We’ve been meaning to have a meal here since we discovered them a few months ago, so we finally sifted out some time over the weekend and trekked out to Katong for a taste. As far as we’re concerned, you can’t have too many kushiyaki (Japanese grilled dishes) joints. This casual setup shares a space with Awfully Chocolate (its parent company) and Mooshi Bakes. Like the rest of their (often great) F&B establishments, the overriding color scheme is white, with light wooden tables and chairs. After having to seat ourselves and grab our own menus from the counter, we finally managed to catch a waitress’ attention long enough to order up some grub. The miso egg proved to be a decent start, with a white blanket that hid a yolk (that wasn’t nearly runny enough for our tastes) and al dente soba noodles, though the whole thing wasn’t as warm as had been advertized. Then began a procession of our kushiyaki set A , which included garlic rice, miso soup, grilled salmon belly, chicken thigh with tare, pork belly with quail eggs and shitake with tare. The brown-tinged rice topped with white sesame seeds and spring onions looked promising enough, but turned out to be exceptionally greasy with almost-raw bits of garlic. After several mouthfuls, we resorted to draining out the oil slick (there was at least a tablespoon). They didn’t fare much better with the pork belly-wrapped quail eggs. The fatty meat wasn’t at all crisp and desperately needed more time on the grill, as did the chicken skin with miso and garlic. Even the shrooms were a little raw. Anyone notice a running theme here? But it wasn’t all bad. The ribeye with black pepper was certainly tender enough, although paying almost $5 for a conservatively tiny stick of beef seems steep. Service staff also left a good deal to be desired. We imagine most patrons don’t take too kindly to being ignored and treated in a gruff manner (we know we didn’t). There are better options in the area (this is Katong after all), so unless you live in the neighborhood, and even then, find yourself another place to avoid some bad joojoo.
