Video
Read full review
2013-04-02
55 views
For our girls' night out, we decided on Star Vista as we all work pretty close by. Plus, it's really convenient to access since it's just right next to Buona Vista mrt. My friend who's here for the first time, suggested Watami as she passed by it on her way from the station to meet us. (Good location for your restaurant, Watami!)When we first entered, we were surprised to see no staff waiting to seat us. But fret not! That's because they have an automated queuing system where u press a button i
When we first entered, we were surprised to see no staff waiting to seat us. But fret not! That's because they have an automated queuing system where u press a button indicating the estimated number of guests, and your queue number pops out. Hey, they even show on their screen the current number so u can know how many are ahead of u. Kudos! I like this system I did not even realize that the place is so huge, they even have second storey seating. The fact dawned on me only when I saw people coming down from a staircase in a corner to the right of the entrance. We had only one group of people in front of us so we waited for 10 minutes before our number was called out and we were brought to our table by a staff.
- The screen showing the queue numbers at the entrance of the restaurantSince we are four smart, petite young ladies , we promptly decided on ordering the special set for 2 ($59++) to share among the 4 of us. My friend had prior experience with ordering the set and declared that it will definitely be more than enough for sharing.
- A little snapshot of the special set menuWith the special set, you get many choices (choosing one each for A-E). You can go to their website to see the special set choices if you are the kind who likes to plan in advance what to eat haha. In total, you get to have 8 items and 2 drinks!
The hot yuzu tea is highly recommended. It's really fragrant with the addition of yuzu - you can even taste bits of yuzu inside the tea.
The side dish was first to arrive. The hotate butter yaki had seven pieces of nicely grilled fresh scallops which tasted really delicious with the butter and squeezed lemon juice atop. The chopped garlic and shimeiji mushrooms further enhanced the taste. Oishii!
- Hotate butter yakiFor our main dish, we had the salmon and flying fish roe with rice in stone pot. The pot is really hot so please quickly stir all the ingredients before the rice gets burnt at the bottom (unless that's your intention). Due to the heat, the salmon & egg gets cooked almost immediately and you can start dishing out the rice. This dish is rather tasty and is a rather huge portion.
- Salmon and flying fish roe with rice in stone potFor the hot pot, we tried their new addition, the Korean-style army hot pot. Once again, portion was generous with plenty of vegetables and finely sliced pork. As the additional item, we choose udon which we dunked into the hot pot as well. The soup was slightly spicy and had a bit of kimchi taste to it - not bad.
- Korean-style army hot potThe French Fries seemed a bit out-of-place as an item in a Japanese restaurant. Nevertheless, they were pretty good. The fries were crispy and came in a little metal pot along with 2 dips. The ketchup was normal, the other fruit-based sauce is slightly sweet & zesty, a very nice accompaniment to the fries as well.
- French fries with 2 dipping sauces
- Close-up of the french friesThe half Caesars Salad given was a really large portion. Wah, I wonder who can finish the actual full Caesars Salad bowl?
I loved the nicely poached egg provided which went really well with the Caesars Salad dressing. The lettuce were very fresh and plenty of croutons and bacon (tasted a bit like bak kua though, not like regular bacon) were given. I'm pretty sure even if you are not a fan of vegetables, this will be one that you will be tempted to try.
- Caesars Salad (half) with hot spring eggTo sashimi lovers out there, I apologize for cooking my salmon sashimi pieces in the hot pot. We wanted the set but it came with sashimi, which only 1 out of the 4 diners here eat. That's one of the reasons why we went for just the special set and not the slightly more expensive deluxe set, as it had a larger platter of sashimi. The sole friend who ate her salmon sashimi properly loved the thick, fresh slices.
- Salmon sashimiWe were very full at the end of the meal. But as usual...there's always room for dessert ya? We thus ordered a warm chocolate brownie and a green tea matcha parfait. The desserts were only ok though, not as nice as I hoped. We expected the brownie to be warm, but there was only warmed-up chocolate sauce, the brownie itself was at room temperature. It was also not very rich, just tasted like regular chocolate cake. Presentation wise, they could have used a different colored plate to serve up the brownie. Else, black on black just doesn't make the dish stand out.
As for the green tea matcha parfait, it looked good. However, I found the parfait itself to be not cold enough. In fact, I was asking my friends whether there was any ice cream within. I seemed to have just tasted cream. Just an ok dessert as well, nothing fantastic.
- Chocolate brownie
- Green tea matcha parfaitSo....if you make some good choices for your set meal and share it with your dining companions, this is a really affordable place! I thought it was really worth it for only $20 per pax for such an extensive variety of food and even including dessert. By the way, we requested for 2 cups of warm water, which was free. A truly satisfying meal!
Post
