Sake blossom – Japanese sake, St. Germain elderflower, lemon juice, homemade rose sato, nigori sake. Starts off all casual Japanese woman sultry, but go deeper and the drink segues into the familiar passions of sweet bandung. Yes, as in the Mr Teh Tarik at Ang Mo Kio Avenue 5 type of bandung.
Kinmedai carpaccio with homemade shoyu and summer truffle. That familiar smell of truffle fries truffle wafts from a distance as the plate makes its way to our table, but practises a tasteful restraint while in-mouth, instead letting the softness and saltiness of the carpaccio take centre stage.
Sashimi platter consisting of chutoro (medium fatty tuna), akami (red tuna), shima aji (striped horse mackerel), Hokkaido scallop, tai (sea bream), salmon, yellowtail, swordfish, hirame (bastard halibut), and Hida wagyu (!!) sashimi. I viewed beef sashimi with the same trepidation as I did chicken sashimi whilst I was in Tokyo, but despite its intimidating “I’m primal, manly and gym at Virgin Active” appearance the Hida wagyu sashimi turned out to be relatively approachable, tasting like soft tuna sashimi at the start but revealing a slightly tender and raw-ish side as your teeth gnashes and grinds. The scallop was a delight, really soaking up the lime as if the lime was the Infinity Pool and the scallop a pan-Asian bikini beauty, while the fresh seaweed provided a crunchy, refreshing change from the tired choice of radish for plate gardening.
Clockwise from bottom right – aburi scallop with yuzu mayonnaise, aburi engawa with orange juice, aburi salmon with chopped ginger and onion, aburi tai with truffle and shoyu, and the saucily-monikered Threesome – sushi with seared Hida wagyu, foie gras and uni. Head Chef Alan Tan overheard me raving to my dining companion about how much I loved aburi engawa, and thus quietly included it in the sushi platter. At that very moment, I felt all special and paid attention to, like a sixteen year old SCGS girl when a gymfit male teacher praises her use of chimology in her narrative essay. The Threesome was easily the standout – the Hida Wagyu was significantly more sensitive and soft here after some searing, and all three indulgent components melt into a gloop of silky-soft, luxurious happiness in your mouth.
Grilled hamachi (Japanese amberjack) cheek. The charcoal-grilled cheek, rubbed with salt prior to being grilled, tasted wonderfully natural and moist in its own flavour.
Lamb Tomahawk. Tasted like a happy cross between duck and pork rib, and essentially a char-grilled, tender, fatty, oily, roasty piece of work.
Assorted gelato: tomato, blood orange, yuzu, kyoho (grape) and momo (peach). The blood orange was the spunkiest of the bunch, while the kyoho tasted mightily like grape Yakult.
I was pleasantly surprised by the Omakase experience as I had expected a more traditional (and probably uninspired) approach. However, the modern European touches introduced to the concept by the new team at Chotto Matte kept the proceedings fresh and rather exciting, and the prices seem friendlier than before. I will be back. 4.1/5
This was a hosted meal, courtesy of Chotto Matte.
Chotto Matte
54 Blair Road
Singapore 089954
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