Ginzawa

Open Now

Now Closed

See my full reviews & photos at = http://chefquak.com/2015/11/09/kind-of-below-expectations-ginzawa-on-8nov2015/celebrating an occasion. had 5pax family dinner at ginzawa at palais renaissance on 8.11.2015. ^^this the same restaurant as sushi kuu previously. there is no change of ownership so it is just a rebranding.i called & they told me that they serve the donburi items like chirashi don bara chirashi don, wagyu don etc on the set lunch menu for dinner, at the same price but w/o the set, just the donburi + soup.there was also a S$130 set menu for 2 & omakase priced at S$80, S$120 etc.we decided not to take the set or omakase, and ordered 2 chirashi don, 2 wagyu don & a A5 saga wagyu sukiyaki.the S$45 chirashi don looked impressive as in the photos on the menu (& above photos). there was a botan ebi, a bit of uni, akami? (lean toro), tai, maguro, hamachi, salmon belly, hotate, tamago on a huge portion of sushi rice.first look was great but in actual fact the sashimi cuts & quantity were very much inferior & pales in comparison to those at mikuni & kuriya dining.mikuni’s chirashi don, also S$45 after 50% feed at raffles discounts, by comparison has 2 chutoro,heaps more uni, & 2 pieces for every quality sashimi cut.& kuriya dining’s S$62 chirashi sushi zen set, a much larger set than mikuni’s is also top quality with more than double what ginzawa served.the wagyu for the wagyu don was tasty but the sauce was superfluous & only serve to kill the taste.& the slices were really thin. it was doable, but nothing great at S$50. i would take the S$88 uni ikura wagyu gon at kuriya dining anytime c/w this.the S$50 A5 saga wagyu sukiyaki was very poor (completely thumbs down!). beef was overcooked, very small serving & thin, hardly much to eat.just compare this with mikuni’s kagoshima wagyu sukiyaki konabe. that is S$24 after 50% feed at raffles discounts, less than 1/2 the price of ginzawa! & beef are thick slices & sweet & tasty, the beef & the entire dish & experience is miles ahead of ginzawa.overall, i would say that ginzawa’s chirashi don was one of the better ones, but totally pales by comparison with mikuni & kuriya dining.the wagyu don was ok but not worth eating at S$50. i must go try sumiya’s S$30 wagyu don lunch set but i suspect it would be much better.as for the S$50 wagyu sukiyaki, forget about it. continue reading

I moved from Hong Kong to Singapore 6 months ago and decided to start keeping tabs on Singapore restaurants. A few weeks back I learnt from the papers that Sushi Kuu was coming to town so I decided this will be my maiden voyage. Back home I would visit Kuu every time I needed my regular fix of the freshest Japanese dishes (http://www.openrice.com/restaurant/sr2.htm?shopid=18338&tc=sr1). Needless to say, I was very excited about their arrival and sure enough, I was not disappointed!I pulled my boyfriend along to pay them a visit the day after their doors opened, we were the first ones there but it got busy very soon. Like the chefs and staff in HK, they were all very hospitable and friendly, always on hand to explain the dishes to me (how do you think I’m going to complete this review??). Here is a picture of the sushi bar and box seats.Normally I would pop open a bottle of sake to go with my omakase meal but tonight is a school night so I had to take it easy. However, looking at their sake list they do have a sufficiently thorough selection, from shochu to whiskey to junmai daiginjo. Now on to the exciting part!! We both ordered the omakase menu that night (S$150 each as their entry point). Their omakase meal ‘officially’ consisted of 7 dishes which came in a specific order (as listed below). First was the appetizer – a perfectly cooked onsen egg with uni and large shrimp roe in a light fragrant soup. The second course was the sashimi platter (hamachi, chutoro, scallop, sweet prawn and uni). This is supposed to change depending on what is the freshest catch of the day and I was very impressed by the quality because among the other similarly priced competitors I have tried in Singapore (i.e. Tatsuya, Shinji, Agashi, KuDeTa), none of them could match the freshness I got here. Hands down, the freshest in town. The third course was a grilled dish which came in a hot skillet plate with four tender strips of Wagyu steak with tofu, spinach, a slice of eggplant and crispy little golden pieces of happiness (fried garlic)! My picture couldn’t really capture the red in my wagyu but everything was cooked to perfection. Yummmm!In between dishes, there were small little palate cleansers (like in a western 8 course meal!) which was light, refreshing and a bit tangy (I guess it helps with digestion?!)The fourth course was the tempura. According to the manager, it usually comes with one piece of prawn and one piece of crab with two slices of seasonal veges (i.e. eggplant, pumpkin, sweet potato) but he apologetically said because they are still trying to source the freshest Japanese crabs into Singapore they had to replace it with another piece of prawn and offered to give me a complimentary palate cleanser. I was very pleased with their thoughtfulness and honesty. My prawns were covered with a thin crispy batter, delicious and as usual, it came with a warm dipping sauce (thin) which gave it a bit more sweetness. They will also deep fry the head at the end which is crunchy and sweet. The fifth course was a sushi platter! (this is where I forgot to take pictures) This was a filling six piece dish including shima aji, aburi chutoro and letter wapped in seared salmon enveloped in a specialty sauce (I can't remember the rest...) This creative modern twist lettuce wrap sushi has always been my favorite back in HK and was SO GLAD to see them bring it to Singapore!!!!Sixth course – seafood teapot soup. The hot soup and seafood was placed in a nice little teapot where I could pour the soup like tea. I was getting pretty full by now so my tongue may have numbed a bit but I could still taste the delightful fish flavor in the broth.The seventh and final ‘official’ course was dessert. I had a choice of sesame/yuzu/green tea ice cream, green tea moose, panna cotta or lime and grape jelly. I choose jelly which was well balanced between sweet and tangy, perfect closure.One thing I do miss about HK is their celebrity chef – Satoru. For those who know (or don’t), Satoru who is the head chef for the group has a huge personality and love for Japanese food and his clients. I’ve been told he’ll be flying back and forth from HK and Singapore so we’ll be having the pleasure of his company and he’ll always up for a glass or two (or three or four) of sake to help make the time past faster! All in all, I would highly recommend this near perfect restaurant (the only weird thing about it all is the décor – they have these funky black lounge chairs which although very comfortable looks like they belong more in a bar than a restaurant and they still need to do a bit of decorating on their bare concrete walls, maybe they’re still sourcing the best Japanese decorations to SG? ;)). continue reading