The restaurant is dominated in orange hues and i was told by the restaurant manager that orange colour has this effect that makes people hungry. It was not difficult to find this place as it is located near I12 Katong Shopping Centre. This is a lemongrass drink. It is made by themselves. It taste sweet but its bearable. I didnt finish the drink though but its worth a try. There is no strong taste of lemongrass in it as most restaurants have the overbearing taste.I love the cha yen here. Not diluted and not overdosed with sugar. Was told that they have made the drink to suit the asian's taste. Appreciate the little details!I got to try the amuse bouche. Amuse bouche is also known as the chef's creation which is more common at western places. Rochor thai is interesting as i havent seen any thai places whose chef prepares amuse bouche. Its made up of 4 different flavours - spicy, sour, bitter and sweet. There was supposed to be a little bit of bitterness, but i couldnt taste any, which is a good thing, yes? Also, they change their creation every 3 weeks. One cup is definitely not enough

Next is the Pad Thai Talay. We ordered the non spicy version and it still taste good! I can see the chef's effort cooking this as the original ones are normally dry and very spicy but i dont think it suits the local taste buds. As usual, i polish 3/4 of the plate and i was still feeling hungry.Lastly, I had the red ruby. Again, the taste is different from the one serving at other thai places. The chestnut is not hard and its chewy. I heard that they uses beetroot instead of colouring as well? But the 'jelly' outside the chestnut certainly taste different!Will definitely visit the place again.

It was gathering with another family and we settled down at this place since I was craving for San Lao Hor Fun.

We had Prawn Paste Chicken, Prawn Rolls, green vegetables, San Lao Hor Fun and XO Fish Bee Hoon.

The family loved the XO Fish Bee Hoon while I loved the soup! It is very sweet and I can drinks bowls of it! Loads of XO infused in the soup.The Prawn Paste Chicken was so good too! Wasn't in time to take a picture before the fast chopsticks grabbed the chicken away. Don't really like the taste of the Prawn Rolls though my family love it. This is my favourite dish of all! Love the bean sprouts, hor fun and fish slices. Fish slices are very fresh and enough to go round a family of 7!The greens are so good that we ordered 2 plates! It is fresh and crunchy!

The richer friends have been asking me to try the mazechirashi from Aoki for ages but i didnt, until this year. The mazechirashi is priced at $35++ which is considered affordable for the high quality ingredients used.

Reservations is a must as they only make 10 bowls of chirashi per day. The wasabi is also freshly grated. The restaurant entrance is rather private and it doesnt show 'Aoki' in english but its in Japanese. It was dimly lit and we were greeted by a waitress dressed in kimono where you will be asked for your name which was written on a tiny piece paper.

The capsule seat can only fit up to 4 people and if you have 5 people, you will be required to sit in a private room where 1 person has to spend at least $120. The seat is a little squeezy for the bigger sized people but overall, it is okay. There is a sliding door where you can choose to close it for privacy. There are 2 seatings at lunch, 1 at 12pm and another at 1.30pm. The waitress did tell us politely that they have to clear the table for the next seating. Overall, the 1hour is good enough for this 3 course meal.Appreciate the genmaicha as many places serve only green tea in a bag which is meh. The waitress is also attentive and they will fill up your cup every now and then. The otoshi served that day was cabbage. It cost around $3++ and you are expected to pay. It is the most delicious cabbage i've ever eaten. Wanted to ask for more but too shy to ask for it. Maybe the next visit?This plate of salad shows the skills of the chef which the cucumber is thinly sliced and its almost transparent. This plate of salad taste different as thinly sliced food allows more air to touch your tongue while chewing, pockets of air bring out the flavors more. Mazechirashi set which the rice and the ingredients are 2:1 ratio. Most places serve lesser sashimi but aoki has the freshest sashimi. I am not a sashimi fan but the sashimi is so fresh that i finished every bit of it. It is so good that i ate the sashimi without the rice. There is tuna, tuna belly, uni, scallop, salmon roe, squid, shrimp and tamago. Am a big fan of uni (sea urchin)! And there is a shrimp head in every bowl of miso soup. Its the sweetest i ever had!

There is also a side dish which consists of preserved yam, eggplant and carrots i think? It was something very different for me. The trio of desserts consists of ume jelly, milk pudding and strawberry ice cream. The desserts are very fresh and if i am not wrong, it should be handmade. The ice cream is very light with a strawberry flavour, the transparent ume jelly melts in your mouth and lastly, my favorite dessert of all.

I gotta say, its extremely difficult to find a good milk custard in Singapore, since the last one i had in the other restaurant which is closed as they couldnt find another place for rent. Am happy to have the milk pudding that afternoon. The custard is very soft and not sweet, the 'syrup' should be burnt sugar? I am not really sure but i will definitely ask the waitress on my next visit. It tasted a little like peanuts in caramel.

All the dishes are done so exceptionally well and its so detailed. Favorite Japanese restaurant definitely! Oh and they are closed on Sundays!

I am serious when i say that.

How many people in Singapore will bother to make a chawanmushi properly? Most dont. Most chawanmushi is steamed egg and nothing in it. And some are dry.

This chawanmushi is not cheap, but its all worth it. There is soup in it, strips of konnyaku jelly, crabstick, enoki and golden mushrooms, chicken and boiled shrimp. All these in a small little cup. The steam egg taste different too, recomended to the friends but nobody wants to buy it as it is expensive. But after they took a spoon of it, all agreed that it is so good.

Some people might not like the atmosphere in this Izakaya as it is not atas enough for them and the servers are mostly aunties. But honestly, this place reminds me of the Izakaya in Japan.

The oden is $8 and the ochazuke is $5, which is considered cheap compared to many places.

The soup in the oden is very sweet and it doesnt taste like msg-soup. And they have many ingredients unlike the other places. Nijumaru is probably the place that charge $5 for their ochazuke. And they are consistent in their food.

However, the tea in the ochazuke is not the thick, its diluted, but the soup portion covers the rice. The salmon bits are small but is a generous serving.

They are not famous / popular with desserts though. Dont think their ice cream is handmade.