tatsu teppanyaki, asia square

guys, I’m sorry for the photos – the restaurant was dark and done up all in black – but the food here is pretty good, and worth a visit if you’re into teppanyaki. singapore has a dearth of these fry-in-your-face places, and the places that dodo it range from the very cheap to the very expensive.

this one lies somewhat at an upper-middling price point – but my hypothesis is that price makes little difference to the eating (it’s mainly just fresh ingredients with garlic, which is difficult to go wrong with). what you’re paying for instead is that entire package of ambiance and show – the latter really up to the skills of the chef in throwing foods up to unnecessary height and setting things on fire.

so tatsu is, as with its price point, a good posher-than-average joint that doesn’t have its underpants in a wad – with pretty delicious food off an extensive menu.

japanese sun dining, town

expensive, but very good japanese in chijmes. I’ve been to this outlet of sun and moon a few times, and it is in fact the only one that my family continues to patronise. japanese food may be popular in singapore, and we have many offshoots of famous japanese ramen establishments as well as have conveyor-belt sushi places but there is a dearth of very good restaurants where you can get a wide range of japanese food – i.e. from tempura to sushi rolls to noodles and teppanyaki. chikuwa tei, which I just recently blogged about, falls in this category,  but it is of a more homely atmosphere than the semi-fine dining one here.

the choices are large on the menu here, and we truly have not yet ordered something we haven’t liked. most dishes are quite expensive, though really not extraordinarily so – and therein I think lies its attraction. japanese restaurants in the various hotels charge terribly exorbitant prices, rendering them only candidates for truly special dinners whereas this place works very nicely for a nice night out with the family or a date.