Hubby and I went to celebrate our anniversary and the food sure did make us feel that it was a special day.

The food was very fresh, especially the scallop sashimi. One of the best I've ever had. The complimentary Japanese tomato also didn't disappoint. To me, Japanese tomatoes are fruits not vegetable. These were very juicy and sweet.

Unfortunately, they had a power trip and we were in the dark for a good half an hour. The staff were very apologetic and tried to make us as comfortable as possible - constantly topping up our tea, making small talk, giving us complimentary fresh edamame (yes, we got another free dish). These are fresh ones that still have the branches attached not the frozen ones we commonly get.

We had seasonal fish grilled with salt. The fish was very fresh but I'm not at expert at fish. I can tell if they're fresh or not but don't ask me if the river fish or the flat fish is tastier.

We decided to have musk melon and cherries for dessert. They were very yummy, sweet and oozing with juice but also really expensive. The 3 cherries cost $20.

Expensive meal but good food. Maybe to reward myself once in a while...

Of all the set lunches i tried ( yoshida, aoki ) , i tink this place offers the best deal for the price. considering that yoshida raised the price to $38

otoshi $3- potato salad.. this is quite good.. i must say i prefer this to yoshida's chilled half boiled egg or aoki's otoshi(which i forget what is it, maybe a pickled vegetable dish or smth like that)

sushi set - 8 pieces of sushi and 2 types of maki.
i tink there were two types of toro sushi.. the toppings are quite fresh i must say. most of the ikura was firm and bursting, but i could taste some that were not so firm and bursting.. the marination of the ikura is quite well balanced, not overly salty.

the tamago is the same type of tamago made in high end sushi restaurants in japan, unlike the folded ones, although it was my first time eating this kind of tamago, i tink the surface was burnt as its texture almost tasted like fishcake, and it was abit less sweet.
i watched japan hr episode on sukiyabashi jiro(now 3 star michelin), and he was tasting one of his disciples tamago and he commented that it was burnt and therefore tasted like fishcake. i tink this was case during my lunch there. making this kind of tamago requires great skill.. usually grated fish/prawn is added into the recipe..

the only gripe with the sushi is that the rice doesnt hold as well as yoshida's one.. skill wise yoshida sushi rice nv falls apart, but the quality of yoshida's toppings may have dropped.

3 alacarte pieces $19
1 salmon sushi($4.50 a piece), 1 anago , 1 kohada.
the kohada maybe slightly less marinated for my tastebuds, i prefer those that are quite vinegary and salty, anago is ok, not drenched with sauce. The reason why i prefer this place to yoshida is because the alacarte prices are reasonable unlike yoshida where 1 pop can cost $10+++

tuna belly soup with leeks and shitake mushroom..
i like this soup very much, the leeks were very sweet and i have my favourite mushrooms. On first sight, the tuna belly looks like a well cooked beef, but it was very tender and "almost melted in my mouth" i dun usually like to use this phrase but it was the case.. i finished everything .

deserts, ribena sorbet.. cool and refreshing way to end the meal.

total damage $100 including tax and gst for two persons.

Shiraishi is one of our favourite places for sashimi. We don’t need any frills or grand décor to provide illusion to good food. And no, we have never been here on any expense account or with the need to see or be seen.

We simply love the unpretentious no-nonsense little setup. And we enjoy Shinji Shiraishi’s easy and humble presence at the serving counter. His easy exchange with guests is an indication of how at home diners are with him, often sharing a good glass of wine with compliments from the guests.

Food is refine and always excellent here, with a wonderful balance in flavor. On our last visit, we had the Chef’s Choice :

Amuse Bouche - Potato Salad
Appetizer - Topgrade Crab Stick wrapped in Beancurd Skin, Steamed Egg in Sauce, Eel Liver
Sashimi - Hotate, Ama-Ebi, Sake, Tuna, Tuna Belly, Hamachi
Boiled Food - a medley of steamed Ladies Fingers, Golden Mushroom, Eggplant Pumpkin, Beancurd, Radish in an extremely full-bodied reduced stock
Grilled Food - Cod
Tempura - Sardine, Cod, Baby Shrimps
Sushi - Tamago, Ikura, Tekka Maki,
Nigiri Sushi - Saba, Prawn, Bonito, Hamachi, Tuna Belly
Soup - Clam Miso
Dessert – Amize, made from seaweed found in a natural spring from the mountain.

And I have absolutely no qualms about having salmon sashimi. Why not? I asked. Is it due to some unfavourable research reports? Or that it is not so exclusive anymore since they’ve been commercially farmed, rendering them to drop from the top-priced range? High toxicity? What about Fugu and those shell fish? They carry way more toxin!

For whatever reasons, it is still a very much sought after fish, especially wild salmon. Watching them migrate upstream to breed had brought tears to my eyes - all I know is I will stop eating them only if they are endangered.

A lot of people are fond or Shiraishi. They tend to be those on large expense accounts or sometimes obnoxious, loud, wealthy foreigners, the kind that tries to compete with each other at the sushi bar over who can order more expensive food. I frankly don't see what the hoo haa is all about at this place.

I go to a Japanese restaurant primarily for sashimi. Armed with an expense account (otherwise I would never some here), I ordered a variety of sashimi sitting at the sushi bar. People say the sashimi is here is very fresh. It may be very fresh but it is also very small and thin. Maybe its the chef's style, but its certainly not worth the money, and it certainly was not the freshest I have had in Singapore. Akashi at Tanglin Shopping Centre and Matsuo at Goldhill Plaza are much better, and certainly much better value, especially Akashi.

Like the previous reviewer, I was exceptionally put off by they charging me the "amuse bouche" which I did not order. Mine was 5 bucks. I complained when the bill came. Its such a bad practice to do this. They probably get away with it most of the time due to the type of people who go there (see above). Even though I was on expense account its the principle behind it that matters for me, and hence I had to complain.

Now, the head chef is a great guy and his staff are excellent. So no faults there. The issue is value for money - you really feel like you have been stiffed after leaving this place. Except that is, if you got a high proving to the guy next to you that you could order something more expensive than his. And we all know there is a lot of this going on in present day Singapore

Shiraishi has such a high reputation for being one of the best Jap restaurant in Singapore so naturally I have to go verfiy that myself.

After consultation, I ordered the sushi lunch set (S$30) for 8 pieces of sushi and two types of maki.

I must admit, the sushi was decent - tasted fresh and good (not mindblowingly good). Sushi rice went well with the toppings. Each piece was 1-mouth-sized plus raw fish had no nasty snewy leftovers.

But I was honestly quite disappointed by the selection of toppings. I much prefer Sushi Yoshida's lunch sets as this was boring and lacked variety.

And salmon?? Not once in my many times at Sushi Yoshida and Kaisan was I served salmon unless I specifically requested for it.

The tamago is another issue. The texture can be slightly disturbing. It was like eating Japanese sponge cheesecake. Definitely not my cup of tea.

Oh, after ordering, we were served a small appetizer of simmered daikon carrot dish and I was like, "Oooh, I like amuse bouches".

But no, Shiraishi had to burst my bubble by charging me $3 for that, that, thing. It is not so much the money but I think it is unethical to make people pay for something they did not choose to order.

The soup was a special tuna belly soup, with leeks, mushroom and a piece of toro. I had something similar at Kaisan. While the flavor was strong, it can borderline being artificially sweet. I prefered Kaisan's light-tasting version.

Overall, decent Japanese food with some quality but nothing so impressive die-die must come back.