One of my go-to dining restaurants for bespoke Japanese cuisine is Kuriya Dining. As part of the RE&S Group, I often visit a few brands: Ichiban Boshi, Sushi-go, Kuriya Japanese Market and Ichiban Sushi. When I am feeling generous, I will visit Kuriya Dining at Great World
The last time I visited Kuriya Dining, it was still located on the 3rd floor of Great World City Mall and that was quite a few years ago. The restaurant has since shifted to the first floor at the exterior extension of the mall just opposite UOB Bank. With its new location, the restaurant feels more exclusive and quiet as there is not much traffic around this part of the mall
The seating area of the restaurant is quite deep within the restaurant so it is exclusively hidden from view of the general public. From the entrance, you will see the reception counter followed by a small gallery of the dining awards of the restaurant before you reach the main dining area. I also like the fact that each table is well spaced out so each group of customers have their privacy. The overall restaurant decor is dark but classy with premium quality down to the chopsticks and cups used for tea
I ordered the Chirashi Sushi Gozen set for SGD 69.80 which comes with a side of salad, miso soup, Chawanmushi, a side dish and dessert. Unlike other Chirashi don, this set is served with sushi rice, which I really like as it is not as filling as normal Japanese rice. The seafood served on the rice is also of premium quality cut in the thickest slice. Each bowl came with fatty tuna, sweet prawn, salmon belly, mackerel, Ikura and crab meat. The rice is quite a small portion but surprisingly very filling when you finish up the entire bowl
The salad came drizzled with Thousand Island sauce with fresh crunchy lettuce and tomatoes and for dessert, we were served a scoop of ice cream with mochi and fresh fruits. As for the beverage, you get a choice between coffee or tea so I went for an iced Americano which was pretty decent
Separately, I ordered a la carte order of some sashimi items like fresh uni, Chutoro and sea bass. As these are premium sashimi selections, the price is higher than usual for each serving but when I compared to other Japanese restaurants, the serving size compared to the price is quite acceptable. The uni was creamy, buttery and sweet with no metallic taste at all and it is great to eat it on its own or with the seaweed provided. The Chutoro was cut into thick slices and had perfect marbling which melts in your mouth while the sea bass has a crunchy and firmer texture which releases umami flavour with each bite
Overall, Kuriya Dining is still one of my favourite places to go for premium Japanese cuisine especially when you love premium quality sashimi. The service is also impeccable and signature Japanese with polite and attentive servers
Address: 1 Kim Seng Promenade, #01 – 127 Great World, Singapore 237994
Operating hours: 11.30 am to 2.15 pm, 6 pm to 10 pm
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