I had the pleasure to try out newly opened Japanese omakase restaurant, Tomidou, for their lunch omakase today. Finding a good omakase restaurant where you can trust the chef with what to serve you is not an easy feat. But Tomidou boasts of expert credentials and after today's tasting I can assure you that you will be in good hands at this reservation-only omakase restaurant.
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| Source: Tomidou |
The 13-counter seat restaurant is auspiciously at 1 Nassim Road, #01-01 and the door is right at the end of the row of congratulatory flowers (on the right) if you were to approach the building coming from the Palais Renaissance side (not the Forum/Orchard Rendezvous hotel side, for you have to cross the road!).
Like I mentioned, you'll be in good hands with any 1 of these esteemed chefs. I learned that the head chef, Chef Akira Horikawa had 29 years of experience and spent 15 years at Ginza Kyubey, which is one of the most renowned omakase restaurants in the world.
Our chef was Assistant Sous Chef, Chef Sudo Hidenori, and he was also quite the culinary expert with the way he squeezes each sushi and carefully dabs them. He was also very helpful and friendly to explain the dishes to us despite his limited English, having been in Singapore for just one month! Kudos to him for making the move here so more Singaporeans can taste Japan without having to fly there.
My curiosity also finally got to me and I asked what was that vault-like contraption in the middle and behind the very comfortable sushi counter. Turns out (I saw it on their Instagram) it is a traditional wood chiller made with 100-year Hinoki wood for seafood only that operates without electricity, relying on ice blocks on top to cool fish down to a gentle, chill temperature. Wow? That's genius and very green!
Anyway, on to the food! The 10-course lunch omakase is priced affordably at just $150, which to me is SUPER worth it. And you can actually request for small, regular or large portions of the nigiri sushi. I advise the large if you have the appetite or skipped breakfast! We first started with the foie gras chawanmushi after hot towels and tea was served by the super affable and warm staff.
It worked surprisingly well and we later learned that foie gras was a French touch that the Head Chef added to suit the Singaporean palate. The burst of that fatty foie combined with the silky soft steamed egg was a gentle but intense introduction of what's to come.
Chef was prepping once we were finishing up the chawanmushi.
Next we have the chutoro. It's so clean and fresh - I found that their seafood's flown in 4x weekly from Toyosu Market.
Next we had the Hirame, or flounder, nigiri. My eyes widened after popping this into my mouth because of the unexpected salty yet fresh flavour of the fish with an additional fragrance.
Chef saw my reaction and showed us how the fish is actually covered by seaweed to impart additional depth. Well.. I wish I can be that fish and be wrapped in a seaweed blanket too!
The sweet shrimp nigiri, so simple but everything you want in a nigiri.
One of the showstoppers of the day was this uni nigiri/handroll for how fresh and sweet and creamy the sea urchin was. Honestly I am usually afraid to eat uni in Singapore because I've had my fair share of metallic, off-tasting ones, but here this alone is worth the price of lunch.
My favourite of the day though had to be the fatty tuna with a sheet of blowtorched foie gras, which then melted before our eyes before Chef added a few drops of shoyu to it. Firstly I have never seen foie gras as a thin pale sheet. Secondly, I never knew it could taste like that. Thirdly, this is just MIND-BLOWING for how good it tasted. This might just be the best thing I've put in my mouth since 2020.
Next, a bit of miso soup to calm my brains down. But this one had a surprising ingredient, in the form of Nama Junsai or water lily, which has a gelatinous coating that was slightly crunchy. It's more textural than taste but a well-appreciated twist.
Next we had the two-type anago nigiri, of which I think the recipe was passed down to the Sous Chef from his family. This was again something I was cautious of, being not a big fan of the soft bones in anago, but was pleasantly surprised when I popped the non-sauced one into my mouth and tasted sweetness and the light savouriness of the eel, touched by yuzu dust. What an exquisite experience! In fact, the sauced version was LESS impressive if you'd believe me.
Lastly we had the kawaii Tamago nigiri shaped like little huts. The tamago though belies the eye, for they are mixed with tiny prawn paste, yet it was incredibly smooth and sweet to taste. This was so delicate and such a treat.
We ended off with seasonal fruits from Japan, which included blueberries, a raspberry, an incredibly intense cherry and the brown sugar mango from Okinawa, which was so perfumed and unique. What an ending it was to the experience.
While we were sipping on our green tea, Chef also talked a bit about the sake collection, including this super premium Jyuyondai sake. Unfortunately, they only sell sake by the bottle, but at least you'll be getting a REALLY good bottle here.
I found out that Tomidou is "the first omakase restaurant to bring forth the highly coveted Nigo x Pharrell Sake Storm Cowboy series. This collaboration, born from the creative minds of Japanese designer Nigo and American musician Pharrell Williams, merges the worlds of sake, fashion, and art." Again, impressive! Here's their beverages menu.
To conclude, this omakase lunch gets a solid 5 out of 5. Everything was crafted to perfection and the attention to detail, quality and service was top notch. I highly recommend everyone to book it especially for lunch if you just want to dip your toes in, or go big with their dinner omakase because I believe it will be worth it. Go!
🙅 Thank you, next
🤷 Try if nearby
💁 Bookmark this ✔️
Tomidou
1 Nassim Road, #01-01, Singapore 258458
Mondays to Saturdays 12pm-3pm and 6pm-10pm
Closed on Sundays, PH
Thank you Tomidou for the invite!
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