After a couple of heavy weeks in the office without many opportunities for meal reprieves, I was in dire need of a good square meal this weekend. So we came down here tonight (29A Cuppage Road, 6835-3539), a place that I've been wanting to come check out for a while now. Don't let the name mislead you; while there is a counter for you to sit at (and plenty of alcohol to go around), it's still filled with plenty of normal tables amongst the many chambers of this second-floor eatery.
When it came to the menu, I just let 'er rip like a kid in a candy store, firing off a bunch of my Japanese favorites like negima, daikon sarada, and the oh-so-crispy kawa (great job here on that last one, by the way...it made a loud pronounced crunching sound when you bit into it). One special they had tonight was a huge standout: the kani miso tofu. These two seemingly humble greyish-green cubes of tofu turned out to be nothing like they looked, bursting in a remarkable yet still delicate flavor once a piece hit your tongue. Even though it was accompanied by scallions and ginger, we resisted putting any soy sauce on it, lest it kill the taste of the crab butter. Nice one.
There were some things that weren't quite as awe-inspiring though. The saroin no tataki surprisingly came out covered in rucola, as if they were trying to do a bit of a modern fusion twist to it. While rucola is one of my faves, I wasn't a huge fan of how this was done. Call me old school, but I just prefer a simpler ginger and scallion garnished version instead. They also had a wagyu yukke on the specials list, which while not bad, was a bit too sweet for my taste. Then again, I suppose I that that was to be expected for it.
In the end, this was still the satisfyingly square meal that I was looking for. While I'd definitely still prefer Kazu or Kushigin over this place, those guys are usually so crowded that I can comfortably consider this place to be a fallback to them. As it turns out, these guys are related to the Ohsho guys across the way, so I suppose that explains a few things too. Nonetheless, generally a thumbs up on this one. I look forward to seeing what other surprises they have in store.
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