Akashi Jap restaurant @ Paragon

26th February 2010

Okay, this was a 'date' that I was so not looking forward to. Well, I'd seen it as entertaining the Old Cow, and told Wifey that it'll be the first and LAST date with him. Eew.

He's not that bad actually, in fact he was quite a gentleman to come pick me up after my work. But his philandering ways fill me with disgust. Esp the way he preys on single and young girls at the C Show. What's it with old men and young girls anyway? Is it an attempt to make themselves feel younger?

K. Enough of the complaining. We had dinner at Akashi (Paragon). I'd seen good reviews about it and went in with great expectations. It wasn't that bad, it just didn't live up to my expectations.

Pidan Tofu

I relished Tetsu's rendition of this, and it excited me when I saw this on the menu. I just had to have it.

It was a disappoint, totally far from what I had at Tetsu. The century egg sauce drizzled over the tofu was not as fragrant as I would have liked it to be. And I guess the absence of ebiko made a huge difference, there wasn't any saltiness to balance it off. This made me miss Tetsu even more. I can't wait to go back there!

Sake Sashimi

This was rather pricey, at $16 for 5 thick slices. Old Cow said that at this price, it had better be good. Hmm. It didn't taste particularly fresh, just a normal-tasting salmon.I felt that it was something that I could get from any regular Jap restaurant. The good was that it was sliced thickly, skin intact (i lurrrve fish skin), and at least it didn't taste sinewy.

Soft Shelled Crab

Normally, I wouldn't have ordered this ubiquitous Jap dish. But since Old Cow suggested it, I was agreeable as well. Well, it was light and crunchy, however it was oily and a tad too salty.

Cha soba set with Tempura

This was just passable. The cha soba was nicely chilled and did not have the bitter green tea taste (unlike the one at Hokkaido Jap Rest at Turf City), but I seriously did not know what the raw quail egg was for. It didn’t make that much of a difference when dipped into, so I just left it as it was after one dip.

Tempura came in the form of eggplant, pumpkin, green pepper, and yam. The eggplant, yam, and pumpkin were not mushy and had a pleasant crunch to it, but the pumpkin was sliced too thinly. Not enough to satisfy my love for the lovely veg! The prawn was crunchy too. I didn’t touch the green pepper one; I don’t like the taste of it. Overall, they were quite pleasant, although a little oily.

Pork/beef Yakiniku Set

He had the set with stir-fried pork/beef (forgot) with onions set. He let me have some of the meat; it was nicely fried, not too tough.

Verdict: I won't be back for more, unless there aren't decent Jap choices when I'm in Paragon, which is impossible. Shimbashi Sobi (which I very much want to try!) and Sushi Tei are in the vicinity.

Ah Cai and I had been to Ootoya a few times, but only outside. Reason was, the casual Japanese eatery was always full-house and there was always a snaking queue during the times that we went. We gave this a miss a few times, but on this day we were dead-set on dining here. It’s either Ootoya or nowhere.

Ootoya serves simple, home-cooked Jap fare in the teishoku –style. The set consisted of a miso soup, 2 appetisers, Jap pickles, and the main itself. My 3 appetizers came in the form a stewed pumpkin (soft and super yums) and stewed spinach topped with silver fish, shiitake mushrooms, and inari (pretty bland and normal).

Cai had the Charcoal Grilled Atka mackerel set ($17). The oily (naturally) fish was salt-cured and grilled to perfection, with moist flakes that were a little fishy and salty crispy skin on the underside. I wouldn’t have ordered this dish as it had way too many bones! I’m just too lazy to pick out the flesh from all that bones, but Cai had no complaints.

I had the Soy Milk Mixed-grain Porridge with Vegetables and Chicken. I couldn’t really discern the soy milk; the milky coloured broth seemed more like chicken broth to me but it sure tasted good. It had 9 different kinds of grains – pressed barley, millet, leaf mustard, black bean, green bean, red bean, black rice, black sesame, and amaranth. The grains were really soft yet retained their bite. There were also lots of spinach, onions, carrots, shiitake and shimeiji mushrooms in it. It was really pleasant and comforting. I tried to replicate this dish at home but it didn’t taste anywhere near. Lol.

We ordered a side dish Deep-fried Chicken with Sweet and sour vinegar dip to share as well. The chicken was very juicy, though oily, but it went well with the dip. The chicken pieces were quite big too.

Verdict: Overall, this was a pleasant meal. I would probably return again for the Soy milk porridge, it’s my kind of comfort food. And also I would like to try the enticing desserts! E.g. Soy milk blanc, Green tea parfait, Banana parfait etc

*The pictures were taken from Google as I forgot to take pictures of it =x