IKYU - 1st Jul 2016
IKYU menu
Located in the Tiong Bahru enclave is Ikyu Japanese restaurant, opened 3+ years ago by Chef Seki, former Chef de Cuisine at celebrity chef restaurant Hide Yamamoto. I was lucky enough to be seated at the sushi counter where I got to see Chef Seki and his assistant meticulously putting together mouth-watering sashimi and sushi creations.
The restaurant has an industrial look with concrete floors and walls with a curved 7 seater sushi counter. When I got there at 7.30pm, the restaurant was full which is always a good sign. Belinda and I decided to go for the Omakase menu which features 7 courses.
burrata cheese with tomato, peas and a slice of flounder sashimi
As a starter, we got a unique burrata cheese with tomato, peas and a slice of flounder sashimi. This was flavoured with a yuzu soy dressing and some kombu for that burst of umami. Good refreshing start to the meal. Next we had an assortment of sashimi. Chutoro (medium fatty tuna), amberjack, scallop and botan shrimp. My favourite here was the scallop which was soft yet sufficiently firm and persistently sweet. This was accompanied by freshly grated horseradish which is always good!
iberico jowl
The third dish we got was a bowl of lala clams and larger white clams in a clam broth. The clams were fresh with the white clams being meatier and more chewy than the lala clams. The clams went well with the buttery and garlicky broth which was addictively good to the last drop. Next we went to the main course which was a choice of Iberico jowl or lamb cutlet. I opted for the jowl as this was one of my favourite cuts of pork. The jowl was marinated before being charcoal grilled. The result was sweet, tender and juicy slices of pork.
scallop sushi
Next it was sushi. Again we had an assortment which included chutoro, Kampachi belly, flounder fin, scallop and negitoro maki. The kampachi belly and flounder fin stood out for its unique texture and taste. I also like how Chef Seki uses small parcels of rice for each sushi which is a special jewel rice from Niigata.
cheesecake served with miso ice cream and matcha foam
For the second last course, we had a hot and delicious wintermelon soup. This instantly made me feel better from the slight cold I was having. We finished off the meal with a small slice of cheesecake served with miso ice cream and matcha foam. It was good but not great.
Ikyu is priced higher than your sushi tei and ichiban boshi outlets at an average price of about $100 to $150 per person. It is pretty good value for the produce you get especially if you are sitting at the sushi counter and get to enjoy Chef Seki’s humour and company.
IKYU
5 Yong Siak Street Singapore 168643
Make reservations here
