H’s friend G, who’s based in Singapore, served as our tour guide during the entire Singaporean trip. She took us to this quaint Japanese place for our late dinner, Tomo Izakaya, since most of the restaurants were already closed that time.

The first thing that attracted me to this place was the marvellous interior. The place had a cosy and relaxing feel like I was actually in some pristine Izakaya bar in Tokyo. I wouldn’t be surprised if they won the CNBC Asia Pacific Property Awards-Interior Design Award back in ‘09.

We’re greeted by this upsized fellow dangling a bottle of sake, which reminds me of Pho [of Kung Fu Panda]. I think this one’s a mole though, isn’t it?

Lovely lanterns. I want something like these in my bedroom.

We chose to sit on the illusory floor platform ala traditional Japanese dining setting. The tricky part is: it had actually a hollow space beneath the table where we could rest our legs, so we could seat upright. Neat, eh?

Dining friends, G & H.

Here’s what we had:

I wasn’t really in the mood for pigging out, so I got a bowlful of Tomo Caesar Salad (SGD 12.50), which didn’t fail my taste buds. Loveeed it to bits!

G got Tanuki Udon (SGD 9.00). It’s an udon noodle soup with tempura crusts.

She also got this Soft Shell Crab Maki/Temaki (SGD 7-10.50) which was made of win! I really, really loved this one. To think, I snatched two pieces from the owner. LOLOL!

H got this fiery hot Curry Nanban Udon (SGD 10.00), which she swore by the spiciness of it.

She also got Tempura Mori (SGD 20.00), which is a mixed variety of ebi and vegetable tempura. We all feasted into this, and it didn’t disappoint like the others.

I got Jikasei Goma Ice Cream (SGD 5.00) for the finale—aka the dessert. Been raving like mad coz this is one of the best-est ice creams I’ve ever tasted to date. I’m so getting this again should I go back to Singapore, which is soon!

All in all, the dishes were quite decent. I won’t hesitate to spend another dinner (or lunch) here, being a Japanese food lover that I am. The restaurant claims that their seafood is freshly flown from the famed Tsukiji Market in Tokyo twice a week, which is kind of awesome!

http://www.tomoizakaya.com/

Other reviews:

Clare Quay Branch

Esplanade Branch

It was a New Year to abhor and remember. Sometime during December, my relatives from the US came back here in the Philippines to celebrate Christmas and New Year’s Day with us. Their homecoming was like a roller coaster ride laden with fun-filled activities. Don’t get me wrong, going to the amusement park wasn’t our thing. We had several resto and bar binges like there’s no tomorrow.

Right before the New Year’s Eve, we had dinner in Teriyaki Boy. I will not mention which branch, but this is one of their biggest stand-alone branches IMO. Since I’ve been a Japanese food lover all my life, I ravaged most of the sushi, sashimi and shrimp tempuras. It felt like the best pigging out season ever, but I was wrong. Apparently, I didn’t mind the awful taste of the tempura’s sauce which kinda appeared as spoiled already. So there, it gave me a fever, stomachache, headache and heartache-heartache because I wasn’t able to celebrate New Year’s Day outside the house nor eat anything from our Medya Noche (it’s like a food fest during the New Year’s Eve).

I was devastated. I promise myself not to eat in Teriyaki Boy anymore.

But then, I ate my words out. Funny thing is, I now love Teriyaki Boy!

My guy and I went recently there to chow down. He’s supposed to meet someone for a certain business deal yet he asked me to tag along, so I did. It was dinnertime, and I felt terribly starving. Since I was finicky and afraid to cull tempura on the menu that then, I decided to order Teriyaki Boy‘s so-called house specialty-Chicken Teriyaki meal. I also ordered a crunchy shrimp maki platter as side dish. Instead of getting appalled the second time, I was actually delighted! The chicken teriyaki was soo surprisingly delectable, so did the maki. Even I was dead-bloated after devouring a big bowl of chicken teriyaki, I still couldn’t get enough finishing off with the super yummy crunchy maki. I was so satisfied that I put Teriyaki Boy off my blacklist.

Lesson learned. I guess, feel free to test taste dishes first before hogging them.