The best restaurant for happy hours with colleagues is a Japanese Izakaya as the selection of drinks is good and the variety of food is wide to satisfy everyone in the group
Located at Buona Vista, Ikki Izakaya is a popular hang-out place for many of the office workers working with the officers nearby. With both indoor and outdoor seating, the restaurant is able to accommodate over 60 diners. I visited one day after work and totally forgot to take any pictures of the restaurant as we dived straight into food and drinks
The interior of the restaurant is modern and contemporary with warm lights which help diners to feel relaxed. There is also modern Japanese art decorating the walls to give off the Japan vibes
One of the eye-catching structures of the restaurant is the bar counter which is right in the middle of the restaurant. There are only bar seats on the left and right side of the bar counter as the front area is too narrow but they will not stop you from standing for your drinks
One of the key dishes in an izakaya is their skewers so we went with a round of standard items like the grilled pork belly with enoki and asparagus, chicken thigh with cheese and teriyaki sauce as well as the chicken cartilage. The grilled skewers were all pretty well done with balanced flavours and the right amount of charred to give off that nice smokey taste which is perfect to eat with beer or alcoholic drinks
We had a round of fried items like fried salmon skin, fried chicken wings, gyoza and mixed tempura which all arrived at our table hot and extremely crispy. The ingredients are generally fresh and taste good; especially the wings which incorporated the prawn paste seasoning which is perfect to compliment drinks
Other cooked food we ordered included the omelette with mentaiko sauce as well as without sauce, lobster salad maki, minced tuna maki and a soba noodle. The omelette roll was very delicious as it has the right amount of milkiness, sweetness and creaminess and the version with the mentaiko sauce gave it an additional layer of savoury flavour. The sushi was also well done and the only item which left me slightly disappointed was the soba noodles. The soba noodle was mediocre and nothing too spectacular
Overall, the food was done well and the drinks were great with an affordable price tag, With an extensive menu and convenient location, it is a great place to chill after work and let down your hair. I read some reviews about bad service during lunch and I guess it can get too hectic during peak hours. I visited around 7pm and the staff were friendly and attentive and the wait for the food also did not take too long
Address: 9 N Buona Vista Dr, #01-06/07, Singapore 138588
Operating hours: 11 am to 11 pm ( 6 pm to 11 pm on Sat and Closed on Sun)
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