Seki Japanese Restaurant: Freshest Sashimi From Tsukiji Market

Seki @ Rendezvous Hotel

Japanese food is one of my favorite cuisine. I constantly crave for sashimi and this can happen anytime of the day. To be honest, I was very thrilled when Seki Japanese Restaurant opened its doors at Rendezvous Hotel on 31 December last year but I never had the chance to sample some of its offerings. Sashimi is flown in directly from Tsukiji Market, Tokyo Japan, on Tuesdays and Thursdays so we are talking about ultimate freshness and quality at Seki.

Rendezvous Hotel

Sashimi

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Seki follows a traditional Japanese restaurant layout where preparation of one’s food is in full view of the customer.

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At Seki, enjoy fine fusion cuisine without the stiff and cumbersome feel associated with fancy restaurants. With a casual, pleasant and inviting environment coupled with impeccable service, patrons can indulge in the best dining experience.

Sushi

The Chewys

The husband and I were invited to try out Seki’s Omakase menu. In Japanese, Omakase entails entrusting the chefs and leaving the selection of dishes to them. As I was still recovering from a recent surgery, I had some dietary restrictions. I wasn’t allowed to consume seafood especially prawns and cuttlefish. Not supposed to eat chicken either but… 😛 Anyway, please note that the dishes we had were served in tasting portions.

Fugu Mirin Boshi

This starter of Fugu Mirin Boshi was served to misterchewy only. *Pouts* Ok but I took a tiny bite 😛 Essentially blowfish seasoned in sweet sake, it kinda tasted like a cross between cuttlefish and bak kwa. Very interesting dish. I didn’t know that fugu can be prepared in such a manner. Having said that, I finally had my first bite of fugu. Haha! But I would really love to try raw fugu liver soon!

SEKI Kamo Salad

I don’t think anybody mentioned this during the tasting session but I personally thought that the order of the dishes served was a little bizzare. My Japanese sensei (from my ‘Food in Japan’ module in NUS) told us that typically, light dishes such as sashimi are being served first and the dishes get richer as we go along, so as not to cover up the taste of the light dishes. The Seki Kamo Salad was quite flavorful, given the homemade dressing drizzled over it.

3-Kind Sashimi Moriawase

Again, I didn’t have the luxury of devouring this 3-Kind Sashimi Moriawase on my own 🙁 I was told that I can eat salmon though so I koped a thick, fat slice from misterchewy! Ohmygod. It’s like so super awesome melt-in-the-mouth salmon!

Bacon with asparagus

This Bacon with Asparagus was part of my special menu. Nothing to shout about but I liked that bit of crunch from the asparagus.

Foie Gras Chawanmushi

I have been forbidden to eat eggs but I forgot to make that known to the chefs so for some reason, they gave me Cheese Chawanmushi which tasted a little odd. The husband had the Foie Gras Chawanmushi and it seemed clear that he was enjoying it a great deal.

Teriyaki Chicken

I thought that the Teriyaki Chicken was a bit overdone. Didn’t quite enjoy the charred bits of chicken skin. Apart from that, the chicken was well-marinated.

Sushi Moriawase and California Roll

See what I mean about the order of dishes being served? By now, I don’t think we can judge the Sushi Moriawase and California Roll as accurately as we all want to, although I can safely say that the ingredients used are of optimal freshness.

Miso Soup

Pretty standard Miso Soup.

Watermelon

Chef and keith

Seki is having a Mother’s Day Promotion and also a value for money 1-for-1 lunch set for a limited period of time. Do check them out!
Thank you Juliana and Seki Japanese Restaurant for the invite.

Seki Japanese Restaurant
Rendezvous Gallery
9 Bras Basah Road #01-02
Singapore 189559
Tel: 6336 3806 / 6336 3807

Opening Hours:
Daily
Lunch: 11.45am to 3.00pm (last order 2.15pm)
Dinner: 6.00pm to 11.00pm (last order 10.15pm)

Rakuichi: My very first Kaiseki in Singapore

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Thought I should share my experience at Rakuichi now since the Rakuichi Course Special ($68) which my friend and I both had is only till March 2010. You need to have a minimum of two orders before they will serve you this. Although they call it the “Course Special”, in reality it is known as Kaiseki – a traditional multi-course Japanese dinner. The food is served in a certain order beginning with appetizer and ends with dessert.

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Appetizer (individual portion) was served on a rectangular plate consisting of four items – river shrimp, salmon roe, semi-grilled salmon and tamago.

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Next came the Sashimi (sharing portion) – thick slices of assorted raw fish. Extreme freshness and quality guaranteed!

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The Grilled scallop and mushroom served in foil (individual portion) was also very fresh and juicy. The dish by itself looked interesting enough.

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Wagyu Beef served on hot plate (sharing portion) was a wee bit disappointing after having tried wagyu in Hokkaido! I half expected it to also melt in my mouth but sadly, it failed to produce the same results with the wagyu I had previously 🙁 Well, I guess it’s foolishness on my part.

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After having oily fare, Steamed Tenaga prawn with egg custard (individual portion) was served. Steamed egg custard never looked so good with that huge a prawn lying on top of it! But we were tricked. We were actually given a cross section of a prawn each. Haha! Nevertheless, I still love this very much. I’m an egg custard fan!

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And now comes the rice part, Grilled spicy tuna cut roll & Raw tuna sushi (sharing portion). I learned that rice is served towards the end of a kaiseki but in the past, it was served at the beginning. The reason for such a change is so that people can have room for the other dishes. And how right it is to implement this change!

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We were already filled to the brim when the last dish (before dessert) arrived! The Snapper soup served in claypot (sharing portion) didnt leave much of a lasting impression probably because we were really too full. Didnt manage to finish up the entire thing.

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Dessert was just fresh fruits but it was beautifully decorated on top a bowl of crushed ice. There was some vanilla ice cream in the strawberries as well.

For more information on kaiseki: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2348.html

Total bill was $160 after GST.

Rakuichi Japanese Restaurant
10 Dempsey Road
#01-22 Tanglin Village (Dempsey Road)
Tel: +65 6474 2143

Opening hours:
Mon to Sun
11.30am – 2.30pm (Lunch)
6pm – 10pm (Dinner)

Heaven’s Loft: Heaven begins with desserts

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I readily agreed to my friend’s suggestion of having dinner at Heaven’s Loft since I had not been there before and the name piqued my curiosity.

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So up up up we went to Heaven…’s Loft. Yeah it is located on the top most level of Orchard Central. Surprise surprise.

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All along I have been eating the usual kind of pasta and spaghetti, so when I saw the words “angel hair” I was naturally curious. Yes I’m a very curious being.

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The Seafood Angel Hair ($24.90) was made up of tempura prawns, mussels and scallops in marinara sauce. Normally I’d prefer cream based pasta because I do not really fancy sourish food. But this is good. The consistency of the sauce is just right, not too watery and not too dry. The ingredients are also very fresh. One thing which disappointed me the most was the tempura prawns. They looked like small prawn fritters to me 🙁

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My friend had the Salmon with Sundried Tomato ($23.90). Not sure how it tasted like but it sure looked normal to me. I think it’s a total rip-off for a small piece of salmon.

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You cant get away without desserts over here! They have a separate dessert menu and serve a wide range of desserts!

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We shared the Pear Temptation ($14.90) which is pear and almond cream wrapped in crispy puff pastry served warm with Ben & Jerry’s strawberry ice cream. Ooh! One bite and we went to heaven!

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The puff pastry had a texture which was similar to that of a strudel. It wasnt sweet enough on its own so this is where the ice cream comes in. 🙂

My next visit to Heaven’s Loft would definitely be to try more of their desserts!

Total bill for 2 was about $80 (inclusive of drinks) after GST.

Heaven’s Loft
181 Orchard Road
#08-01 Orchard Central
Tel: +65 6884 9505

Opening hours:
Sun to Thu
11am – 11pm
Fri and Sat
11am – 1am