Hokkaido Sushi Restaurant

Hokkaido sushi Restaurant is located at Level 9 of M hotel. They are currently having promotions for their bento sets. You are entitled to 30% discount if you possess a DBS card and order the bento sets during weekends and public holiday. I made use of this opportunity to try their Japanese bento sets as I find it’s quite worth it. They offer ala-carte and bento sets but I highly recommend the bento sets as the portion is just perfect for 1 pax and it is 30% off during weekends! There are different bento sets for you to choose from thus please make a wise choice. Salad with Wafu dressing As I opt not to have pickles in my bento set, they kindly prepared this Salad with Wafu dressing for me. I know it is weird to order a salad in a Japanese Restaurant but I really do not like pickles and vinegared stuff. This salad is pretty to look at and it has strips of surimi as toppings. I like the wafu dressing which has a tangy flavour. Gindara Teriyaki I opt for the Gindara bento set- comes with miso soup, sushi rice, fruits and side salad. There was a choice of either TERIYAKI / SHIOKAYI for the cod fish. 2 fillets of grilled cod appeared in front of me, perfectly grilled with oomph factor.I always like fish skin thus I left it to the last to savour it slowly. Look at the charred fish skin, it looks so beautiful and on top of that, it was crispy and has a smoky flavour…. definitely shiok!The cod is soft and tender, it flakes off easily using the chopsticks. Be sure to enjoy it slowly to enjoy the delicious cod in Teriyaki sauce. The bento set – Nasu with seafood A little confusing, I ordered this Nasu with seafood as an ala-carte order but they serve it with the bento set while the cod teriyaki is served separately. I love Nasu thus I had this nasu with seafood with the recommendation of the manager. The nasu is sliced into small pieces and cooked with some fish , squid and a prawn.When the dish is presented in front of me, I could literally see the pool of oil but I thought it was the sauce. Taken a closer look at it, the nasu slices are ”swimming” in a pool of oil. I think there should be some QC check as they actually serve a plate of super oily dish to a customer! But, I still managed to finish this dish as I hate wasting food ! The nasu is soft but soaked in oil and I had to ”drain’‘ away the excess oil on a piece of tissue paper. It was just a disappointing dish. Mango ice-cream If you pay by DBS credit card, you are entitled to a free scoop of matcha/mango ice-cream. I thought I should get the matcha flavour since I was in a Japanese restauarnt but the waitress told me to get the mango instead. The ice-cream is served almost instantly as she told me the ice-cream was from a supplier. Anyway, the ice-cream was just average, with bits of mangoes in it. Overall verdict: I would strongly encourage to come on a weekend/ PH to enjoy the discount and get the bento sets as it is more worth it.

Having read recent reviews of this restaurant and upon learning that it had come up tops in a recent online survey, my better half and i decided to pop down to this restaurant to sample the food.

Ambience
A typical japanese restaurant setting in a business class restaurant; i made reservations to be seated at the sushi counter and we have always enjoyed watching sushi chefs at work.

Food
As is quite often these days when we are in japanese restaurants, we opted to go 'Omakase'. This is probably my favourite way to sample japanese cuisine at the top end as it proffers the opportunity to taste items we would not have ordered otherwise.

We started off with an appetiser of tofu with century egg, squid and fish liver. The presentation was delightful and i was most impressed with the fish liver (it is a bit of an acquired taste - i recognise that the missus has yet attained). Next up was the obligatory sashimi platter - we had a bountiful of scallops, uni, kanpanchi, prawn (a large one at that), and the achingly tasty otoro. There was no question about the freshness of the fish and we requested for the large prawn heads to be deep fried and put in soup.

We were then served a soup consisting of bamboo shoots and winter melon, followed grilled Kama. For me, this has got to the be the highlight of the meal. The fish was slightly charred on the outside but retained moisture in its flesh. It was undeniably fresh and i could certainly eat that everyday. Foie gras chawanmushi made an appearance; there were very feint hints of foie gras, but the taste of crab was much more evident in the chawanmushi. Following this, we were crab meat in a concotion of potatoes and cheese in a crab shell. This reminded us of something we had had during our trip to hokkaido a few years back.

Next in the firing line was wagyu beef steak served with young japanese potatoes. The steak was medium rare at best, and it provided a bit of a respite (not that we needed one to be truthful) from the seafood dishes we had been having all evening. By the time we had finished, we were almost filled up but we did speculate that there would be a sushi dish. Lo and behold, we were proven right and we soon saw a plate of 4 pieces of sushi (uni, scallops, otoro and a fish which i did not recognise). The sushi was good though i would not rate it as highly as what we had had before at Tatsuya (very few places in SGP would be that good). We finished dinner with a serving of musk melon and strawberries; it provided the perfect ending to an almost perfect meal.

Service
Not much to complain about there; the wait staff topped up our sake efficiently, and service was executed in a polite fashion.

Verdict
Not cheap, but it was good value. Will certainly go again.

**Warning** Super long review of a 10-course Omakase lunch ahead, so be prepared to sit down and drool, heh.

Seated in a private dining room with a captivating view of the weekend streets in town, we were first served a platter of appetizers consisting of a number of Hokkaido produce - Bicolored Corn, Lotus Root, Chuka Kurage (Seasoned Jellyfish) and Deep Fried Sakura Ebi (Small River Shrimps).

And next up are 2 plates of Sashimi! First off is the Flounder Fish cut into transparent slices and there is an accompanying sauce where you throw in everything on the plate (except the sashimi itself) and later used it as a dip. The 2nd plate of sashimi is a platter of Hamachi (Yellow Tail) , Hamachi Belly, Hokkaido Wild Salmon and Ama Ebi. I really can’t find fault in the freshness of the sashimi, so my compliments to the restaurant in this area. Oh, the restaurant is pretty proud of their wasabi as well, which is made from fresh wasabi roots. Just a tiny dab is enough to clean off the sashimi taste from earlier on, the spiciness comes and goes in a split second and doesn’t linger at all.

After the Sashimi, a small bowl of Tougan (winter melon) Broth with Abalone Mushroom is being served. The Tougan itself is light in flavor but you can detect a slight orange peel scent that is hidden in the broth. The scent only becomes more obvious only when you drink the remaining broth on its own after finishing the Tougan, and it works well to open up your taste buds for the upcoming dishes.

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I went to this restaurant with husband and another couple friends. Having all lived in Tokyo for an extended period of time we are constantly trying to find a good Japanse place to sate our appetite for good sushi.

We went on a Saturday for lunch and the place was virtually deserted. There were two other tables when we got there but by the time we finished we were the only ones there. The restaurant had minimal decor. The windows look out to some ugly construction cranes in the distance, which could've easily been blocked by placing some tall potted plants, such as bamboo, on the balcony outside.

We went for the omakase course, which ranged from $60-$200/person for lunch. We decided on $100/person to get an idea of the quality of the place. First came a sashimi platter that had really amazing salmon, ootoro, tuna, amaebi and some other fish. We couldn't tell because on weekends the restaurant had mostly part-timers who barely spoke English, let alone explaining to customers what each dish is, which is what you should expect with any kaiseki or omakase courses.

Back to the sashimi. They are definitely top quality, even by Tokyo standard. So needless to say, our expectations now are high for the rest of the meal, but things went downhill from there.

What came next is a clear broth with noodles made of fish paste. Done well, the broth is refreshing yet full of subtle flavors. Ours, however, was tasteless. We then had a decent grilled Saba, followed by the most disgusting chawanmushi I've ever had. It had goose liver in it, but all it did was to smother the eggs in a thick layer of orange greese without adding any flavors to it whatsoever. The dish that came next was equally strange. It was eringi mushroom in a sweet broth. The delicate flavor of the eringi was completely overpowered by the sweetness of the thick broth, which had a very strong butter undertone. We all looked at each other and kinda went, wtf? In lieu of rice or noodle, we were served nigirizushi at the end of the meal. There were only three pieces: anago, hotate, and a nondescript white fish. Again, no explanation whatsoever from the waitress. The quality of the fish was good, but the sushi rice was too cold, which did nothing to compliment the fish. At this point I was so disappointed I forgot to ask for sesame ice cream and we got green tea instead.

If a restaurant is trying to go the high-end route, then they must pay attention to every detail. I don't mind paying premium prices, but please don't leave me feeling that I'm given second class food and no service at all.

All in all, my conclusion is, this place is only good for the fish. So next time I might pop by for a quick bite of the sashimi platter ONLY and go somewhere else for a second dinner.

p.s. the food got a 7 only because of the quality of the fish (sashimi, sushi, and the grilled saba). Take the fish out of the equation and it's a 4 at the best.

Haha maybe a little more lah!

Here’s the newest baby of Chef Thomas of Tomo Fine Dining. With a Japanese restaurant so confidently named Hokkaido Sushi Restaurant, you’re already almost guaranteed the freshest seafood all year round where an entire menu is built around the lush seafood this region is known for. HSR just opened to the public last Sat 26th July, and of coz I had to go! ASAP!

Most of HSR’s supplies come directly from the Sapporo Central Fish Market, Hokkaido, which means they bypass the main supplier, and accordingly the produce about 40% cheaper (I think that’s what Chef Thomas told me and you know how expensive Hokkaido stuff is!). The sushi counter seats 20 and it is partitioned from the main dining area (like Tomo) to provide privacy. There’s also a teppanyaki room which accomodates up to 20, as well as 3 private rooms available for private dining and intimate gatherings. It’s the biggest sushi restaurant in Singapore to date, and to authenticate the menu, Chef Thomas is bringing in his Hokkaido Chef all the way from Hokkaido (where else?) this week.

Of coz I went omakase this visit and was very well fed by Chef Thomas. :) I had a trio of bi-color corn, horenso ohitashi and dried fish snack for otoshi, then the sweetest kegani (hairy crab) that’s in season now. I especially love love…the kegani “miso”. This is the crab roe that’s so deliciously creamy and rich it melted like butter in the mouth. Like crab butter!

My sashimi platter was as pretty as a portrait. The stunning palette consisted of expertly sliced shima aji, salmon belly, yummy and fatty, crunchy fresh tsubugai (sea whelk), sweet ama ebi and voluptuously milky botan ebi. The aji tataki was sans its usual fishiness and when showered with shungiku (perfumed chrysanthemum leaves), tasted so marvelously clean. Otoro when seared, all the flavors came to life where the oils melted to that perfect state of juiciness.

Chawanmushi was made even more delightful with every burst of ikura oils; the simmered abalone mushrooms came soft and spongy. Gyu somen was bouncy and the broth naturally sweetened with dashi. Dessert(S) yes desserts, were a slice of sweet furano melon and as per my request a scoop of Tomo’s delish goma ice cream. Oh soo…dee…licious!

Every produce was soo…soo….excellent but the best thing that happened to me that visit was the Hokkaido Don Chef Thomas specially (thank you Chef!) prepared for me. This is like a baby chirashi but I swear it’s got to be the most luxurious I’ve ever eaten! My dream chirashi! It’s mini coz of the petite portion of tasty sushi rice below, but the seafood crown was so bountiful I could almost see the whole of Hokkaido floating on top! There’s negitoro, aji tataki, sweet scallops, a raw shrimp, glistening ikura pearls and so very very much aka uni!...all topped with kizami nori (shredded seaweed) and gooey tororo. It’s so thrilling to swirl everything up coz the Japanese yam just binds them altogether like magic. Oh! I savored the aka uni sashimi on its own though coz I felt it’s such a waste to mix in the sweet sea urchin roe!

At one point I got so excited over this one piece of sushi that Jack-san insisted that I “must… must have”, I devoured immediately as it came! And guess what I actually forgot to snap a picture! :( It’s really a pity coz the aburi swordfish was such a novel and beautiful number. The sushi was a stroke of creativity that went down very well. It’s lightly showered with some spicy pepper, seared to perfection, and crowned with slices of raw garlic then dabbed with a sweetish sauce. The juicy fish was infused with such a seductive smokey flavor. Simply awesome! And to think I didn’t like swordfish in the past! Hmm…I think now the only way to get me to eat mekajiki is to have it done aburi-style. :)

There are set menus available for both lunch and dinner with reasonable prices to boot. The teppanyaki sets look very appealing too with many options for meat or seafood courses. Otherwise, be like me. Just sit at the sushi counter and wait to be fed good food! :)