We went to Nogawa on a Saturday evening in September 2008.

Upon arrival the first surprise awaited us - the place was virtually empty. Not a good sign considering that Il Lido around the corner was fully booked at the same time.

The moderately friendly staff greeted us and brought the menu starting to push for drinks immediately. Having a drink straight away might not have been such a bad idea after all given that it took us a while to find anything on the menu that appealed to us. Almost all of the set meals were availibale only during lunch hours. We decided on a starter and grilled fish and orderd some sake with it.

The food was ok but not better than what you get a sushi chain shop for half the price and the portions were very small. The sake was ok (I am not a specialist so can't really tell) but it was surprising that it was served in a can instead of a bottle - so they might have served any sake and not necessarily the one we orderd.

The athmosphere was not very Japanese either as there was loud chatter in Chinese coming from the staff - apparently bored with so few guests but very un-Japanese.

Overall we were really glad to leave the place and went on to Il Lido (at the bar as the restaurant was still full) to relax a bit and grab a bite to eat as we were still hungry.

It's time i pay a visit to e godfather of sushi n sashimi! How could i ever live with myself if i do not have my heavenly otoro at nogawa??How?!?!?!

Haha okie enuff drama n back to e review... Wanted to go to e le meridien branch but it's closed on sun so instead we went to the Sentosa Golf Club branch..

Ambience was alright..nothing fancy... juz a typical small cozy restaurant with abt 40 seater n filled with mostly regulars.. when we were there there's a table of abt 20 japs having lunch n doing a mini golf prize-giving ceremony so that was interesting!!

Chef nogawa was like this nice old uncle walking ard making sure everyone's enjoying e food.. nice touch! although my bf n i were too busy eating to make too much small talk with him!

Food-wise it was divine! ok not all but still fantastic.. we went during lunch so we had e nogawazen ($35) n chirashi n chawanmushi set ($35)...we also had e otoro(tuna belly) sushi ($24 for 2) n conger eel sushi ($12 for 2).. we were hungry so we ordered a cold soba ($12) and this pan fried salmon with butter ($20) and a glass of sweet potato (haha i tink) sake ($10)... FYI u can get a premium chirashi set for $65 as well...

I gotta say e otoro was TOTALLY DIVINE!!! it's sooooooooo yummy tat we went quiet while savouring e freshness n tastiness of this sushi!! it was THAT GOOD! i'm salivating now juz by recalling e otoro!!

the chirashi set was simply excellent!! fresh n thick slices of sashimi with very delicious rice really made my day! e sashimi totally blew my mind... it's so fresh n yummy! i really lurvee e bed of vinegared rice.. excellent pair with e sashimi! do order this n u wun regret it!

e rest of e food was good as well but sadly not spectacular... perhaps e fresh sashimi over-shadowed everything else? or perhaps we r high on sashimi tat nothing else matters? anyhow.. it's no doubt chef nogawa is e godfather of sushi in Spore!!!

Divine food = divine prices so nogawa's definitely not cheap but i guessed u pay for wat u get! definitely worth every penny for e sushis n sasnimis but not so for e rest..

oh yeah one grump is that e waitresses love to clear e plates super fast ie e moment u finished e food ... efficient or irritating? so for those who hate that do let them know! n also coz it's kinda tiny n quiet.. it's kinda stress to dine in there... juz my tots!

Nogawa gets their seafood flown in from Japan on Saturdays and either Tuesday or Wednesday - so if you want the freshest available, get to the restaurant on those days.

It was a great joy to sit at the sushi bar and take in the sushi chef's (14+ years of experience working a sushi counter) recommendations. In hindsight though, it may have been more economical to go for the omakase. I could have specified the budget and gotten the chef's recommendations tailored towards the budget and connecting the fresh foods of the day.

We had otoro (sashimi and sushi - one piece of which had torched garlic on and was delectable), kobe sushi, hamachi, prawn, assorted tempura, saltwater eel, fin of flounder, grilled silver snapper, uni, salmon, sardine, two-peaked (I think that's what it was called), ika, fruit tomato, baby eels, and a couple other small dishes.

The 300 ml bottles of sake range from 29 sgd - 40 sgd per bottle.

2 bottles of sake + the food = 479 SGD.

The sushi chefs at the counter were very sociable, explained each piece of sushi and sashimi / sauces to use, and were quite chatty. Great to hear their opinion about each fish, what order to eat the sushi in, which other pieces they thought I would enjoy, and also just hear about their background.

After dining there, I now understand why some people describe otoro as having a buttery melt-in-your-mouth texture. Yum.

Now how do I go about eating that stuff without busting the budget?

The food made us feel like we are in Japan once again, when we were just two roads away from Tsukiji *drool at memories* This secluded Nogawa outlet in the Sentosa Golf Club has a lot of potential either as a surprise first date place, or part of a romantic getaway package if you combine it with the spa/resort nearby. Order specific dishes or just go for "omakase" - chef's decision - and set a budget beforehand. Reservation recommended.

FOOD - 9.5 (you can't go wrong with their food with a few exception)

The freshness and the qualitity of the ingredients used in Nogawa is incomparable in Singapore except perhaps Tatsuya/Dim Sake Bar. The food was so good we can still recall each item:

Appetizer - Seasonal Salmon Roe
Up till then, my experience with Salmon roe is "a little wet and salty", but the appetizer changed my view of this humble dish. Served on its own, these fresh, never-been-frozen roe actually have a nice, almost tangerine/orange frangrance! And it looked so beautiful with a tiny bob of orange suspended in the translucent egg skin.

Sashimi - Otoro (tuna belly), Tai (sea beam), Aji (mackerel), Hotate (scallop), Sake (salmon), Arkshell
All as fresh as you could get even in Japan. Delightful! And the server will explain to you the different sauces to use for each.

Soap - clear bonito broth with mushroom, tofu, mochi and Tuna cheek
Seasonal depending on the availability of the Tuna cheek. The tuna looked almost like pork cooked but taste wonderfully fresh and has a nice texture between fish and pork. The soup took on the taste of the melted tuna fat and is yummy, yummy oiishi! The soup is boiled over a charcoal fire.

Roast - Kobe Beef Hobayaki with thick bean paste
Finally, something to change my mind about this dish after a dreadful encounter with it in Waraku. Using charcoal instead of dry fuel, the beef took on a nice bbq like flavour, absorbing the taste of the paste and the leaf and the charcoal. The quality of the beef itself is almost fantastic, retaining its fatty chewy flavour.

Vegetable - Seasonal Yasai (mountain vegetables)
I'm not a vegetable person but this mix of five seasonal mountain vegetables in a light bonito broth really does the job of clearing your palate. Also, none of the vegetable is bitter (although the server warned us it might be) and they have this very refreshing and invigorating taste to them!

Fried - Fugu Tempura (puffer fish tempura)
Personally, I don't see the fuss with fugu except for its texture which is chewy, unlike the usual texture of fish. The tempura batter is wonderful but the fish is quite challenging to eat due to the bones. Not really an A-list kindda dish.

Sushi - Unagi (eel), Umi (sea urchin), Geoduck, Maguro (tuna), Aji (mackerel), Otoro (tuna belly)
Heavenly. And the rice is really good quality and we could see the individual, translucent, almost glowing grains.
The unagi is so fresh that even though it is the "fishier" freshwater version, there is no tinge of fishiness and it melts in your mouth.
Some people do not really like Umi because the fishy taste is more than worth the creamy texture, but you won't have a problem with this.
Geoduck - I suspect the chinese way of cooking it brings out the flavour and texture better than a sushi form
The maguro is sliced very cleverly, and for a moment we could not tell if it is actually red meat or tuna. Absolutely fresh.
The aji is super springy and fresh, and the otoro does not disappoint either with its melts-in-your-mouth-ness. The chef could also removed the tendons to enchance the melting texture (as they did in Tatsuya) but it is no big deal for me since i do like the bite.

Desert - Strawberries with Choya Jelly (plum wine)
Fresh strewberries, not a trace of sourness. The choya jelly is oh-so-oiishi!

AMBIENCE - 7.5 (relaxed, friendly, so a bit subjective)
I always like Japanese restuarant in that they are not too fussy about noise so long as it is not too rowdy. If you fancy some privacy, there is a private dining room. The server did tell us that lunch time and around 5 pm crowd is a bit noisy. We were there at 7 so it was relatively quiet.

VALUE - 8 (value for quality, although not cheap)
Although it is quite expensive, dollar for dollar, it is defintely worth it for the quality you get. The only place where I paid less for this level of quality was, alas, in Japan T.T

SERVICE - 7.5 (hit and miss)
Not perfect, although friendly and knowledgable. They could name you every individual elements for every single dishes and was attentive to the individual diner. The re-filling of the ocha could be better. Their knowledge of the sake is also very good. Steaming hot towels were given at regular intervals so this is a huge plus :D We did find fish scales in the negitoro makis so it is a bit of a minus.
Overall, you get the feeling that they really care more about your dining experience with them, rather than some obscure, fancy, attas rules of restuarant behaviour. Certainly a winning point!