Japanese Restaurant Suju (Mandarin Gallery)

Having been to Ippudo once too many, I'm glad we stumbled upon this place. The dimly lit dining area was comfortable and exuded a Japanese charm with sake bottles lining the walls. 

I placed an order for a simple marinated tuna don- the recommendation of the day.

It did not disappoint. Though the ingredients are simple, the execution was flawless. The tuna was incredibly fresh and cut thickly ( i also had salmon for some reason) and the marinated enoki mushrooms helped prevent the don from getting too boring. The marinade was light and complemented the diced wasabi which sent a kick up the nose everytime I bit into it. However, it was the rice that stole the show. The pearly grains were vinegared and had a silky, chewy texture. It was hearty and comforting. I loved it. 

The accompanying miso was unlike the chain restaurants' version. Here, real homeground soybeans are used which results in a slightly saltier albeit tastier miso soup. Fried beancurd skin was put in there too along with the most translucent and thinly chopped spring onion. 

My mom exclaimed the sushi roll to be wonderful too, I think it was the rice. It was magic. 

As the old saying goes, provide good ingredients and half the gastronomic battle is won.

Located at the Mandarin Gallery, Suju Japanese Restaurant does just that.

I decided to go for a Gindara Lunch set course ($68) which started with six appetisers - namely the octopus, eggplant, chilled duck meat, tofu and seaweed, cheese tofu and steamed edamame beans.

This was followed up with a plate of sashimi consisting of tuna, seared tuna, salmon, scallop, yellow tail and white fish. The meat was really fresh and served at room temperature - the way it should be.

For the main course, I had the gindara. The cod was wonderful, slightly cooked with terriyaki sauce. Once again, the good quality of the cod spoke for itself with just some light heating.

I also tried the Chikinnaban, which is breaded fried chicken ($28). The meat was tender and it can be quite a heavy dish.

My only criticism of this meal comes at dessert -which I found it to be too heavy as the custard was topped with thick condense milk, something I would expect more from an Indian dessert rather than a Japanese dessert.

Other than that though, I found the meal quite good, and it all started with good ingredients. Service was efficient in this casual setting.

a friend brought me to the restaurant.  food standard and service turned out to be a pleasant surprise.  price is pretty reasonable too for slightly better standard japanese restaurant.  'suju' has quite a few branches in japan. no wonder the food quality is so good. tempura batter was the one that surprised me.  it was so crispy, not oily and light.  am going back again next week.

Around the corner of Takashimaya and Paragon, now that Tatsuya has moved to Goodwood Park hotel, sometime when I feel lazy to walk over there, I don't know where to go for some decent sushi. Sushi Tei is fine but when you look at the price, for similar price I can get much better quality in Tatsuya or now in Suju.

We went for lunch and it wasn't as busy as I thought it might be. A Japanese server was there attending us all the time. We all had various set lunches and they were all good - not like the quality you will have in Japan but far better than many other Japanese restaurants in Singapore. The miso soup was a rather big bowl. The only disappointment was the chawamushi was over cooked so the smooth silky texture became like sand paper!

With the other F&B tenants at the Mandarin Gallery, Suju seems to have escaped under the radar screen.  A little odd, and it was a stroke of fortune on Christmas Eve, that we found ourselves there for lunch.  Well OK, there wasn't much choice since it was the only place without a queue.  Thankfully, the oddity ended there.  It is a high quality joint.  It's hard to tell from the outside given the usual nondescript entrances typical of many Japanese joints.  It's not cheap although lunch sets are fairly priced. 

Tempura lunch set

The tempura on rice bowl is deserving of special mention.  Suju prides itself on the quality of rice they use, and it comes through - more so in the rice bowl than the sushi.  The consistency is fluff yet with bite, and with just enough stickiness to create texture but not in a mushy way.  Suffice to say, it's easy to finish the entire decent sized rice bowl.  The tempura used quality ingredients, even if they were the ordinary assortment of shrimps, mushrooms and pumpkin.  The batter was fragrant from the oil used to deep-fry the pieces in, and was light and crisp with just a hint of a bite, akin to Agedashi Tofu, but yet not quite.  The drizzle of a slightly sweet tempura sauce added flavor, and that was it.  Hooked.  I would go back just for the tempura rice bowl, although the lady at the next table seemed to be really enjoying her Deep-fried breaded Kurobuta pork cutlet rice bowl. 

The Chawanmushi (steamed egg custard) that accompanies the rice bowl set is bigger than most other places, and very smooth, with a discernible aroma of good eggs. 

Perhaps the sushi set might have been a little less expensive, since I get the same standards at my regular Sushi Hiro joint in HK for about half the price.  While the catches were fresh, my one complaint was the sushi served in seaweed.  It wasn't crisp by the time it ended up at our table, and was embarrassingly difficult to bite off.  You should only try it at home - it ain't cool to play tug-of-war with your handroll in public.

Overall, the rice bowls are probably where it's at for lunch.  If I get happy a second time for lunch, I just might head back for dinner.

For the original post with photos, visit edeats.blogspot.com

After reading another reviewer comparing Suju to Goto (whom I absolutely adore) I went with high expectations for lunch. Perhaps the expectations were too high.  I called and asked to be seated at the counter assuming that it was a sushi counter. It was not. The open kitchen was novel but I decided against it because the fumes from the cooking was too strong.  Sat at the normal tables instead.  Ordered the Chirashi (which on hindsight I should not have).  In fact before the Chirashi came I made a remark to my friend that I feel rather uncomfortable to be ordering sashimi that I could not see.  

You could say that it is self fulfilling but I was disappointed with the Chirashi. Perhaps I am too used to having a lot more fish in my Chirashi. So I adjusted my expectations.  But no matter how I adjusted it, I was still not able to accept the slice of tuna which was still in the process of thawing. It was left half eaten.  I left without eating the annin tofu.  Maybe I should not have ordered the Chirashi but something else.   

Been to Mandarin Gallery many times,did some research of Suju got to know that the chefs are Japanese and is like fine dining,so last Sunday, finally made decision to try this pricy Japanese restraunt without any friend's recommendation.

I have to say, for a fusion & authentic Japanese dinner, Suju is really worthy to try ,like Goto, but not a place u will go back often, not only because it's pricy.

I ordered the premium course ( 120++), my friend ordered executive course(180++), both served Toro,and for executive course, they served wagu which is quite alright. Anyway, for wagu dish,it won't go wrong if u do wagu beef in a proper way.

 

(1) sashimi

Very fresh! I've been quite a few Japanese restaurants in Singapore, no matter Tatsuya or Akashi....the toro,quality not really consistent and whether u seat at counter,the quality also may different. This is the 1st time being Suju,but i was really surprised by the toro,the toro really melt in your mouth like just flies from Japan and even for the salmon,it's so yummy,very different from normal salmon sashimi, u can see the color from the pictures i took, it looks really nice!

 

(2)Appetizer dish

The appetizer is a combination of 6 kinds of seasonal items,for my course got 6, my friend's course got 4, em....yes, all the items are fresh and very japanese, but i have to say a bit salty for me as too much black soya paste.

But the eggplant with black miso paste is really yummy!

 

(3) Hot dish

Grilled fish:

I had grilled cod for my main, and my friend had wagu, this is the 1st time i ate black soya paste grilled cod in Japanese restraunt, which is quite unique,The fish is fresh, but i still prefer normal way to grill it.

Before my friend's main,they served a grilled mackerel which is big portion and grilled till just nice,I prefer this than my cod as this one is without black bean paste.

Grilled wagu:

The wagu is not that fatty, but just nice for grilled dish, different from Yoshida grilled wagu beef which is too fatty!

 

(4) Rice & soup

I have to say,the highlight of the dinner is when the waitress serves the rice, soup and pickles, the chef served us some cut toro with spring onions, and it's free! It's really impressive!

For the soup ,u can tell, it's very authentic Japanese style miso, the taste is totally different from other restaurants served.

 

(5)Dessert

Small portion ,but unique! Looks like creme brulee, but actually it's ice cream inside, the texture is firm but smooth! Cannot eat too much, just a little bit, enough for your dessert craving.

For an unique Japanese course dinner experience, Suju is an option,and if u tired of normal sashimi,sushi,please come here and try.But i personally love sashimi,sushi for Japanese cuisine, so i should say, Suju,for experience not bad.

 

 

One of the rare decent Jap places in town area that whips up some pretty wholesome dishes. Chanced upon this lil black hole in the wall sometime back when Mandarin Gallery first went live. Actually walked in cos i couldn't be bothered to deal with queuing at Ippudo.

The menu has tripled in selection since my very first visit. Been there a few times already, was there again Sunday evening and my dinner was again consistently fine.

The hits for me were:

-Kurobuta Katsu Don

-Miso Soup

-Sea Salt Chicken

-Ginger Kurobuta Pork

-Miso Gindara (Cod)

-Braised Beef Cheek in red wine

-Annin Tofu

Washed everything down with some Yebisu and all i can say is - its a ZenoShiok way to wrap up a weekend.

 

Boring as it may seems, I came back to Suju with HY again.This time Suju got their official menu which is definitely more comprehensive than the soft launch menu and their Annin Tofu is still there on the dessert menu!

The Japanese service staff were still there, the service still tip top and the prices still up to Mandarin Gallery's standards. From this second visit, I still think it's worth spending my dough for an overall dining experience in Suju (but not too often to prevent breaking the bank).





Sashimi (3 kinds)  HY and I ordered a small plate of fresh sashimi. There was akami, kanpachi and hirame. Not only was the sashimi freshly imported from Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo, even the wasabi was freshly grated and not the wasabi paste off the tube.





Kaisen Chirashi  Like I do not have enough of the fresh sashimi, I went on to order the chirashi set. On top of the sushi rice, there was the salmon roe, scallop, hirame, kampachi, akami, salmon, mushroom and egg. The sushi rice was lightly salted and I thought it was good sushi rice texture. The set came with miso soup with shredded fried egg and seaweed. This was good stuff but I had to benchmark this to Inagiku's chirashi (my best, so far), which was unfair of me. Inagiku's chirashi set was about 3 times more costly.



Shake Chazuke   HY ordered the Shake Chazuke which is Japanese rice in soup with salmon and ikura. The salmon was grilled to perfection and then placed on the 'Saku' rice mixed in soup.

The gohan sets in Suju uses 'Saku' rice. 'Saku' rice is imported from Saku in Nagano, an 'A' class area nominated for producing rice. This 'A' class Japanese rice just got its flavours enhanced by cooking in Suju's handmade bronze pot.

                          

Oyako Tamagotoji   This dish was actually stir fried chicken, egg, mushroom and tofu in an iron pan. A great dish for sharing and complimenting the good 'Saku' rice. We were told that this dish goes well with the powdered chilli that was nicely packed inside a rectangular wooden container.



My Finale ...... Annin TofuLike I said in my last Suju entry, I'll be back for this dessert .... Here I go ..... SLURP!

For more photos and details, see : http://4-the-love-of-food.blogspot.com/2010/04/suju-again-mandarin-gallery.html

I chanced upon this new restaurant recently and decided to give it a try....But they have one of the most concise menu in any Jap restaurant....and it's their special tasting menu as their full range of items on their standard menu will only be available in Feb !

So ordered their executive set at S$120.00 a set which comes with the following :

1) Special starter with 4 items....can't remember all of them...but one stood out as a kind of braised beef....it's good and tasty !

2) Wakyu beef which I think there is room for improvement

3) Baked cod fish which is good

4) Tempura selection

5) Desert whic is some Jap ice cream

I would say this is quite a nice dining experience and service is good due to Jap service crew....and I will be back to check out their regular menu when it's available...