Shiraishi is often touted as one of the best Japanese restaurant in Singapore so naturally I have to go verfiy that myself. Although a lunch may not be the best indication of the restaurant's capabilities, I hope to at least be able to decide on its repeatability factor.
Now the Ritz is not somewhere I vist often so I did have to try to find the restaurant but once I did, I appreciated its little nook-y location.
I was excited to see Shiraishi-san there but we were served by another chef (me feeling shy so I didn't ask his name). Oh well. At least he was useful and gave me advice when I was deciding between the chiraishi or the sushi lunch sets (both S$30). Variety was what I was after, so moments later, my order for 8 pieces of sushi and two types of maki appeared.
I must admit, the sushi was pretty good, but not mindblowingly good. The sushi rice tasted fresh and just seasoned nicely going really well with the fish. It was also just one-mouthful-sized, plus the fish was sliced without leaving nasty snewy leftovers.
But I was honestly quite disappointed by the selection of fish presented. Comparing it against the lunches I had at Sushi Yoshida, the sushi set was boring and lacked variety.
And salmon?? Not once in my many times at Sushi Yoshida and Kaisan was I served salmon unless I specifically requested for it.
I also found the texture of the tamago slightly disturbing. It was like eating Japanese sponge cheesecake. Not my cup of tea.
Oh, after ordering, we were served a small appetizer of simmered daikon carrot dish and I was like, "Oooh, I like amuse bouches".
But no, Shiraishi had to burst my bubble by charging me $3 for that, that, thing. It is not so much the money but I think it is unethical to make people pay for something they did not choose to order. Anyway, lesson here is to always ask when unsure.
The soup was a special tuna belly soup, very similar to Kaisan, but while the flavor was strong, it borderlined being artificially sweet. I prefered Kaisan's light-tasting versioin.
So the grand price of lunch $38.28 came up higher than Sushi Yoshida (after the price increase)and I do like the latter much better. Guess the decision is clear that this should mark the last of Shiraishi for me (but I'll take a treat there anyday!)
*full set of pictures here*
Comments