Kumo Kaiseki @ ICON Village

Before I begin this blog entry, I wanted to remind everyone to please donate whatever you can to the Japan Earthquake and Tsunami cause. At this time even a mere $10 will help them. You can always choose any charity organization you want, but my favorite is and has always been Global Giving (as endorsed by CNN, NYT and Time).

Another convenient way that donates straight to Japan Red Cross is Google Crisis. Easy peasy!

Alright, moving on…

Last week a few coworkers and I went to visit Kumo Kaiseki Japanese restaurant at ICON Village in Tanjong Pagar. I didn’t know this before, but apparently Kaiseki means “traditional multi-course Japanese dinner” and thus all of the menu were served in sets!

The place was pretty pricey, so we went for the cheapest option called “Seiro” for S$23.54 per set. Pretty pricey for a lunch time set already, but their service was impeccable and the restaurant has a nice ambient to it.

First up was 夏野菜のマリネ Marinated summer vegetables with. This was nice and portioned just right, although I don’t recall there was any tuna in it.

Second, the soup 沢煮風 Bonito soup with assorted vegetables and black pepper. Bonito just means medium-sized fish in Japanese. Not a memorable dish to me.

The main dish was a choice of beef sukiyaki, teriyaki chicken or teriyaki salmon. I went with the salmon option of course! You can also choose between white steamed rice and garlic rice, and I went with regular white rice.

Here it is with garlic rice.

Close up of my salmon again. I don’t know why they gave me two pieces! Anyway it was a nice dish, but again not really a stand out.

Chawanmushi 鶏とほうれん草 Chicken and Spinach Egg Custard. A fairly typical Japanese dish so it’s hard to mess up. It had a huge shrimp in the middle of it, which i promptly set aside as I dislike crustaceans.

The aftermath.

Verdict? While lunch was nice and I had a great time, I don’t think i’ll be back because they’re way overpriced for what it is. I don’t think I’ll even remember this meal a year from now!

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