Omakase @ Tomo Fine Dining, Marina Square

June, Justin, Mia and I met for an Omakase (Chef's table - Japanese Style) dinner at Tomo Fine Dining on Wednesday. Our favourite Sushi Chef Thomas (previously from Kaisan) opened this restaurant on 16 September 2007. Most of us were travelling during that week, so we missed the opening. The new restaurant is alot bigger than Kaisan. The black colour scheme came as a surprise but I guess they were going for a stark look. The black sushi counter proved useful later when I needed to take pictures of food.

Our visit coincided with that of a dinner party that was organized by Porsche Club Singapore. Needless to say, the restaurant was packed and pretty noisy. However, we got used to the noise level after a bit and didn't really notice it after we'd had something to eat. Its great to share a great meal with friends. Incidentally, "tomo" means "friend" in Japanese and in keeping with its name, the staff were friendly.

Mia told us that Thomas had a shipment of live eel that had just arrived. He'd saved one for us. Here it is freshly killed, cleaned and deboned.

After nibbling on some Otoshi and Fugu strips, I was happy when the Sashimi Moriawase platter arrived. We had Hamachi (Yellowtail), Hotate (Scallop), Amaebi (Sweet Prawn), Hon Maguro (Tuna), Mekajiki (Swordfish) and Toro (Fatty Tuna). I enjoyed all of them thoroughly as they were very fresh however my all-time favourite is always the Toro for its rich flavour!

That was followed by Sanma (Mackerel Pike / Pacific Saury) Sashimi which was garnished with spring onion and grated ginger. I've almost always eaten Sanma Shioyaki (Grilled Sanma) instead so this was a refreshing change and was rather good!

That was followed by Kanpachi (Yellowtail) Belly Sushi. This was interesting but of course it can never rival a Toro as far as richness of flavour goes.

That was followed by Shimaji (Striped Jack) Sushi. It had a slightly crunchy texture which was interesting to chew on. One of the things that I like about an Omakase is that I get to try dishes that I probably wouldn't ordinarily order a la carte.

Then came the Toro Sushi! It was richly divine and I savoured every buttery rich bite of it.

Next was the Maguro Maki (Tuna Roll). I wouldn't usually order a Maguro Maki as I prefer to have it in Sushi form but this interpretation was very interesting in that it had some chopped spring onions and lightly roasted White Sesame Seeds in it. It was delicious as the sesame seeds added a fragrant dimension to it.

Then we had some grilled Wagyu Beef. Here's a slice that I took because I really love beef steaks rare/blue and this was ideal! It was delicious and definitely worth a try!

That was followed by Uni (Sea Urchin) Sushi, which was sprinkled with specks of Yuzu (lime) peel. It was an interesting variation.

It was followed by Unagi (Eel) Sushi, made from the eel that was killed earlier in the evening.

Here's a picture of the Unagi Sushi which has been deconstructed (ie. I removed the fish from the rice) to show how little rice was under the sushi. This is how I like sushi...lots more fish than rice...unlike some other places I've been where they're so miserly with the fish that it was nothing more than a thin sliver of fish atop alot of rice.

That was followed by a Sanshoku (3 colour) Maki. I loved it because it was wrapped with Maguro and had Avocado and Tobiko for its stuffing. I love all 3 ingredients!

We were getting stuffed so we had to stop eating sushi but not before the piece de resistance, Toro Aburi Sushi (torched Toro)! It was not as torched as I would have liked it but it was good nonetheless. I like how the fat from the Toro gets absorbed by the sushi rice when the fish is lightly browned with a blowtorch.

We had some Sumiyaki next. It consisted of Grilled Asparagus wrapped with Bacon, Grilled Enoki Mushrooms wrapped with Bacon and Yakitori (Grilled Chicken). They were all very tasty and I would have enjoyed them alot more if only I wasn't getting so stuffed.

When Chef Thomas brought Grilled Foie Gras, I had to have some as I love foie gras! The foie gras was reasonably tasty and had a little of the Japanese teriyaki flavour to it which was an interesting take but if I had to choose between Grilled Foie Gras and Toro in any form (in a Japanese restaurant), I'd definitely go for Toro!

I ended my meal with a huge serving of Yuzu ice cream. Candy, the manager, was so thrilled to see us that she got pretty enthusiastic with the ice cream scoop, when she went to get our ice-cream for us.

In between courses, we had quite a bit of time to snap pictures of fish and the kitchen crew. We were especially tickled by this pic that June helped me to snap of the Kinki (no, I kid you not) fish. One of the sushi chefs, David, was looking for some ingredients so here he is captured on camera behind the fish. The fish (affectionately named "Nemo" by June) looked like it was trying to hide from the chef and it seemed to have a "Don't eat me!" look which cracked all of us up!