Food Picks: New sushi-ya Keijo marks a new chapter
Appetisers at Keijo include (clockwise from top left) akami or lean tuna, burdock puree, abalone steamed for five hours, scallops with turnips and boiled octopus. PHOTO: KEIJO
SINGAPORE – What was once Shinji by Kanesaka at the lobby level of Carlton Hotel is now Keijo, a new omakase sushi restaurant.
The owners, who also run Shinji by Kanesaka at The St Regis, are building a new brand. The name and decor might be different, but the kanji for Kei in the name means continuity, and diners can expect the same quality of food and service.
Lunch is priced at $98, $168 and $268 a person, while dinners are $198, $298 and $398 a person. With the $298 and $398 courses, diners can opt for less food and have a flight of three sake, for the same price.
Chefs Naoya Nakamura, 45, and Andrew Lin, 44, take the focus on rice seriously – the kanji for it is worked into the restaurant logo. Their shari is close to perfection – it is the right temperature, the grains a good balance of tenderness and bite, and the level of acidity is pleasing. I could have it a little more tart, but that's just me.
At my meal, it is the silver-skinned fish that shine – iwashi or sardine with red vinegar shari, shima-aji or striped jack, and aji or horse mackerel with shiso in between fish and shari. Other standouts are delicate kisu or Japanese whiting, usually used in tempura, and springy kinmedai or splendid alfonsino. Fans of tuna fatty and lean, and of crowd pleasers such as sea urchi n will be well-provided for.
I appreciate the flow of the meal, with cooked dishes interspersed between the sushi. This gives me the opportunity to savour the shari with built-in breaks for the palate.
Kinmedai nigiri sushi and Shima-aji or striped jack nigiri sushi at Keijo.
PHOTOS: KEIJO
Standouts among the cooked courses include a sweet-earthy shin gobo or burdock puree, abalone steamed for five hours and gratinated snow crab with Kyoto miso.
With Japan overcrowded with tourists, might this be a good time to visit, and revisit, sushi-ya in Singapore?
Where: Keijo, Lobby level, Carlton Hotel, 76 Bras Basah Road
MRT: Bras Basah
Open: Noon to 3pm, 6 to 10.30pm (Mondays to Saturdays), closed on Sundays
Info: Call 6338-6131 or go to keijo.sg
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