Watami (Closed)

Family friendly environment located in Causeway Point, wide varieties of food and affordable price for my mother and me to have dinner on Saturday evening. From the main entrance, we waited patiently outside after the machine issuing waiting tickets to us. continue reading

Watami is located on the fifth level at Causeway Point where a number of restaurants are clustered together for a slightly more "refined" dining experience compared to the rest of the mall. Found around a corner at one end, with high ceilings in the area and with its tastefully decorated exterior, the "Japanese Casual Restaurant" looked chic enough on first sight to impress. A long-time friend and I went there on a Friday night to meet up for dinner and the place was jam packed. Their queue system was set up in a way such that you take a number from a machine and wait for your turn to come, so you can always change your mind if you decided against waiting further. We decided to wait but ended up waiting for slightly over an hour for our turn, which was unacceptable, but we passed the time by chit-chatting and catching up while waiting. Inside, the place was slightly dimly lit which made it kind of cozy. It seemed to be an ideal place for a small family gathering or even to just catch up with friends, but the dinner-time crowd meant that it was very noisy and thus not very conducive to conversations. That, and the long wait. I'd definitely recommend going slightly earlier before a massive queue start forming. We were so hungry that we could eat a horse by the time we were finally seated, but there were no horse, so my friend and I ordered a few dishes instead, which, again, took quite a while to be served.Ishiyaki Corn Butter Shoyu ($5.90)This came first in a sizzling hot bowl where you can still see the gravy bubbling. We dug in right away risking burns to our tongues because we were that hungry. The corn was quite firm and sweet and despite having butter in it, it wasn't overly oily or greasy, which we liked. Since this was a hot bowl, the corn got a tad charred and salty at the bottom. I rather liked it to be slightly charred but my friend wasn't too keen on the charred part. The portion was also plentiful for a side dish but okay for the price.Miso Cabbage Cucumber ($3.80)Next to be served was this chilled side of cabbages, sliced cucumbers and miso paste. Presentation was kind of blah as it looked like everything was hastily cut and thrown together. The cucumber were fresh and crunchy and the miso paste was thick and a tad salty, but this dish was otherwise normal. We both agreed that it wasn't really worth the price.Zaru Soba ($7.80)This dish was my friend's favourite among all the dishes we tried. The healthy dish was served cold with just a simple sprinkling of seaweed and it also came with a small bowl of sauce to dip the noodles in. The soba was quite firm and chewy, and it was kind of refreshing to eat since it was eaten chilled. It was especially tasty when dipped into the sauce, which had just the right amount of saltiness for us and did not overwhelm. Potato Mochi ($4.80)There was four pieces of potato mochi which came with a light drizzle of sweet sauce and two slices of butter on the side. This was supposed to be a mixture of potato and mochi and we were initially apprehensive about how it would turned out, but it turned out to be pretty good. It was soft and chewy and tasted like a cross between potato croquette and mochi. There was a really strong homely potato taste and aroma. I can't decide if I liked eating this plain or with the sweet sauce; both tasted equally good. But I didn't really care much for the butter as it made the mochi too greasy for my liking. Out of all savory dishes, this was my favorite.Omatsuri Takoyaki ($8.80)There were eight pieces of this which was good for sharing, which was what we did. However, this was a disappointment. There was a fair amount of ingredients and octopus bits/tentacle in each ball, which had just a slight hint of crispiness on the outside. It was also moist inside, but was way too runny; it fell apart upon picking up, which made it messy to eat. It was also very, very salty; it felt like eating a pinch of salt on its own. The sweet takoyaki sauce and mayo serving was also too little for eight pieces and couldn't counter the saltiness, even by a little. My friend gave up eating after one ball although I managed to coax her to try another LOL. Not really recommended unless you are a fan of super salty takoyaki. Hot Choco Brownie ($6.80)After all that salt overdose from the takoyaki, I was very glad that the next and last dish was the brownies with ice cream. Presentation was average, but fortunately, it wasn't bad in taste. There were four small slices of brownies and it came with a small bowl of chocolate sauce and two half-scoops of ice cream. The vanilla ice cream was very light, creamy and smooth but the brownies were a tad hard as if just defrosted. I thought it tasted more like mini chocolate cakes instead. The chocolate sauce was the best of all as it was very thick and rich. It was simply a delight to pour it over the brownies and eat with the ice cream! Although the brownies were not the best I have tried, the dessert was still the highlight of this dinner for me. On the whole, we found the food to be average although we had our favorites for this meal. My friend gave the Zaru Soba and Ishiyaki Corn Butter Shoyu the thumb up, while I liked the Potato Mochi and Hot Choco Brownie best. The entire meal came up to around $45.00 for six dishes for two persons, which we found to be pricey. We both agreed that the Omatsuri Takoyaki was not worth its price tag, as was the Miso Cabbage Cucumber. On the other hand, the Zaru Soba and Hot Choco Brownie were well worth the price.Service was passable and the food were somewhat slow to serve but this was understandable considering the dinner time rush. It can also get a tad hard to catch the attention of the staff especially during peak hours. However, when we did manage to get their attention, they attended to our queries promptly. Our takoyaki was sent to our table shortly after we asked about it when it did not arrive for quite some time, and our request to refill our glasses of water was also attended to within 3 minutes. However, we had to wait for quite some time to settle the bill as the cashier seemed to be backlogged in clearing the bills. All in all, a decent place for a Japanese meal. If you ask me, I wouldn't mind returning again to try the other food, especially the other desserts on the menu, but I'll prolly stay clear during dinnertime. continue reading

I happened to be at Causeway Point one of the evening after a game of sports so my friends and I were deciding somewhere casual for dinner. Ended up we went to Watami as I had a fantastic experience previously dining at their Raffles City branch.I always enjoyed their signature salad so we had the Half Watami Salad ($9.80) to share and I'm not too sure was my expectations too high because the mayo in the center of the salad didn't taste as fresh as it had a very mild aftertaste which seems weird to me. However, my friends being just hungry, feels that the salad was only not bad. The salad comes with a saucer of ponzu dressing that is lightly savoury and has a tinge of citrusy flavour. My main was disappointing. I ordered the Tokyo Gyudon ($9.80) because I love runny eggs over my beef slices but the so called "hot spring" egg was more of semi-hard boil instead of runny which I wanted it to be. I told the service staff to get it changed and the staff said that they will prepare an additional egg which is runny for me. I continued with my dinner and as I was almost finishing my bowl of Tokyo Gyudon, the staff brought out an egg for me. To my disappointment, similarly, it was semi-hard boil.The service and food was a far cry compared to their Raffles City outlet and I really wish the standard can be the same across all other outlets. continue reading

Watami is a chain of Japanese restaurants with outlets in Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Taiwan, Shanghai, Singapore, and Guangzhou. In Singapore alone, there is a total of 8 outlets. One of its oultets in Singapore is the one at the fifth floor of Causeway Point Shopping Centre. Located at one end of the floor, it catches one's attention with its red and brightly lighted entrance. In the restaurant, it is quite big with the place decorated in stylish black colour.Currently there is a promotion for its new 2-4pax set meals with prices from $49++ onwards. Having the $59++ 2pax special set, which include the following :2 drinks which we selected Hot Yuzu Tea and Yuzu Soda. Both tastes quite refreshing.Sashimi Moriawase (3 types) where the sashimi is beautifully presented and tastes fresh.Watami Salad (half serving)The chicken with dressing adds texture and taste to the simple salad. Quite an amount, even for a half serving.Tempura MoriawaseThe variety is wide with the usual prawns, eggplant, red pepper, green pepper, mushroom and sweet potato. The only letdown the batter coating which is a bit too dark in colour and oily.Ishiyaki Stamina DonFrom the list of 8 main course choices, we have selected this as we prefer a rice dish and good for sharing. It is actually pork rice with egg yolk in a stone pot. Remember to mix it as soon as possible. Else like us having char burnt base as we are busy taking picture of the food. It still tastes quite soft and flavourful. The hot stone pot is placed in wooden box for easy handling.Udon is served hot with the hotpot. The texture is quite QQ.From the choice of 3 hotpots, we selected Zeppin Soup Konbu Dashi Chanko Nabe as it is the only one that is non-beef and non-spicy. Inside there is pork, chicken and seafood. It is served over a hot stove. Soup is refillable. Although the pot holding the items looks quite shallow, but it is filled with quite an amount.As for the side dish from a list of 6, we selected Chicken Katsu Tamago Toji. It too is served over a hot stove. Remember not to cook it for too long, else the egg may be overcooked. The chicken cultet is quite juicy and chunky.Overall I feel it is more than enough for 2 persons, more like for a 3 persons meal. If one is still not full, you can still order 2 selected desserts at half the usual prices.Maccha Parfait ($3.40 after discount)It is actually Matcha ice-cream, whipped cream, mochi balls, sweet red beans with corn flakes below and topped with waffle roll. It is a crunchy and sweet dessert.Chocolate Parfait ($3.40 after discount)It is actually chocolate ice-cream, whipped cream, cream puff with corn flakes below and topped with waffle rolls. It is a crunchy and sweet dessert. It is listed that there is whisky added on the menu, but one cannot taste any of it.Overall it is a very filling meal. The restaurant is quite crowded even for a weekday night. Request for plain water many times, only finally come when we are having the desserts. Overall still quite a nice place to dine in. continue reading

My friend bought me to try Watami's 'Tonpeiyaki' as she knows i love japanese okonomiyaki. This is basically a Japanese omelette with pork, cheese and cabbage rolled in it, topped with mustard and okonomiyaki sauce. Unlike japanese Okonomiyaki, it doesn't have flour thus making it less heavy and filling, but both taste very similar. It was a delicious side dish to a piping hot bowl of pearl rice. I will definitely order it again when i feel like having rice yet still wanting to satisfy my okonomiyaki cravings. I also their yuzu tea as it was sweet and the fragrance of the yuzu is really soothing. It is definitely a refreshing drink to have with a satisfying meal. continue reading