Tomo Izakaya

When you crave Japanese food but can’t pinpoint which kind of food in particular, head down to an Izakaya and you probably can satisfy your cravings. An Izakaya is a casual Japanese bar that serves alcohol, food and snacks and is gaining popularity amongst Singaporeans as a place to chill out after work or during the weekend

With 2 outlets, Tomo Izakaya is part of the Katrina Group with other brands like Bali Thai, So Pho and Streats. The Esplanade outlet is located on the ground floor of the building alongside other restaurants and bars facing the beautiful skyline of MBS and ArtScience Museum

The outlet is designed as a modern Izakaya with some Japanese decor elements like wallpaper and lanterns. Most of the table settings are proper dining tables and chairs both indoors and outdoors

We ordered a mixture of items and it did take pretty long for the cooked items to be served so I am not sure if they are understaffed in the kitchen but the restaurant was pretty crowded when I was there. The salad was the first item served and the serving size was pretty decent but the presentation could have been better. The salad had mixed romaine lettuce, cherry tomato, chunks of avocado, salmon slices and ebiko roe as toppings. The salad was served with a light vinaigrette sauce and the overall ingredients are fresh but nothing too special

For the fried items, we had the soft shell crab, chicken karage and gyozas which took extremely long to be served. We were starving when the food came and although they are all freshly fried and extremely crispy; I found the soft shell crab slightly oily while the gyoza was nicely pan-fried with a juicy meat filling

We also ordered Yakitori sticks to complement our drinks which were quite decent in flavour. The grilled items were heavily seasoned with pepper but were cooked perfectly with a smoky flavour and the ingredients were still juicy and not dry. We ordered the maki and set meals as well to fill up our stomachs. The set meals are quite value for money as they came with miso soup, sashimi, rice and a main and the portions are decent. Taste is general for both the maki and the set meals

While the food is quite standard with nothing too outstanding, I was pleasantly surprised by their cocktails. We had the peach shochu cocktail, plum sake as well as a yuzu sake cocktail. I can’t remember the actual name of the drinks and I did not manage to take a picture of the beverage menu but it should be easy to find as there is only 1 peach cocktail. Personally, I loved the peach shochu cocktail as it was extremely delicious. It was not overly sweet and you can still get the mild flavour of the Shochu combined with the sweet peach juice

Overall, Tomo Izakaya is a nice place to chill if you are not big on food but huge on Japanese cocktails. I would say the drinks are the highlight here and I would visit again just for the peach cocktail

Address: 8 Raffles Ave., #01-09 Esplanade Mall, Singapore 039802

Operating hours: 12 pm to 3 pm and 5pm to 11pm