Tomoe - Good Japanese Restaurant

It is an irony that on medical leave and not being able to eat the best I found myself talking about food.

In certain phases of our daily life, we can sometimes allow our minds a wee bit of drifting. We recollect things, events, people and places. Places can be places where you grew up, the people you have met at the time or where you would eat. You may then go to a place often enough over a long stretch of time spanning years probably because of work or meeting friends or simply where you used to shop or for recreation and therefore would eat there. I found one such restaurant and venue and found to my delight that despite changes certain good things remains untouched.

There is this Japanese restaurant that was once located at the basement in Orchard Building next to Centrepoint. They have relocated to Thomson Road and the last time I have visited the new location was when they have just relocated. The restaurant is "Tomoe Japanese Cuisine". Some of you may be familiar. The food is good and prices reasonable. This is not your fine cuisine high-end type but a family restaurant that serves typical fare at good value and provide fresh ingredients where you can have your sushi, sashimi, hand-rolls, chicken teriyaki, saba, udon, soba, soft shelled crab, tempura and gindera and wash down with Japanese green tea or Asahi beer.

The beef is succulent and tender and comes in a set with miso soup and some delicious pickles and a slice of water melon. Usually it is hard to get such quality for the price.

Soft-shelled crabs are lightly done with no overkill here so too the fritters of their tempura and cha-soba.

They recommended a very good fish which I can't remember the name but I have always trusted their recommendations. When it came, I was heart-broken to see what a beautiful fish it was but I thanked God for us to have food and gobbled it and found that it tasted fabulous - tender and sweet.

Singaporeans like to drown their sauce with wasabi making it look like an Orchard Road flood and I know they like the taste and the feel of the high the horse radish gives them when it shoot through the nose but "too mucho wasabi yo, mako all fisho tasto the same yo." Arigato gozaimasu. Quite often you will also notice folks dipping their sushi rice first into the sauce like dipping their toes in the swimming pool and then gliding in the pool. This cause the rice to disintegrate and loosen and showing up as remnants in the sauce. The correct way is to dive head-on into the pool from the top dipping into the sauce from the fish side not the rice.

Ice cream makes a wonderful dessert. I love my rum and raisin and have a weakness for Japanese green tea with Japanese red bean even if it comes in a cake.

Japanese food is very healthy and delicious and remain a favourite among Singaporeans and people all over the world. I remembered and visited Tomoe for this reason and more. The others being that they serve very fresh food at good value and are always done well. What impresses me most was the fact that after so many years, they stood their ground and never compromise their quality and beliefs. They have passed the test of time! This is reason enough for us to patronise it as frequently as possible knowing jolly well their criteria. The only thing that may bug you is parking space is limited very nearby but just as it is, there are many places you can park your car in and around the area if you just look around.

I'll be back!