Shoukouwa Singapore

Singapore is never short of high quality Japanese restaurants. As a matter of fact, every year, there are capable and native Japanese chefs opening new elite dining places in the island. The latest addition that probably caught even many seasoned foodies and critics alike off guard was a tiny sushi-ya at One Fullerton named Shoukouwa. Approximately 5 months only after the opening, Michelin awarded this sushi place 2-star (pretty unusual practice by the red guide book). It may not be completely "new" since the head chef was Masakazu Ishibashi, a Hokkaido native. He is the master chef of Ginza sushi ichi group - he occasionally had special events a few times here annually in the past. However, since the opening of Shoukouwa, Ishibashi-san has spent most of his time these days in Singapore. He stands behind the counter regularly and rarely lets other chefs to serve sushi to the diners. When Chef Ishibashi is off or visiting other sushi ichi branches in Asia, he would especially fly in his colleague from Tokyo to be the temporary chef de cuisine as Shoukouwa. Like many other high-end sushi-yas in Japan, this place only offered omakase; there are 2 kinds and guests can choose whether they want to have the shorter version or a longer one. To fully experience the best of the chef's creations, I opted the most comprehensive one - menu Hana. After a few snacks, the chef served some sushi and mixed them accordingly. Ishibashi-san wanted to make sure that diners would not feel full if he gave the sushi only towards the end (I will arrange the otsumami and sushi separately below for easier reading). 

Kabura mushi (Steamed Eel with grated turnip/radish, wasabi and some other vegetables) - A traditional Japanese appetizer, typically served during a cold season. Quite a decadent opening. The steamed stuffs were tasty and relatively sweet with a touch of 'hot' wasabi while the aromatic dashi was also pleasant
Sashimi platter - My 'Sakana' consisted of:
-Kawahagi (Filefish) wrapping its liver - succulent and creamy
-Mirugai (Geoduck) - very crunchy and a little sweet
-Saba (Mackerel) - flavorful with distinct fishy aroma; a versatile fish
Nodoguro (Slightly seared Black throat Sea Perch served with soy sauce, leek, ginger flower etc.) - The Nodoguro was fresh, tender, and delicious with slightly crispy skin (good texture). The mixed of chopped vegetables gave interesting taste variations though a bit too strong for my taste 

Hokkaido Kegani (Hairy crab served with jelly sauce and a bit of shark's fin) - A fresh, meaty and refined kegani with its natural sweetness; it went along nicely with the flavorful sauce; awesome!
Cooked Tachiuo (Silver Scabbard fish served with tuna belly) - After slightly grilled, the Tachiuo became softer, still meaty in light flavor. The tuna here, however, was rather mediocre - tender but rather flat in its taste
Kaki no Shiraae (Persimmons in tofu sauce) - It's deliciously awesome! The sauce was versatile and I imagined it would be suitable to be paired with other fruits. This dish can be a dessert too

Crab croquette - This deep-fried croquette had a nice crisp and light crust while the inside, in contrast, was filled with rich & velvety creams, cheese and muddy crab meats - rather too intense / rich for me
Awabi don with "matcha sauce" - The Chiba abalone was sake-braised, thickly sliced and slowly steamed for several hours. The result was a tender and delicate abalone (barely chewy) with slightly sweet and buttery taste. The 'green-tea' sauce, made from a mixture of awabi's liver, miso, egg & oil, was delicious with little bitter flavor and certainly elevated the overall flavor. The shari could be used to wiped out any left over sauce ... I wish to have a second helping for this outstanding dish 
Uni, Ikura and Gohan (Sushi rice topped with Sea urchin, Salmon roes & wasabi) - No kani this time since we had plenty of crab earlier. To compensate, Masa-san gave us generous amount of ikura. A dish that was full of decadence: rich, sweet, creamy, fresh, delicious & balanced. It's usually served towards the end of the omakase

Kinmedai (Golden-eye snapper) - rather sweet with unique texture; decent
Shima Aji (Striped horse mackerel) - good texture and quite fishy but in a good way. It was full of flavor explosion and went well with red vinegar shari
Buri (Yellow tail) - the left one in 'sashimi' form was smoky and flavorful; the right one in sushi form was oily and delectable
Akami Zuke (Marinated lean tuna) - the soy sauce/sake and red vinegar rice brought out the maguro's natural sweetness
Chutoro (Medium fatty tuna, aged for 10 days) - a marvelous piece; succulent and luscious!

Shimo Furi? (In-between Chutoro and Otoro) - A refined, smooth and delicious cut with the right texture and temperature. The red vinegar rice optimized the toro's flavor
Kama Toro (Lightly seared back-cheek part of Bluefin tuna aka 'gill flesh') - very marbled with elegant taste
Uni (Sea water Sea urchin in gunkan style) - cold, creamy and sweet as expected
Sayori (Half beak) - clean, quite soft, sweet & delightful
Akagai (Ark shell) - top quality, pleasantly chewy with deep flavor

Katsuo (Bonito) - Fatty (in the Fall), fresh & fine; scallions gingers were used to reduce some smell
Anago (Salt water eel glazed with 'sweet' sauce) - delicate and delicious
Negitoro Temaki (Chopped toro with spring onions and sushi rice wrapped by crunchy seaweed) - tasty flavor variations; good
Tamago (Omelette) - sweet and milky but a bit 'sticky'; still enjoyable

Miso soup - served with clam and wakame; above average
Kudamono - Musk melon and pears. High quality of sweet & watery Japanese fruits

The food was generally very good in particular the sushi. Most (if not all) pieces were nearly flawlessly prepared and executed. The fish/seafood had the right texture, temperature and was well seasoned/'sauced'. Masakazu Ishibashi used 2 different shari: the one with white vinegar was applied to lighter & cleaner (white) fishes while the one with red vinegar was utilized for fattier & more flavorful items such as some different cuts of maguro. For the drink, due to the expensive meal, I only had a hot ocha in which the staffs never failed to refill. The service was similar to my experience at Ki-sho. Staffs (all of them were gentlemen wearing suits) were warmed, observant and discreet but they're always ready to respond tp any questions or needs you have. Chef Masakazu was also easy going, comforting and modest. He liked entertaining diners and helped a group of Mexican businessmen with restaurant recommendation in Japan. Overall, the atmosphere was relatively casual. The main downside of the experience was probably Shoukouwa's dining room. It's small, had no windows and lacked any interesting decor. Besides a private room for 6-people, the counter only accommodated 8 people (fully booked on that day) at most and the dinner was divided into two time slots. A future return to this place is likely and as of now, Shoukouwa immediately has become among my top 3 favorite restaurants in Singapore. Well done Michelin Singapore! Please follow this link for the meal's pictures: Shoukouwa Nov '16

Food: 95 pts

Service: 94 pts

Overall: 94.5/100

  

Sushi Yoshitake Tokyo

There are many good sushi-ya(s) in Tokyo and to choose one where we want to eat may not be that easy. At first, I would like to try the less 'well-known' places among non-Japanese such as Mitani or Miyako. However, these places were already fully booked even more than one month before my selection date. In the end, I picked Sushi Yoshitake. I visited the Hong Kong branch a couple of years ago and had a great meal there especially the octopus and the abalone with liver sauce. Knowing my wife's palate, I know she would love those dishes too. If the branch was good, then the flagship restaurant overseen by the sushi master himself, Masahiro Yoshitake-san, naturally should be better right? Furthermore, Yoshitake Tokyo offering the same omakase menu at substantially cheaper price than at its Hong Kong counterpart. In Ginza, the sushi-ya provided an extra appetizer as well as 2 more sushi.  

Prior to this meal, I only knew that Sushi Yoshitake, located in the normal office building with ordinary entrance of Ginza area, only had one main counter that seats 7 people. As we entered the dining room, we're stopped by a junior staff. A few minutes later, Yoshitake-san came out, greeted and instead escorted both of us to a small door with a narrow passageway that could easily be mistaken as a closet for keeping guests' outer coats. Apparently, this narrow door would lead us into a smaller dining room seated 4 people at most. The sous chef introduced himself as "Dai" (a short of Daisuke) and he would serve our dinner since the main dining room was busy with Yoshitake's regular clients. My positive experience at Sushi Shikon helped me handle the situation calmly. I thought Dai-san could not be 'worse' than Chef "Kaki". Moreover, I already know that most of the dishes especially the tsumami (appetizers/snacks) have been prepared in advance from the main kitchen. So, I saw no point to make a fuss or felt cheated of not being served by Yoshitake-san himself. In addition, there were a few other pros as well: first, we had a private dinner since we're the only diners in this small room. Secondly, we were allowed to take pictures of the dishes with our cameras (not strictly from the camera phone). 

Appetizers

Salmon caviar served with smoked salmon, grated radish and okra - The ikura was excellent, the salmon was tender & smooth while the daikon & okra added interesting combination especially texture-wise. I generally love any dish with plenty of top quality ikura
(Lightly seared) red Snapper sashimi with special sauce (a mixture of fish bone, shoyu, & yuzu) and wasabi - A wonderful slices especially the contrast of the fish's crispy/charred skin and its clean/pure taste. The sauce enhanced the sashimi's flavor

Tender octopus with 'sweet' sauce - The tako was slowly braised for a long time (plus some 'massage') resulting in a tender piece that's enjoyable to chew in my mouth. It was really delicious because in addition to its 'soft' texture, the tako thoroughly absorbed the sweet sauce (a combination of some bonito broth + sake + kelp). A great dish
Steamed (black) Abalone served with its liver sauce - Yoshitake-san's best signature item and deservedly so. At this level of cooking, we can expect the mushi kuro awabi to be tender (a little bouncy in a nice way). The sauce was phenomenal; it was creamy, rich, & deep - simply out of this world. It worked perfectly with the awabi. After that, the itamae gave a dollop of sushi rice to be mixed with kimo sauce to create a wonderful "green risotto". An excellent dish: complex but in harmony!

Seared Bonito with horse radish, ginger and scallion - Similar to the sashimi dish, the katsuo's skin was seared to be smoky and crispy. The cooked bonito flesh has a deep flavor; nice
Mozuku seaweed (natural) and Sea urchin with chopped mountain yam and chia seeds (for slight crispy texture) - It serves as a transition dish before the sushi course began. The yama imo was 'starchy' and it rather dominated the overall flavor along with the nori. The uni acted as a good distraction 

Sushi

Shin Ika (Baby squid) - It was pretty, clean and tender; awesome!
Grilled shin ika 'tail/leg' - The baby cuttlefish in this form was aromatic and delicious with a very good texture
Tai (Sea bream) - It's quite versatile with a balance of sweet & sour flavor 
Chu-Toro (Marinated and lightly boiled medium fatty Tuna) - It was well aged with gorgeous color; really flavorful. A splendid morsel

O-Toro (Fatty Tuna; also aged fabulously) - It's very difficult to go wrong with this especially when the Itamae served 2 layers of Otoro ;-) As you imagine, it was heavenly (creamy & oily yet not greasy) and umami!
Kohada (Gizzard shad) - Similar to my O-toro, "Dai-san" applied a double portion of kohada to create this piece. It has a balanced of strong flavor - could taste some variations of vinegar, salt and a bit of sweetness derived from the dried ebi powder    

Sanma (Mackerel pike with its liver & chopped shiso) - The cured sanma was quite tasty; its liver was very intense. I hardly ate this morsel in sushi, nevertheless interesting though not my favorite .. 
Akagai (Ark shell) from Miyagi perfecture - Firm & crunchy texture with enjoyable oceanic flavor and inherently sweet. Eating "kai" in Japan is always a huge pleasure 
Uni (Sea urchin) - It was a combination of aka (Autumn is usually the peak period for Aka uni) + bafun uni. In this case, the red sea urchin was indeed a bit sweeter and creamier than the green one. Both were still excellent and served in generous portion

Kuruma-Ebi (Japanese tiger prawn was accentuated with shrimp miso) - Another great piece. The prawn was delicious, juicy and of top quality (freshly prepared and immediately served). I like the addition of the 'green brain' below the ebi   
Anago (Sea eel) - The anago itself was soft, light and 'melting'. With the addition of the glaze, it became delightfully sweet and rich but not cloying

Temaki (Tuna hand roll) - The tuna was akami tsuke (equal portion of akami vs shari) and served with crunchy nori, shiso & ginger. The sign that the end was near ...
Tamago (Egg custard) - Sweet, a bit creamy and flavorful 'sponge cake'
Miso-shiru - Miso soup to conclude the wonderful meal  

Our meal was accompanied by cold sake - Hakurakusei junmai ginjo from Miyagi. It was a very satisfying meal - possibly my spouse favorite sushi-ya during this trip. Carrying the restaurant's top reputation, Daisuke-san delivered and executed each dish consistently well. Yoshitake uses two types of akuzu (red vinegar) for the sushi rice. The addictive shari looked beautiful in red/brown; it's 'al dente', served at (almost) body temperature/faintly warm that's in harmony with the prepared neta. Yoshitake-san was truly an expert at combining flavors, textures and temperatures. Our meal was well paced and also entertaining. Dai was talkative, amiable and shared plenty of stories from his life and cooking experience - so there's hardly a dull moment. He used to be the chef de cuisine of Japanese embassy in Washington DC for several years before returning to Tokyo. With his characters and personality (skill wise, they're on par), I would choose Dai-san over Kaki-san anytime as my sushi chef at Yoshitake (of course, I would still be curious what it's like to be served by the Yoshitake-san himself one day).

The decor was minimal and simple; the small-size room created an intimate ambiance.  For me, Sushi Yoshitake to sushi is like Ishikawa to kaiseki in terms of the top places that deliver non-intimidating experience for foreigners (with 'zero' Japanese language) who want to savor authentic Japanese cuisine. With fresh and impeccable ingredients, delicious food, and sincere hospitality, Yoshitake at Ginza should be the right 'entry spot' to those who want to savor high end sushi in Japan for the first time. For the pictures of the above food, you're welcome to follow the link below: Yoshitake Sep '15

Food: 95 pts

Service: 94 pts

Overall: 94.5/100