Tatsuya Japanese Restaurant, Singapore

Oh geez - this was another major reaming in the past few days. We knew that this place was expensive (270 Orchard Road #01-15, 6737-1160), after having browsed their menu at the door a year or two ago but never entering. Tonight we were in the neighborhood and weren't very hungry, so we figured what better time to finally come here to try it out; the logic being that if we weren't that hungry, we wouldn't order that much, thus keeping prices down.

In retrospect, I laugh at how ridiculous that sounded. Our biggest mistake: sitting down at the sushi bar and telling our chef to start us off with one of his recommendations. What came first? A plate of very thinly sliced sea bream, which was very refreshing, although I felt it necessary to go very light on the accompanying ponzu sauce, lest it overpower the taste. Next we asked him for "something aburi," seeing how the row of sushi chefs frequently seared items behind the bar. Our guy suggested beef, to which we agreed. Notice how he just said "beef." Yes, those thin slices were very tender and dressed up to become very tasty, but it wasn't until the end of the meal that we realized that that "beef" was Matsusaka beef.

Mind you, all of this time, we weren't really conscious of the prices, and just kept ordering a few more various cuts of sashimi and a closer of ochazuke. When the bill finally arrived, my eyes popped out of their sockets upon seeing the total break through the double-century mark (with the first two aforementioned items accounting for about half of that). Oh crap! [striking forehead with an open palm and shaking head] While the initial strategy did hold true in that we really didn't order that much to eat (only about six items between the two of us), we failed to realize the cost of those individual servings.

To their credit, I guess they do have a number of much more affordable meals available here, so that's just what we get for sitting down at the bar and asking for recommendations without a menu. And I suppose that the high cost can be justified by the imported seafood, ultra-meticulous sushi chef skills, and the uber-intensive service (there were so many wait staff around that our plates got changed a countless number of times). Sure, it was good. And yes, it was healthy. But clearly we can't afford to come here again, and will be relegated to eating instant noodles for the rest of the week as a result. [stumbling away with a limp]