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WINE&DINE
192
January15
From traditional-style to
fusion fare, sushi to ramen,
there’s a seemingly endless
array of Japanese joints to
try and dishes to discover –
something for everyone, no
matter the occasion. Here
are our top three picks for
Japanese dining destinations
to tr y now, from casual
lunches to date-night dinners.
Keyaki
Pan Pacific Singapore
7 Raffles Boulevard, Level 4
6336 8111 | panpacific.com
Japanese food, sushi in particular, is my
top “go-to” cuisine. It’s great both for a
quick lunch-stop or a leisurely dinner,
and it offers relatively healthy eating. But
it can be easy to get stuck in a rut, so
opting for a
kaiseki
, a traditional multi-
course Japanese dinner, can be a good
way of sampling dishes you probably
wouldn’t think to order yourself.
Keyaki’s nine-course winter
kaiseki
,
available until 28 February, is a seasonal
selection of freshly imported Japanese
ingredients, with chef Ishii aiming to
“explore the traditional winter textures
and aromas and unite them in a blend
of rich complementary flavours”.
We started with a selection of hors
d’oeuvres, including
grilled salmon
with cheese
, and
prawn with egg
yolk and mirin
. The
sashimi
selection
would not have been complete without
melt-in-the-mouth tuna belly, which was
followed by a generous portion of
snow
crab tempura dusted with matcha
.
I polished off my portion of the
grilled
wagyu beef coated with cod roe
,
whereas my dining companion was not
so keen on the texture. Cold
himi udon
was served to cleanse the palate, and
Japanese musk melon
rounded off
the meal.
Produce is seasonal, and so during
our early tasting some dishes for the
winter menu were not quite ready. One in
particular, the
grilled wagyu beef with
foie gras, radish and broccoli
, sounds
like a delicious reason to go back.
Priced at $170 per person, the
kaiseki
is, admittedly, probably not a quick lunch
stop, but it’s definitely an impressive
selection of food for a more leisurely
meal.
Amy Brook-Partridge
TRADITIONAL
WITH A
TWIST
The sashimi
selection, including
melt-in-your-mouth
tuna belly
Please!
Japanese,