Dining and Bar at Marina Bay Link Mall. And not only that, dinner between two ladies turned out to be a group of eight foodie friends! 😀

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Photo credit: Nadia

Ok the story goes like this. I was one of the lucky three winners of the new iPad following the Standard Chartered’s The Good Life contest. Haha shall not elaborate on the contest here. The date to collect the iPad at Marina Bay Financial Centre had been set and yes, it coincided with my dinner date with misstamchiak! Told her that we can either postpone it or dine somewhere around MBFC so that she doesn’t have to wait too long. Since Derrick won himself an iPad too, Maureen said that he can join us if he wants to. Just nice Celes asked me if I wanted to join in for a dinner surprise for Maureen and I told her about our plans. Hence, we asked the others along!

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Celes made reservations and we were given a private dining room with 8 seats, and Maureen was clearly suspicious! LOL. While waiting for the others to spring their surprise on Maureen, I tried to buy time by asking her to accompany me to the washroom. When we were back, they were still waiting for Jiayi! So we took some photos in the private room.

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Maureen and Derrick.

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This is Derrick’s gf! So for those of his females readers out there who think he’s single and available, please give up already. HAHA! Kidding~~

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Before we could stop Maureen, she went out of the private dining room and began snapping pictures in the restaurant. When the rest of the group arrived, she was backfacing them and Celes gave her a scare from behind! That was when we heard a loud shrill~~ Lol.

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It’s very difficult to order food in a large group especially when everyone goes, “Anything. Anything.” I’m glad we ordered sashimi because it’s my favorite! The Salmon Zukushi ($58) is a 3-kind salmon sashimi platter consisting of salmon, salmon belly and salmon roe. I love the salmon belly because it’s loaded with fat!

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This has got to be one of the most expensive sushi platter I have eaten in my 2X years of life. The Tokusyou Nigiri 12 Syu ($64) featured 12 types of premium sushi. We ordered 2 sets to be shared among everyone. All I can say is that the raw fish were firm and fresh.

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Whoever ordered this must love rice a lot. LOL. The Kaisen Sansyoku Wan ($38) was 3-kinds mini rice bowls with sea urchin & salmon roe, yellowtail & sesame sauce, seasoned tuna red meat. Much to my *ahem* delight, nobody except for Jiayi and I wanted to eat the sea urchin. And I was like, “This is good stuff! Why nobody eat?!” The combination of melt-in-the-mouth texture and briny taste is something I found heavenly!

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We ordered two types of fish, one of which was the Gindara Saikyo Yaki ($26). The cod fish was well marinated with sweet miso sauce and its moisture was retained even after grilling. I have always liked cod fish for its oily, flaky texture.

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I didn’t really fancy the Madai Yaki Anchovy Flavour ($24) because it had this mild fishy taste but the red chilli pepper and anchovy paste helped to cover it up a little. Perhaps we should have squeezed some lemon over it! Haha.

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Strangely, the Buta Shiro Kakuni ($18) reminded me of the canned Narcissus Stewed Pork Chop. *shudders*

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It was a good thing that we also ordered the Kurobuta Miso Yaki ($26). The marinated black pork was grilled to perfection with homemade miso sauce. It was very succulent with a slight buttery flavor which I enjoyed thoroughly.

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With Jiayi and Rae!

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Maureen and I started the ball rolling for a series of crazy wacky shots! We wanted a proper picture first and we banged into each other on the head! Quite painful lor! Anyway, some of the following photos are koped from Maureen. Don’t say I never give credit ah. Hahaha!

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And then Derrick became trigger happy and started snapping non-stop!

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Maureen and Yan Cai.

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Celes and Maureen are about to start a cat fight. LOL.

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Ending this post with a candid shot! Byeeeee! 😀

Akari Dining & Bar
8A Marina Boulevard,
GP #01-02
Marina Bay Link Mall
Tel: 6634 0100

Opening Hours:
Mon to Sat
12pm – 3pm (Lunch)
6pm – 10pm (Dinner)

Tonkichi Restaurant: Specializing in Tonkatsu in Singapore

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Tonkichi @ Orchard Central

The number of Japanese eateries in Singapore offering Tonkatsu on their menu is increasingly on the rise. When misterchewy and I have a craving for these breaded, deep fried pork cutlet, we usually head to Tampopo or Ootoya, which serve the best Tonkatsu in Singapore. These two are comparable and it’s tough to decide which is better. So, we decided to get out of our comfort zone and try Tonkichi at Orchard Central, even though Ootoya is located within the same building 😛

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Tonkichi, by the Pokka Food group, is well established in Singapore with five restaurants under its belt. The Rosu Katsu Set ($22.90) was fairly remarkable with tender breaded cuts of meat but it was nowhere as juicy as the ones we had at Tampopo and Ootoya. The pull factor is that rice and cabbage slices can be refilled at no additional cost, for all set meals at Tonkichi 🙂

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Since the husband was having tonkatsu, yours truly went for the Tonkotsu Ramen ($15.90) instead.

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Everything about this bowl of ramen is good enough reason as to why it is not the best Tonkotsu ramen in Singapore. The broth lacked oomph, the ramen noodles were not firm enough and the char siu was just average. The only consolation was the delicious egg with a slightly runny yolk.

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We recently came across one Japanese eatery, also in Orchard, that serves fantastic Tonkotsu broth and we have every intention to go there again soon. As for Tonkatsu, let’s just say that we will be sticking to our favourites – Tampopo and Ootoya, for now 😉

Tonkichi
181 Orchard Road
#07-06
Orchard Central
Singapore 238896
Tel: 6238 7976

Opening hours:
Daily
11am – 11pm (Last order at 10pm)