SUMIYA CHARCOAL GRILL IZAKAYA

It can be pretty challenging to find good and authentic Japanese food that would not result in you eating grass for a week. So it is our greatest pleasure to present to you Orchard Central's Sumiya Charcoal Grill Izakaya! The spacious restaurant is located at the rooftop garden of the mall with glass walls, offering a great view of the city. And although we didn't get any alcohol, it was so cute how they served their soft drinks. 

Their ingredients are apparently all air flown from Japan, making it one of the closest Japanese dining experiences in Singapore. Of course, such top grade food would be rather costly which is why we are extremely grateful for their seasonal promotions. The best promotion would be their lunch set meals (available daily till 2.30pm), going from $15.90 onwards for a variety of Donburi (rice bowls) served with sashimi, tempura grilled items, little appetisers and even a dessert! To complete the meal, you can even top up $1.50 for a juice or soft drink, but of course green tea comes in free flow. Oh and the best part would probably be that you get to choose whether you want normal rice or the sushi rice!

We ordered the Mixed Bara Kaisen Don ($18.80) and the Assorted Tempura and Sashimi of the Day Set ($21.80).  It sounds a little pricey but let us justify the cost. 

Both sets came with standard things like a fresh garden salad topped with delicious sesame dressing, really silky and smooth Chawanmushi with gingko nut and chicken, a small dish of potato-meat stew that tasted like home, miso soup containing enoki mushrooms, and a single mochi that was honestly quite big. The salad's dressing was unlike any other we've tasted so far; the sesame dressing had a special taste to it making the dish feel so light and enjoyable. And even though it may sound weird that the set was served with a small dish of potato-meat stew, we could not fault them for it as it tasted perfect. It was rich and served cold (weird huh) but it gave it a refreshing feeling, kind of like a palette cleanser.

The Mixed Bara Kaisen was flavoured with seaweed, sesame, wasabi and sashimi sauce (served on the side). All the components came together really well every mouthful was fresh and flavourful. We especially enjoyed the sashimi sauce which was a mixture of soy sauce and miso that packed a delicious umami punch. However we do find it odd the sashimi slices were not served chilled enough and turned warm from the rice pretty quickly.

C: They are so generous with the sashimi every bite has chunks of sashimi in it!

The sashimi in the assorted set fared no different, the top slices were not chilled to the desire we would have liked, but fortunately for the ice, the bottom pieces stayed cool and fresh. The tempura was did not have any weird taste, like the kind you'd expect from re-using oil, and it was more vegetable/prawn than flour!

S: I'm not a fan of sushi rice mainly because it's so sour but this wasn't too bad  

The sushi rice they served was not overpowered by rice vinegar and was served warm, making it an excellent complement to the dishes.

Do not overlook the dessert though. It may look plain and simple but this mochi is the bomb! We loved it for its thin and chewy skin that could still hold the sweet bean paste and cream filling. Even customers around us were enjoying it. Weirdly, from its green colour you'd expect a matcha flavour, but we didn't get any of that. Nonetheless, it was still sweet and pleasant.