The Place Opened last month along Neil Road, I checked out the new Mod-Jap restaurant IKO Restaurant and Bar along 65 Neil Road. An abbreviation for ‘let’s go’ in Japanese, the contemporary 55-seater Japanese restaurant is decked in dark hues with concrete walls and cool black and grey steel frames, where the dining setting is casual. The Food Expect contemporary Japanese creations and Robata-grilled bites, as well as a wide collection of sake and Japanese-inspired cocktails. The kitchen is helmed by Singaporean chef Jeremmy Chiam (previously of Le Binchotan), with the menu presented in six categories; Raw, Cold, Small, Robata, Rice and Noodles, and Sweet. The restaurant also offers a compact lunch menu, comprising a selection of Cold and Small dishes along with Zosui; traditional Japanese rice soup served in clay pot. For a start, I had the Uni (S$28), purple cauliflower pudding simmered in dashi broth with a layer of homemade dashi jelly made with a combination of kombu (kelp) and katsuobushi (bonito flakes). The icing on the cake is definitely the luscious Bafun Uni, which adds to the creaminess of the dish. Next up was the Somen (S$29), a pink ume-infused Japanese noodle served in a light bisque foam; along with green chive oil and shiso oil, two torched botan ebi, ikura, and purple viola flowers. The [...]
↧
