Ki-sho - 8th Aug 2017
Last week I took my wife to a lesser known gem of a
restaurant. Many know the Michelin star Japanese restaurants however there is
one restaurant that has been around for a few years called Ki-Sho along Scotts
Road that does amazing omakase meals. One side of the restaurant is a sushi
counter that seats about 10 to 12 people and another is a private dining area. I
was happy to get front row seats to watch Chef Kazu in action.
We started off with a sashimi of thinly sliced Toriyama
Umami wagyu with kombu and freshly shave truffle. Simple but all the flavours
worked so well together. Next we had the signature dish of Ki-Sho, two types of
uni (sea urchin) with rice vinegar jelly, edamame and shisho flower caviar. One
of the uni was sweet while the other more robust, both mixed well together and
jelly giving some lightness and sourness to the otherwise sweet and creamy
dish. Next we had 4 types of sashimi – amber jack, kinki fish, silver bell and
botan ebi. I must say the quality of the sashimi was top notch and my favourite
was the kinki for its texture and flavour. The last sashimi we had was the
in-season orange clam. This large clam had a firm and chewy texture with quite
a strong clam flavour, however in a nice way.
Wagyu sashimi Ki-sho signature dish- Uni with rice vinegar jelly
The hamada fried fish with crispy scales was served with a
piece of eggplant in ume sauce. The fish was cooked perfectly and the sweet and
sour ume sauce went very well with the fish and eggplant. The chef than brought
out a large silver pot containing Sukiyaki sauce. He took two slices of
Toriyama Wagyu sliced to sukiyaki thickness (about 2mm to 2.5mm) and swished it in
the sukiyaki sauce which was warmed up to 68 degree celcius. After four
swishes, he cut the slice of beef in half and placed in a golden sauce of yolk.
Needless to say the sweetness of the beef and the creamy yolk were highly
enjoyable.
Crispy hamada Wagyu Sukiyaki
Chef then proceeded to start on the sushi. His rice that he
uses for sushi looks like brown rice however he explains that he uses red
vinegar hence the colour. He knew we had a weak spot for uni so first came an
uni sushi. Next we had a tuna chutoro (medium fatty) sushi that looked like an
otoro (tuna belly) sushi in other establishments. It melted in the mouth,
oishii! He then served a sushi with tiny shrimp and topped with uni. The shrimp
had a sweet and sticky texture which is why I enjoy botan shrimp sashimi so
much as well.
Uni( sea urchin) sushi Tuna chutoro sushi
The chef then lighted some leaves and smoked red snapper
sashimi before placing it on rice. The fish took on some of the smokiness, not
too overpowering but enough to give the fish a boost in flavour.
Next I had tuna neck sushi. Just like beef, the neck is a marbled
part that is not the most tender. For me this is great as I love chewing on the
fish and get rewarded with all these flavours from the fatty meat. Next the
chef cooked a Hokkaido king crab leg over binchotan (Japanese charcoal) before
opening up the shell, taking the soft and moist meat and placing it over his
signature sushi rice. The highlight of the night was a one month dry aged tuna
belly that came from Boston. According to the chef they get very good quality
Tuna from there. After slicing the tuna, Chef will proceed to trim off the
sides which he said would be too fishy in taste. This is similar to dry aged
beef where we trim the outside of the beef. Needless to say the tuna was melt
in your mouth but this aged tuna had a strong depth of flavour that was mouth
watering. We finished off our sushi course with Toriyama Wagyu cooked on
binchotan and later topped with chicken yolk and uni. This was the icing on the
cake and a great way to end the satisfying meal. We had a miso soup and a
dessert platter of sweet melon and tarts to end the dinner.
One month dry-aged tuna belly Toriyami Umami wagyu with Uni
A meal at Ki-sho is not the cheapest although it is still
cheaper than restaurants like Shinji Kanesaka. The quality of ingredients is
fantastic and seeing the precision of the chefs at work is like appreciating
fine art. I would definitely recommend this place if you are looking for a top
class omakase meal.
