Tatsuya

After months of not having raw fish due to the virus situation, I was dying with cravings for a good sashimi meal and we finally had a chance to visit a reputable restaurant for my friend’s birthday. I was sceptical to go to a regular Japanese restaurant for sashimi so we chose one of the more popular restaurants serving high-end Japanese fare.

Located within Goodwood park hotel, Tatsuya is near the right-wing of the hotel accessible from the open-air carpark. I called to make a reservation and they had both indoor and outdoor seat at 2 dinner timings. You can also choose counter seats or table seats.

The moment you enter the restaurant, you can see the brightly lit sushi counter bar where you can see the chef at work. I realised at the end of the dinner that this is the seat everyone should go for as this is where the action is and the chef might also strike up a conversation with you. But if you have a group more than 2, the table seats are recommended as it is not ideal to be chatting over the counter

The table seating is located at the far end of the restaurant after the sushi bar and has very limited tables. There were only 4 tables although there seems to be a private room at the other far end of the restaurant.

This restaurant was apparently the favourite Japanese restaurant of the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew as you can see multiple pictures of him dining here on different occasions.

The menu is scannable via QR code and there is also a seasonable menu which might change daily according to the available ingredients

I love the way the table was arranged and how exquisite the paper placemat and chopsticks rest was all placed in a set.

The first item we ordered was the seasonal abalone priced at SGD 20. The abalone was mid-sized and each one cut into bite-size piece and topped with ebiko and sesame seeds. I can’t really tell how the abalone was cooked but I think it was done only slightly as it was extremely tender and soft. It tasted very sweet with a nice salty aftertaste.

Next was the a la carte sashimi we ordered which included the Otoro ( fatty tuna belly) at SGD 90 and Mirugai sashimi ( pacific geoduck ) at SGD 45. Each serving has about 5 pieces and we chose items that we could not find easily at other restaurants. The tuna was very sweet and fresh but I didn’t particularly like the cut of the fish as there was a tough line of tendon and vein which is why the fish did not achieve the melt in the mouth texture. This was the first restaurant I had seen the geoduck sashimi and surprisingly, it is wonderfully sweet and crunchy and definitely on my to eat again list.

The other highlight of the meal was this Uni ( sea urchin ) sashimi at SGD 60. I have been craving for good uni sashimi after trying the best in Japan. I could not get any good sea urchin here in Singapore or even Asia as most of them has this metallic taste so I was looking forward to this one at Tatsuya. When it was served, I could tell by the colour of it that this would be excellent uni.

The uni is served with crispy roasted seaweed where you can choose to roll the sea urchin into a mini roll or choose to eat the urchin on its own. The sea urchin is extremely creamy, sweet and buttery and is pretty close to the ones I ate in Tokyo. I would definitely visit just for the uni alone.

The hotate (scallop) sushi was also very fresh and sweet and is rather huge in size at SGD 10 per piece. After having the uni sashimi, all the rest of the food was good but could not overtake the uni in terms of taste.

This next roll was kind of a wasted order as it was named as rainbow maki and we thought of trying something different but turned out it was just futomaki priced at SGD 30. I was never a fan of the Futomaki so while the ingredients are fresh and nice, this is just not the dish for me.

We ordered some hot dishes to finish the meal like the mixed tempura costing SGD 30 and it was delicately fried to perfection with the crispy batter. Each item was thinly coated in batter and was very crispy to the bite.

The other hot dish we ordered was the slow-simmered pork belly at SGD 30 which is very tender and flavourful. The meat was deeply flavoured with soy and the pork has a good balance of fats and meat. While the meat is very good and flavourful, it was not exactly that memorable for me since it did not reach the melt in your mouth stage.

Overall, the food at Tatsuya was great and the environment was very quiet and peaceful. It would be perfect to sit at the sushi bar and watch the chef at work and try any specials for the night. The best dishes to try will be the seasonal items or special items not found in other restaurants. Like the geoduck sashimi which is fabulous and the uni which is off the charts good. For those visiting, do be prepared as the bill is going to be hefty.

Address: 22 Scotts Rd, Singapore 228221

Operating hours: 12 – 2.30 pm and 6.30 pm to 10.30 pm