Teppei Japanese Restaurant

Finally tried out this sought after omakase (leave it to the chef) style resto - Teppei Japanese Restaurant. Located at 1 Tras Link in Orchid Hotel, this 21-seater restaurant might not look like a high-end Jap resto but when it comes to fan-base and food reviews, it makes the other big named franchises run for their money. 

You can get a glimpse at the snaking queue that will welcome you there

The omakase style meal is during dinner time so we have no choice but eat the lunch set. The choice is quite limited but looking at their kitchen, it seemed that they are already preparing the ingredients for dinner. I understand as they have a plethora of customers to serve and have to make each dish a tongue-blowing experience.

Tempura, Tempura, Tempura and yes you guessed it.. Tempura

The man behind the kitchen bar is Chef Teppei Yamashita, already a double finalist for World Gourmet Series Award of Excellence for Asian Cuisine Chef and Asian Restaurant for 2013. Watching him prepare the food, how he carefully slice and marinate the sashimi, makes you anticipate the food more because you are assured that he doesn't take the dish for granted. It seems like that he doesn't just want to serve you good food but he wants you to be happy and get that "shiok" moment.

Da Man!

The final slices should be divisible by three and should be divided by pi radius of the square root of a prime number

This is not an in-depth food/resto review as I did not do a breakdown of taste. I just went there more for the experience (since I have been dreaming to eat in Japan). 

There were three side dishes offered. All of it were braised veggies. The braised daikon with yam, carrots, mushroom and some sliced fish can already make you full so I have to avoid getting a lot of it next time. I'm not sure if it was braised kangkong or spinach but it was refreshing in the mouth. The other one is just ok.

Free flowing braised veggies

Their specialty is the Bara Chirashi Don, a mixture of marinated yellow-tail, tuna, salmon, ikura with seaweed and sesame on top of rice. I tasted one slice of tuna and it was really fresh and the soy-sesame marinade did not overpower the taste. 

Bara Chirashi means "Rose Leaflets". which I think is closer than other translation, "Gay men Scattered"

I ordered the Big Tempura set which comes with two King Prawn tempura, three vegetables (radish, eggplant and I think kale) and white fish. The tempura is really huge and it even included the tasty part inside the head. One thing I noticed is that the Tempura sauce lacked taste and it did not contribute nor compromised the Tempura. But it is still OK compared to the salty , umay-inducing sauce of common Jap restos. 

What I liked the most is the rice. I think it is the best Jap rice I have tasted so far. It is posted in the restaurant that the brand is Koshihikari from Toyoma, Japan. The small and sticky grains have this nice texture that it might be the offspring of sushi and sticky rice. Luckily, they also serve it as free-flow. Woohoo!

I forgot that they serve cold tea (free flow) as well.

So what's my final verdict on this one? I really liked the service, it was quick, accommodating (they always check if we have enough appetizers and tea) and makes you feel you are in Japan (you won't hear the cringe-worthy, fake and unpracticed Irasshaimase)  However, since this is an omakase resto, I need to go back during dinner to fully experience what people have been placing reservations for. Unfortunately, Teppei is fully booked until 30 June 2014 and can place reservation on end of March. Sooo, while waiting, I'll immerse myself again to more Jap restos and make myself feel that I traveled there. ITADAKIMASU!