Jo and I headed out for dinner to celebrate our 1st wedding anniversary early. We originally wanted to go to Kazu but (thankfully) it was fully booked and we decided to try somewhere new. Having heard many good things about Tatsuya from a friend of mine, we decided to give it a try.
Let me say this: the dinner was one of the best I’ve ever had!. Service, food and ambience; everything was 10/10. Tatsuya does not have the severity and seriousness of Shinji, and to an extent it shows in the food, but that isn’t necessarily a failing. Rather, it translates into a more easygoing and interactive dining experience. And in case I wasn’t clear enough, the food here is absolutely top drawer – both in terms of quality and price.
Yes, if you are on a budget, this is definitely not the place to go. Kaiseki will set you back $250 whilst the Omakase is minimum $280. That’s before GST and service charge. Is it worth it? That’s a difficult question to answer because it really depends on your perspective. When you consider the average price point of the top restaurants in Singapore (it is also worth mentioning that Shinji’s dinner omakase will easily set you back $500 per person), the quality of the service and food we received and, most importantly, an amazing wife and an occasion for celebration, my answer is a resounding YES!
Apart from the awesome night with Jo and the amazing food, the dinner also gave me the opportunity to test out the Leica 50mm f/1.4 Summilux ASPH which I borrowed from Kean. Paired together with the A7r (with its jaw-dropping 36 megapixel full-frame sensor) it was a frightening combination and I was seriously unsure about how the photos would turn out. With such a high resolution sensor, there is little margin for error. Take autofocus out of the equation (the Summilux is a manual lens) and it makes for a real challenge. That being said, I am very happy with how the photos came out; they all bore the Leica signature. You’ll see what I mean!



Appetiser. The one of the left was tofu with century egg sauce and the one on the right…well, I can’t remember. It was all awesome.



Selection of Sashimi



Japanese food just isn’t the same without sake.

My wife agrees!






Uni!

Grilled Fish Bones

Ikura Chawanmushi


The “Main Course”

Preparing the omakase sushi…


O-toro! It almost looks like bacon doesn’t it.

Scallop Sushi with a strip of foie gras

Ikura Sushi! There was more ikura in this than rice.

Uni Chu-toro sushi

Something cleansing after all that sin.

Mask melon.

Check out the huge slab of o-toro at the top…

And that’s mekajiki! My favourite sashimi, although we didn’t get to try. Was too stuffed anyway.

Our awesome chefs of the evening.

And of course, most important of all, my wonderful wife =)

All in all, an amazing experience. Top quality food – top quality service – top quality night. There was absolutely nothing negative about the night except that it had to end. I will certainly be looking forward to going back to Tatsuya’s (if and when I can afford it ;).