Yonehachi

You are either a dog or cat person; a dessert or cheese person; or a rice or noodle person. There might be a slight overlap of your interests but in times of need, your loyalty towards a particular group would be pretty obvious.

Me? I’m a dog, dessert and rice person. I don’t mind noodles but I hardly seek them out as they don’t quite hit the high notes, unlike rice.

Evidently these days, I seemed to have moved on from hawker food and into a new food craving/ phase – Japanese rice. My dear friend, Zee, frequents Yonehachi at Takashimaya Food Hall and I trust her sharp taste in food. Though I have long been attracted by the display of steaming rice but there was a lack of impetuous to try something till recently.

It took me 2 minutes to decide what I wanted - Saba Shio set with wagyu okowa. Though there weren't any customers before me, I waited for about 15 minutes for my order, which is a good thing given that grilled fish takes a while to prepare.

The Saba Shio set come with grilled saba, an okowa of your choice and 3 side dishes, pickles, green salad and miso soup. The accompanying sides were nothing to write back to your Japanese pen pal about but they were decent, in a good way.

Unlike the side dishes and thankfully so, the saba didn’t look too shabby compared to the menu. It would have spent a minute or two less on the grill but it is a fatty fish so damage done was minimal.

The salmon okowa wasn't ready but I spied a wagyu okowa that was seasonal. Why have red bean when you can have wagyu? Wouldn’t wagyu be more bang more buck if they both cost the same per 100grams? Of course, that reasoning wouldn’t work in Japan when a melon could cost more than your weekly grocery budget.

The wagyu okowa was seasoned thoroughly, slightly sweet but lacking any distinct flavour. I like how the rice was loosely sticky (does that make sense?) and satisfyingly full-bodied. Granted wagyu gratification is a long shot, it was yummy enough for me to want to return soon to try other stuff.

Next up, salmon okowa and fried oysters perhaps?