we had an immensely satisfying omakase dinner for 3pax at hachi on 9.11.2013.
omakase is like a chef’s table. there is no menu & the chef dishes out the freshest ingredients of the day. generally it is done like a kaiseki course dinner. at hachi we were served a 12-course dinner. the restaurant asked whether we had diet restrictions, as was customary. we of course ate anything & everything..haha.
the first dish was an excellent kobachi like an amuse bouche. i can’t really remember what it was except for the slice of japanese persimon sticking out.
sensai (前菜) platter was lovely – tofu, ginko nuts, chestnut & a momiji (maple) flour cake etc befitting the occasion.
next was a dobin mushi (teapot soup) which was simple & nice. didn’t take a photo though!
the sashimi moriawase consisting of shima aji, hirame, hotate, kampachi was excellent, very fresh & sweet.
we also had a very large plump juicy oyster. very good indeed!
next up was the hamachi kama (fish cheeks). this was among the best for this evening. i don’t order kama at japanese restaurants because it is usually quite a large helping & not everyone likes it. for this evening though it was excellent, 1 of the best kama i had, very well marinated, sweet (not too sweet) & tasty. we all liked it.
next was a simmered dish of crabmeat, tofu, seaweed, melon dish, delicate & tasty.
following that we were served ohmi wagyu (ohmi is 1 of the top 3 kuroge wagyu after matsuzaka & kobe) – the highlight of the evening. it was very flavourful & a nice rare. after that we had hokkaido tomatoes. they were super, sweet & refreshing. these arre now served in many restaurants in Hong Kong & Singapore & xiyan served them as a starter dish in their rather expensive course meals.
to round off the meal, we had, in place of the usual gohan set (rice & pickles), a light noodle with some tempura batter. it was very satisfying. after that we had a nice macha ice cream.
the price of the omakase was S$118pax. it was very good in quality of cooking & ingredients & also quantity. it was certainly a much better deal c/w the S$138pax kaiseki at kuriya dining & the S$170pax kaiseki at keyaki. c/w mikuni at 50% FAR discounts and Andy’s kaiseki (in jest only la! haha), mikuni was still the better deal. still hachi was an excellent alternative for good japanese kaiseki. will certainly be back
