Splish splash splurge AKASHI

It has been a while we haven't patronized Akashi....one of our favourite authentic Japanese restaurants hang out. The picture above was taken at the main entrance of Akashi located at Orchard Parade Hotel.

After signing a school holiday package tour (heading to GoldCoast, Brisbane), we drove to Orchard for Akashi. We were 20 minutes earlier...Akashi opens their business only at 6.30 pm. To kill the time, we snapped some pictures.

Father and daughter...my girl was trying to adjust the flower headband, which I bought for her.

Different from normal sushi bar seating, we reserved a table this time for some privacy dining with the kids.

My son with his ever comical face expression...:(

Cold dry sake for the night...pardon me if the Japanese term for the below dishes are not included....coz I didn't bother to note them down.

Sake with 50% alcohol content.

Some splendid fresh oysters...that you do not need tabasco sauce or lemon wedges as condiments!

A picture to prove that the oysters were humongous!

Close up of the raw oyster meat...who can resist the temptation!

I reckoned it weighed at least 300g, just for the shell...if only I had a fish tank back home, I will keep this for my fishies :P. It sure looked like some coral thingy from the ocean.

Normally, we prefer to order 'omakase' style sushi and sahimi, where we accept chef's recommendation. 'Omakase' is a Japanese word which simply translated into 'trust the chef'. Japanese cuisine tends to give one surprises and is not limited and stingy with creativity! I love to see food with interesting presentation....mind you that it's ALWAYS an art in Japanese dining. Hence, the price is hefty.

And, here is my favourite sashimi platter, not to mention, my fatty toro (tuna belly).

Close-up of the beautifully marbled toro slices.

My kids had tamago sushi...their favourite...Shu Yi frowned not because she disliked the tamago, its because she couldn't wait to start digging in.

Roasted pork belly udon (the udon came in thinner strand than the normal fat one)....

My girl happily slurping down the noodle.

Smooth eggy chawan mushi...

Our nigiri sushi platter

Consisting of fried fish skin sushi with seaweed roll, crab leg meat sushi, tuna sushi, a quarter section of egg.....and some condiments to go along (at the top right corner). The one that looked like a cookie, was actually dried persimmon, which we were supposed to eat last.

A mouth-watering teppanyaki beef....these 6 cubes costs us S$130++. It's super deadly costly judging from the portion, but it's definitely the fattest chunks of beef....bet it must be somekind of kobe beef imported from Japan, where the cattle was fed with beer, massaged, and enjoyed to music pieces!

It's so artery-clogging fatty that I fell head over heels...and what's more impressive was that the crunchy beansprouts were cooked with some crispy pork lard sprinkled evenly...brilliant!

Sea salt grilled yellowtail fishhead

At the end of the course, with kids started to fool around....

Overall, was quite satisfied with the meal and hospitality of the waitresses in yukatas, but was a little disappointed with the sushi creation served this round. There's no wah..ahh...woo that kind of surprise. First, maybe we sat too far from the sushi bar, second, our beloved chief sushi chef, Melvin was not around during our visit, third, simply because Akashi in Orchard Parade Hotel draws more crowd compared to the one in VivoCity outlet, hence, the sushi chefs' creativity are limited due to rushing. Sigh....and the worst thing.....the bill added up to S$640++. :(

In conclusion, for more peaceful serene dining, and never fail to impress sushi creation, we still prefer Leslie, the friendly chatty sushi chef, in Akashi, VivoCity.

To dine in Akashi, here are the few chains:

Adresses:

1 Tanglin Road, #01-01A Orchard Parade Hotel, Singapore

Tel: 6732 4438

1 Harbourfront Walk, #B2-07/08/09 VivoCity, Singapore

Tel: +65 6376 9972

Shirako and other exotic EAT in Japan

Shirako, as mysterious as its name sounds, is actually a delicacy where its easily available at most izakaya (Japanese pubs) and sushi bars. Japanese love to eat shirako raw during beer drinking session. Shirako is usually available and served during the winter season in Japan.

The cod-milt or cod fish sperm, or widely known as shirako by the Japanese, looks very much like pig or cow brain. It tastes creamy and buttery, with the outer membrane which burst in your mouth, and oozing out the watery texture from within. It is said that the advantage of eating shirako will give one stamina and good performance in bed. Heck! No wonder the Japanese chef will flaunt you a cheeky look whenever he serves you this! 

Below was a plate of small amount of shirako served in Akashi, which was also my first time trying out. The chef advised us to savour this delicacy slowly in order to enjoy it to the fullest....heee. Though shirako is considered one of the exotic EAT in Japan, but I can easily have shirako in Akashi, Singapore! When I was told that this was fish sperm, first thing that hit on my mind, was that it sure would be fishy....BUT amazingly it was NOT....I was falling head over heel. Would definitely have this SUPER fresh in Tokyo during my coming holiday trip in April!

Shirako, served with some sweet sour sauce to enhance its taste.

Another round of shirako somewhere in December, in Akashi too. As you can see, (picture below) this time the size and the quality was even better than the first shirako I had earlier in October (picture shown on the 2nd top). As shirako is mainly plenty during winter. I am addicted to shirako! But a little advice to heed, please let the sag burst and melt slowly in your mouth and enjoy the flow of smooth custard like shirako goes into every mouthful.



Other weird EAT which I would definitely love to try are.....

Fugu...Have gut to try out this Japanese blowfish. Only licensed chefs are allowed to handle and serve fugu, as it can be lethally poisonous. Poison produced by the blowfish is said to be even deadlier than cyanide, hence chefs are trained for seven years before they are allowed to use their skills professionally. Try it raw, baked, boiled, or even served in sake (just the tail, though).

Below, is seasoned and baked fugu which I had in Akashi.

Horse meat (basashi)...which is normally sliced thinly and served raw, dipped in soy sauce and often served with ginger and onions.

Whale meat....whale sashimi are widely available in shops and restaurants across Japan. If only I could overcome the guilt, maybe I would give this bloody red meat a try.

Call me EXOTIC, heartless, rare...whatever. I am grown up with it....I had squirel, snakes, rabbits, bats, wildboars, dogs, deers, crocodiles, monitor lizard, turtle....being served on my plate since I was a kid! So those delicacies listed on top, will just add on to my exotic eating habit list. FEAR FACTOR or what?! Anyone....LOL....pssst, psst...but one thing I could NOT bring myself to challenge are....all kinds of flying or crawly insects, or squirmy worms....yike.....!!

How I fell in love with AKASHI again & again...

Akashi has been our favourite hangout everytime we're thinking of dining on Japanese cuisine. The food not only superb but the hospitality given by the chefs is tremendously warm and friendly. If you need a listening ear, come to Akashi, coz they are your trustworthy listeners without complaint while you gulping down your sorrow or boredom with a good bottle of sake....hahaaaa.....sounds good?


This time, we had chilled sake, Hananomai Sake.....which was said to be a good grade. It was definitely good. I love my sake chilled....as I think it still preserved its alcohol content, and hence get myself got high even faster!

Can't read Japanese but the only thing I know was that this sake had 45% alcohol content.

Love my drink! A confession from an alcoholic....eerrr I guess I'm not....heeee

Ok, let's order some food..

As usual, we adored the company of Akashi chefs, hence we reserved bar seat. With some garnishing of pickled ginger, onion and radish on the heavy stone plates.

Akashi in Vivo City is not that crowded and rowdy compared to Orchard Parade Hotel. If you prefer serenity, then you have to visit this place.

This was the chef who served us for the night.

Our dinner started with some fresh rocket salad with some grilled bacon. Nice....and refreshing...

Yummy kapachi...

Mackarel sashimi with some grated fresh ginger and scallion

Super sweet and firm fresh scallop meat....huge and yummy of course

Some sashimi with foie gras as topping..creative yet elegant...I like it!

Another Foie Gras creation with sushi rice and fresh sea urchin uni...surprisingly yummylicious

 Soft shell crab.....did I say I can't live without them while doing Japanese...

Otoro (tuna belly) sushi...

Some sushi rice served with roe, torched salmon and sea urchin (uni)...with hint of mandarin orange peel.....nice combi...

Roll beef fillet with prawn...with crispy egg crumb and seaweed as garnishing

Miso soup...Asari Misoshiru. Very flavourful....bursting with ocean freshness of 'lala'

Big sweet prawn...nice to be eaten raw....which the heads were then grilled and served

Super enjoyed the hearty Japanese dinner with hubby's companion...

Akashi Japanese Restaurant in VivoCity, serves top-notch sashimi and Japanese cuisine. The attentive chef prepares its creation which I personally think that they are sort of masterpiece. I admired, and savoured each of them with pride. This is the dining experience which is indescribable until one tries it themselves.

As for the bill, if you have followed me in the previous posts on Akashi, you should roughly guess...:)