IKYU – Japanese Restaurant in Tiong Bahru

A few weeks back I was invited to a media tasting at IKYU (pronounced as E-Q) which mean “Take A Break” in English. This newly setup Japanese restaurant is located at 5, Yong Siak Street that is within short walking distance away from Tiong Bahru MRT station.

IKYU is headed by Executive Chef Takuma Seki who is formerly the chef-de Cuisine of Hide Yamamoto at The Shoppes of Marina Bay Sands. The restaurant is divided into 3 different sitting area such as; sushi bar, dining tables and bar area. Usually the regular patrons would enjoy sitting at the sushi bar counter to engage conversation with chatty Chef Seki and his assistant(s).

For starter we had Grilled Edamame Flavoured With Truffle (S$8.50). This is my first time having grilled Edamame rather than the usual steamed/boiled option which served in most Japanese restaurant. For a non Edamame lover like myself, the twist of the char-grilled aroma plus truffle oil definitely makes a big different to this simple snack. I just couldn't stop eating it after the first pod.

Century Egg Traditional Potato Salad (S$8.50) is one of the dish that interests me because of the added "century eggs" (I am a big fan of century eggs) which I have not seem in any Japanese style potato salad that I had before. 

Apart from the Grilled Edamame their Deep Fried Sakura Baby Prawn (S$8.50) is another great snack which is super crispy and addicting dish to start your meal with.

Kara-age Chicken Izakaya Style (S$8.50) could be considered as a popular snack from the "fried menu" section which was deep-fried to golden brown with crispy outer skin and tender juice meat when bite.  Great choice to go with cool beer or sake.

I have never thought of eating something exotic till I tried this Blow Fish Tatsuta-age with Sansyo (S$16.50). To me blow fish (Fugu) seems to be a dangerous species rather than an edible ingredient. But after trying the above, the fish did taste great with a thin layer of tempura batter which deep-fried to a juicy perfection.

For someone who loves salmon sashimi, Wafu Marinated Salmon Carpaccio (S$16.50) is like a piece of art which is beautiful plated with some edible chrysanthemum and pink coral on it.  Love the wafu dressing which blends well with the dish.

French Foie Gras Flavoured in Miso (S$18.50) is lightly seared in Miso seasoning leaving it a fusion taste which makes you crave for more. If you love Foie Gras, you have to order this and I promise you won't regret it.

This is the tasting portion, not actual serving.

The Taraba King Crab With Soy Butter (S$48.50 for 2 claws) was amazing. The flesh is tender and naturally sweet with the enhanced flavour of butter and a squeeze of lemon juice.

The last items we tried on the "grill menu" is Kagoshima Wagyu Beef Sirloin (120g for S$68.50) which was sliced  and served with a homemade ponzu sauce which consists of yuzu, soy sauce and etc. Each piece of the meat was full of flavour and you could eat it in different way such as dip it with the Ponzu sauce or eat it with fried garlic slices and shredded negi that served on the side.

For your information, the fish from IKYU is flown in 3 times a week (definitely Tuesday and Friday) like most Japanese restaurants in Singapore to make sure that all supplies are fresh and good. Here for the "nigiri menu", we tried the Assorted 5 kinds of Aburi Sushi (S$38.50) which is lightly grilled (topside) and partially raw with drizzle of sweet sauce on it.

As compared to the above, I would preferred this Assorted 5 Kinds of Nigiri Sushi (S$28.50) because you could enjoy the fresh and sweetness of the fish with each bite. And some of it just literally melt in your mouth without much chewing too. 

As for the "roll menu", we tried the Crispy Hot Spicy Salmon Roll (S$8.50) which is something different from the usual sushi roll. Love the crispy outer skin which enhance the flavour of the salmon in it.

Next the Shrimp Tempura California Roll (S$15.50) was great with bursting flavour from the egg roes and accompany sweet sauce. This plate is definitely worth for a grab.

This is the tasting portion, not actual serving.

For dessert we had Shocyu Cheese Cake with Berry (S$8.50). It comes with quiet a strong liquor taste which resemble "rum and raisin" flavour. The cheesecake itself is silky smooth and light which similar to tofu cheesecake whereas the Japanese rock melon at the side was simply awesome with sweet fragrance. 

A bar counter near the back of the dining area where patrons can enjoy beer, sake and etc during Happy Hours or after meal.

Although the price for the "A La Carte Menu" might be slightly pricey but IKYU do offers wallet-friendly set lunch options ranging from S$25.00 to S$35.00. The set lunch consists of:-

~ IKYU NIGIRI Set, Assorted NIGIRI 6 pieces and ROLL
~ IKYU BARA CHIRASHI Set
~ NABEYAKI UDON & ROLL Set

all set serves with Appetizer, Salad, Soup and Dessert which is quiet reasonable.

IKYU
5 Yong Siak Street
Singapore 168643
Reservation: +65 6223 9003
Website: www.ikyu.com.sg/

Opening Hours:
Tuesday – Sunday: 11.30am – 3.00pm, 6.00pm – 10.30pm
Closed on Monday

Lastly I would like to thanks Ann from Word Of Mouth Communications Pte Ltd and IKYU for the invite tasting.

{Hawker Food Trail} Tiong Bahru Market & Hawker Centre

Once again we are back to our favourite "Hawker Food Trail" whereby Maureen (miss tam chiak) and Derrick (sgfoodonfoot) will organized a day where we get to feast all the yummy local hawker food at a specify Food Centre.

If you still remember this is our 3rd Hawker Trail, after the 1st at Old Airport Road and 2nd at Ghim Moh Food Centre. As usual we set up a budget of S$10.00 per person to conquer at least 10 different dishes. And for this round, we spent about S$9.00 on average with 10 dishes plus 2 desserts sharing among 6 persons per table.

178 LOR MEE
Stall Unit: #02-58
Price: S$3.00 per bowl (Green bowl)

178 Lor Mee is one of the well-known stores in Tiong Bahru Food Centre. With their signature deep-fried "Shark Meat" in crispy batter that goes well with flat yellow noodles and thick gravy sauce has makes it something different from the usual Lor Mee with hard-boiled egg and ngoh hiang.

TIONG BAHRU LOR MEE
Stall Unit: #02-80
Price: S$3.00 per bowl (Yellow bowl)

Tiong Bahru Lor Mee has it's own group of regular customers who prefer its traditional lor mee than the new one with "shark meat" from 178 Lor Mee. If to compare both, most of those seated on our table prefer this traditional Lor Mee with ngoh hiang, fish cake, braised meat, braised egg, fried dumpling and etc which makes it a hearty bowl of noodles.

TIONG BAHRU PAU
Stall Unit: #02-18/19
Price: S$7.60 (2 Big Bao, 2 Char Siew Bao, 4 Siew Mai)

Previously whenever we comes to Tiong Bahru Food Center, we always bought back some steamed buns and egg tarts from "Tiong Bahru Pau" for supper or breakfast. Despite the fact that their "dao bao" does not come with slice of "hard-boiled" egg like others but the flavour of the meat and texture of the bun skin are good enough to cover the missing "egg". But recently the texture of their bun is not as good as it used to be.

HARRIANN's DELIGHTS
Stall Unit: #02-25
Price: S$2.00 per plate (Vegetarian Glutinous Rice)

Surprisingly the this plain looking vegetarian glutinous rice taste good from HarriAnn's Delights. This is recommended by one of the group member, Yan Cai who love their glutinous rice. But since it is vegetarian I guess we can't expect much on their chilli sauce which seems to lack of certain ingredients and flavour when compared to those non-vegetarian.

TIONG BAHRU CHAR KWAY TEOW
Stall Unit: #02-11
Price: S$4.00 per plate

Tiong Bahru Char Kway Teow here seems to be drier and did not feel and taste as oily as it looked. The S$4.00 portion that we ordered included things like Lup Cheong, Sliced Fishcakes, Bean Sprouts and Cockles as well as "pork lard". If you like Char Kway Teow perhaps you would also like to try the famous stall, Lao Fu Zi Char Kway Teow which located at Old Airport Road too!

JIAN BO SHUI KUEH
Stall Unit: #02-05
Price: S$2.40 for 8 pieces

When compared to the well-known Bedok Chwee Kueh, this old time favourite, Jian Bo Shui Kueh which located at Tiong Bahru has it's own unique taste too. I love taste and fragrant of their chye poh which might be slightly salty but it did blend well with the plain chwee kueh which brings up it's flavour. Overall this is still quiet a good choice for either breakfast or tea-break despite of those "oil" flooding around.

ZHONG YU YUAN WEI WANTON NOODLES
Stall Unit: #02-30
Price: S$5.00 per plate (Wanton noodles with pig's armpit char siew)

Zhong Yu Yuan Wei Wanton Noodles is one of the famous wanton noodles stall out of two in Tiong Bahru food center. Their Char Siew noodles is famous on using the the 不见天 (never see sky) or aka armpit meat of pigs to make their char siew. And each plate of wanton noodle comes with springy yellow noodles, top with slices of incredibly tender, well marbled and glazed char siew. No wonder customers are willing to queue for at least 20 minutes for a plate of delicious wanton noodle like this.

MIN NAN PRAWN NOODLES
Stall Unit: #02-31
Price: S$4.00 per bowl

When the prawn noodles arrive on the table, I was quiet shock to see something usual such as meatballs appeared in it. Mum said she always request the stall owner to do away the meatballs as she is not a fan of it. Overall I find the taste of the prawn broth is on the lighter side which could be improved with a strong prawn flavour will be better.

LEE HONG KEE ROAST MEAT
Stall Unit: #02-60
Price: S$10.00 per plate (assorted roast meat)

Lee Hong Kee Roast Meat has being around at Tiong Bahru for many forty years or more and their price is quiet reasonable with the amount of meat you paid for. Their char siew is cut thickly which offers a very satisfying bite which most of us love. The plate that we had above consists of roasted pork, char siew and lup cheong (Chinese Sausage). Personally I love the taste and fragrant of their lup cheong which i think it would goes well with a plate of plain steamed rice or even best to be added into claypot rice.

TIONG BAHRU FISHBALLS
Stall Unit: #02-60
Price: Approx S$5.60 per plate

Although I don't really like fishballs with soup or  noodles but I love those deep-fried fishballs; or fishcakes that are dipped with chilli sauce. Here at Tiong Bahru Fishballs, they have a few types of fishball and fishcake which taste quiet good with springy texture that is worth trying. But there is a little set back on their chilli sauce which can be improved as it is quiet dilute and the taste is slightly blend.

LIANG LIANG GARDEN
Stall Unit: #02-75
Price: S$2.00 per bowl

After meal we have some cooling dessert to clench our thirst from the afternoon heat. We tried two dessert from Liang Liang Garden which are the Milo Dinosaur Ice Kachang and Shark Fin Cheng Tng.

I love this Shark Fin Cheng Tng more than the other. It is so cooling and refreshing with bits of pieces ingredients such as red beans, water chestnuts, sago, dried longan and etc plus the shredded "shark fin" alike jelly toppings. Indeed this dessert is a good way to end a hearty meal.

Once again thanks Maureen and Derrick for organist this wonderful food outing. Look forward for the next one soon.