yumeya, mohammad sultan road

sorry for the hiatus, but it’s been a mad, mad world. this place is a cozy little eatery down along mohammed sultan road, where there are actually plenty of japanese and korean places to choose from, just like this one: narrow, tiny, and earnest.

the food was surprisingly enjoyable, with a large (for this place) menu to choose from and dishes that hovered above the average mark.

and, as a reason for coming back, generous with the tobiko.

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when you first step into the restaurant, you’re greeted by this overfilled shelf of kitschy paraphernalia – and I like it. it suits the casual homeliness of the place, and closer inspection shows that many of the animal figurines are actually sake bottles (look properly).

we started with a salmon salad, which was a tall mound of thinly-mandolined cabbage, halved cherry tomatoes and salmon sashimi. served with a creamy sesame dressing (THIS SAUCE CAN GO NO WRONG) that is just slightly saltier than sushi tei’s do-no-wrong-goma-dressing, this was a fresh start to the meal – and very healthful too.

the sashimi moriwase, or mixed platter, was also fresh slices of fish and tentacle served beautifully on a flower-shaped bowl. such effort!

the spider roll had crispy and not-too-oily soft shell crab rolled loose-ish in rice. it’s a good time to mention that I LOVE tobiko (and ikura and mentaiko) and they are generous with it here (and up there in the hand roll).

I haven’t really found a place better than sushi tei (hey second shout out in a post – can they make me an ambassador?) for sushi rolls – there’s just something about the sauces and flavours and seasonings. taken individually, the components there pale in comparison to those here, but there is a beauty in their totality.

the cooked food here is decent too, with standard things like saba (horse mackerel) and unagi going down quickly.

the fried rice also maintained grain integrity (isn’t that just professional sounding?), with some smokiness from cooking and a good dose of garlic, if a little oilier than we’d have liked.

but the beef that came last on a hot pan was quite surprisingly good – cubes cooked at medium (though a little over that by the time I finished shooting) that had a good browning. it was properly seasoned and topped with grated radish that brought a fresh vegetal counterpoint.

this literally is the size of the restaurant – so you know we’re really talking tiny here, and which makes it impressive that the kitchen has this extensive a repertoire and still manages to execute it admirably.

worth a visit, and more than a couple more after that – and good for time-to-relax mealtimes.

Yumeya Japanese Restaurant
33 Mohamed Sultan Rd
Singapore 238977
tel +65 6887 0282
$$: 30-45 per person