Sushi Hinata @ St. Mary Residence

MW Maho warned me.....don't visit until she has done her "works" of negotiating and refining this place....but I'm a pretty stubborn Monkey....What's more when this place is just around the corner of my office...so Monkey decided to drop by for lunch...


Amuse bouche of japanese radish with shoyu and seaweed

MW Maho, if you are reading this....please be a lil quick with your "works" bcoz I need this place to be refined before it's gonna be my regular lunch hangout. MW Maho hailed from Tokyo....so let the japanese negotiate with the other japanese in Japanese.

I guess when you speak their mother tongue, you'll get special preferential treatment and ingredients :)))

Sushi Hinata specialises only in sushi...
the original outlet is based in Japan and this is the first and only sushi outlet outside their home country.

When I asked the Japanese how good is this place...she said it's as good as KameSushi and can be better...but then again no one in Malaysia can be compared with Shinji Kanesaka in Singapore. Oh my...that's like a sushi heaven. If I'm based in Singapore with deep pocket, Shinji will be my canteen.

Taking Singapore out of the picture, currently the best sushi place in town are these two - Kamesushi and now this Sushi Hinata. Anyway palate is so subjective, I am sure there are other awesome sushi places in town which we have yet to explore but I would love to trust my japanese Tokyoite friend :))

soft silky smooth velvety steamed egg custard with a dollop of salmon roe
it was really smooth
and light :))))

Hana set

Told ya it's a sushi place....nothing else..
just pure Zen sushis :))))))))

We came here for lunch and there's a few menu to choose from:
Yuki - almost like a japanese Bentou
Tsuki - 8 pieces of sushis
Hana - 10 pieces of sushis
Mini Kaiseki
Omakase

as for dinner:
Kiku - 9 pieces of sushis
Sakura - 12 pieces of sushis
Hinata - Traditional Japanese full course menu

This was the Tsuki set
Hinata used whole piece of pickled ginger instead of the usual thinly sliced type.

 warm bowl of miso soup after all the sushis :)))))))))

 Another friend ordered this Yuki set
That's a lot of FOOD for those few of us :))))))

 and finally a simple mango pudding dessert

I really look forward to the dinner menu in the coming near future.
Lunch was OK but not fantastic, since this place is new I will definitely give it another try :)))

Sushi Hinata
A-0-1, St.Mary Residence,
Jalan Tengah, Off Jalan Raja Chulan,
Kuala Lumpur.

Tel: 603 2022 1349
http://www.shin-hinata.com

Shinji by Kanesaka, Singapore

It's such a big treat to come here....I was almost kneeling on the floor when we arrived at its door..
Ohhhh Shinji....my favourite sushi place~~~~~~
Monkey bowed low upon entering the lil haven :))

Si Fu Lawrence, Munchy and JS
chatty chatty chatty yakking yakking yakking and minum minum minum
who said men can't talk and bitch...oh yes they can
and in my industry the men are bitchier than the ladies..I usually get juicy gossips fr the men. Hahahahahahaha.

When they realised I'm snapping their pic.....all stopped and pretended to be serious again
dead serious.

Si Fu Lawrence threw me that Death Threat look
oppsss sowwy~~~~


Since I got a death threat look I better concentrate on my food and ate with my head bowed even lower...hahahahahha.
appetizer of Tuna and thinly sliced japanese ginger flower
u thought that's pork huh? nope, it's a fish..so fat that it almost resembled pork

and soon our lunch journey begins with a beautiful fish of flounder
just lightly seasoned with a special soy yummmmzzzzzz


Buri!!!!
such a beautiful color huh? almost like a flower :)))))


a neat piece of squid with sea salt and japanese lime
very good texture and fat...it must be a deep sea squid


Chi toro....
the marbling of fats just melts in ur mouth effortlessly

Otoro!!!
the most prized piece of a tuna fish
so much of fat...hmmm...so good....
fish fat is good ok, so don't worry...

here at Shinji u eat sushi the japanese way, with your hands and no sauce
it's almost a sin if u dip your prized highly crafted piece of fish and rice into the sauce.
hahahahaha

Then we have the Achi
aaaAAaaaaa see I told ya, Shinji is such a treat
and we were served by Master Chef Oshino

A special prawns only available during the winter months
it looked so so red!!!
extremely fat as well!!!

As I was bz chomping my prawns, Chef dropped a piece of crispy deep fried prawn head on my plate.
I was like yippppeee!!!!!

Look at the roe!!! I dunno how chef fried it to such crispiness but maintain the moist creamie roe on its head...

Monkey: "Anyone wanna donate their prawn head to me?"
All the men pretended not to hear Monkey
Monkey: "hey hey hey high cholesterol....all of u better take care and donate your crispy yummy prawn heads to me."
The Men proceeded to quickly pop their prawn heads into their mouth in lightning speed
-_-"

Maguro
such deep ruby red
but do pay attention to its grain :)))
the beauty of Shinji are its high quality produce from Tsukiji market flown in daily,
its beautiful fat grains which u can feel individually the moment it lands on ur tongue
and the skillful japanese native master chefs executing all these

 

Baby Tuna
the meat was so so so delicate and sweet

My all time favourite Ooni - sea urchin
there's a hell lot of it, as we were seated by its counter...I saw Chef dipped into his tub of high quality ooni with his spatula, lifted it up the tub, before gently settling it down on the rice.
Such skillful display of sushi making
U know it's of high quality bcoz of its firmness and sweetness
aaaaahhhhh heaven

Kohada vinaigrette fish with pickles

Sayuri garfish
nope it's not garfield, I've seen live ones while snorkeling in Sabah. It's a very thin and long fish.

Sea eel prepared 2 ways, grilled with sauce and the other with sea salt and zest of yuzu lime
Sea eel is much sweeter minus that "smell" and its meat are lighter in color as compared to farmed eels.

Chopped toro sushi with negi - leeks
my favourite at any sushi establishment
if u were wondering, Shinji is a master of sushi hence they serve nothing but sushi.
Really a sushi heaven


more tiny bites of sushi - squash, akargai and tuna
akargai is a japanese clam, almost similar to our "see ham" but it's huge and less bloody!!!


superb Egg Tamago
it's different from the usual ones, coz it's soft and silky smooth


Salmon egg roes with fresh horseradish

ohhhh the rice is to die for
so fat!!!!! and cute too hahahaha

Finally with that little space left in our tummy, we had a green tea toufu mousse with a sliced of dried persimmon....really yummy :)))))

alwiz look forward to my next visit but it's so expensive to dine here...so lunch will do. I can't afford to fork out SGD 450++ for dinner per person. >.< The men said it's money well spent. That I have to agree :))))

Shinji by Kanesaka

Raffles Hotel #02-20,

1 Beach Road,

Singapore 189673.

Tel: +65 6338 6131

www.shinjibykanesaka.com

Shinji by Kanesaka, Singapore *2 Michelin Stars*

Shinji is the very first venture outside Japan

helmed by Chef Kanesaka

Master Chef Koichiro Oshino is their si fu running the main restaurant

regarded as the top sushi restaurant in Japan

yes when I said...sushi.....their expertise are sushi.....my oh my

the experience was outta the body~~~~

okie clarification....Shinji isn't a 2 Michelin Star restaurant in Singapore

coz Singapore has yet to have this rating

and secondly...the Chef is a 2 Michelin Star chef

so there's a big difference between chef with star and restaurant with star

we were one lucky bunch to be booked into the private room
yes u'll have one chef catering to all your needs
slicing and preparing your food at your private convenient

our Chef Kiku

Monkey: "Wat's your name?"

Chef Kiku: *nodded with politeness...."Kiku-San"

Monkey: "Kiko? KIKO??"

Chef Kiku: "KI-KU"

Monkey: "KIKO?"

Chef Kiku: "KEEEEE-KUUUUU-SAN"

ok ok....hehehhee...wat does it mean?

Chef Kiku: "U know des Flour-wah"

errrrr....

"HAI!!! flour-wah des!!!!".....pointing to the flower carving on the window..

oh oh oh flower!!!! how silly of me -_-

I alwiz made a fool of meself :P

I better behave myself....for Chef Kiku has an extremely super sharp can die sashimi knife

it was very long........almost can be used for "harakiri"

kekekekekek ok ok ok BEHAVE MONKEY!!!!!

actually this wasn't our 1st course...

there's just too many pictures...about 65 pics...so I'll just upload wat I can

Lunch menu set varies n for an important bday celebration we had the SGD 250 Omakase Special

slightly grilled crabmeat inside....

which was made into some form of patty

Chef Kiku is very strict and stern

we are not allowed to dip em into the freshly grated wasabi nor soyu

-_-

Chef Kiku: "NO sauce!!!!"

ok ok ok ok ok 

when the room is quiet....u know everyone is enjoying their food :D

every single piece of fish was prepared in such care that we dare not even eat it
Chef alwiz treat their food and sword...er I mean knives with respect...
so we must treat our meal with respect too 
don't u think so?


How would u think the Chef would feel if his diners just whack the food into his/her mouth
without savouring it?
he cut the fish with such meticulous care...there wasn't a single fiber innit
and it SERIOUSLY MELTED in our mouths...


Monkey: "OOIIISHIIIIIII!!!!!!"
Chef Kiku: "HAI Arigato gozaimase" nodded and continue to work with such strict precision


aiks Chef is so serious....again I better behave meself -_-

now u see it!!!

and ta-da!!!!! Bonito!!!!

Chef Kiku later "cured" the meat in soyu and mirin

and we had very fine sashimisssSSSSssss....forgot to take pic :P

then came the SUSHIsssSSSSssss

OH MY GAWD

the moment it landed on my tongue...

the rice was dancing amicably

u just need to delicately use your tongue and the grains separate itself

one by one individually....

gimme more more MORE MORE

the prized chitorro

Hirame = flounder fish

my favourite sayori!!!!

the sushi were portioned this way so u can enjoy more

just the right proportion of rice vs fish

in fact it was just a nice bite

I wanted more but then this means loading my tummy with grains

actually we dun mind...can we have the whole "tong" of rice pls????

kikikiikikiiii

ika = squid

usually ika is very chewy

but this one was so CREAMY

the ooni = sea urchin was so fresh....

when u purchase sea urchin u want em lookin like this

not watery nor runny....just solid pure hi cholesterol goodness

hahahahahahahahhaha

OMG the quality of the ooni was undeniable...

all produce are flown in directly from Tsukiji market almost daily *cept when the mkt is closed on Tue and Sun*

and are handpicked by their Master Chef

sweet ebi :)))))

seriously u dun need any sauce nor wasabi..

coz it was so well flavoured 

steamed fish, a family of red snapper

was done so delicately and cooked to perfection

Omakase menu allows diners to sit back and enjoy

just let Chef work his magic

Dinner menu sets u back at SGD 450

so lunch is just perfect this round

and most of all watch in delight as Chef worked his magic sword...err I mean sashimi knife

he cuts with such peculiar angle and held his fish with palms up left right swayed to a certain degree

it was like almost dancing and fanning the fish into the air

Beautiful movements

we couldn't capture most on camera coz damn he's too FAST!!!!

even slicing leeks -_-

we r damn failed cameramen

all his cutting slicing chopping were with controlled pressure

it looked so simple but trust me....if u were entrusted the knife and to do the same

all ur fishes will be gone smashed....koyak!!!!

grilled ell and the other one was steamed

mind u, these are WILD SEA EELS

taste was so different....fr the normal ones = farmed eels

well really can't be compared...

Bday cake for the bday boy :D

made entirely fr fish

really can't believe it even simple sushi like this could make me teared :P

A Certain Si Fu told me:"of coz do u know all the stuffs innit were of such premium quality....all the expensive fishes!!!"

this sweetened egg dish was a killer!!!!

made with special eggs flown in fr Japan

innit there's some secret ingredients + pureed prawns

and cooked through charcoal fire

mind u, charcoal fire was put on top of the egg instead of below

to achieve such consistent result

Shinji is very pure...zen

they believe in simplicity & authenticity

so u dun get any tempura nor boiled nor simmered nor noodles at this place

*For J&J Jelina, that's how she learnt to eat raw fish and never look back since.....Shinji has converted her!!!! bravo!!!!!*

The restaurant in Japan, u can't even get coke

that's how serious they are

Sake list is also outstanding

will definitely return

aaAAAAAaaaa :)

*still thinkin bout it now*

Thank u Doc & Em.......:))))))

Shinji by Kanesaka

Raffles Hotel #02-20,

1 Beach Road,

Singapore 189673.

Tel: +65 6338 6131

www.shinjibykanesaka.com