TAKAYAMA JAPANESE RESTAURANT
Another new restaurant has joined Singapore’s burgeoning Japanese dining scene. Takayama is a serene kappo-style restaurant celebrating the cuisine of Osaka, helmed by executive chef Taro Takayama (former chef de cuisine at Mandarin Orchard Singapore and a native of Wakayama Prefecture, near Osaka). The 32-seater space on the ground floor of OUE Downtown Gallery includes a minimalistic main dining room with two kappo counters to accommodate five or seven guests, and booth seats for parties of two and four. Also available are two private dining rooms to fit six and eight guests respectively.
Design-wise, apart from the light fixtures, everything else including the chairs, woodwork and tableware were specially sourced from Japan to impact a refreshing, authentic feel. The Japanese’s attention to details can also be seen through the restaurant’s impeccable service, and thoughtful small touches such as keepsake origami-style envelopes to enclose take-home dinner menus and the bill.
Instead of à la carte menus, expect a regularly changing omakase designed around Osaka’s shiki (four seasons). The fresh seasonal produce are flown in four times a week from Japan. Also nice to know, Takayama takes special care in supporting suppliers who spearhead sustainable farming and harvesting practices. For instance, the simple palate cleanser Kuchinaoshi features yuzumarinated spot prawns that are harvested using a limited number of vessels and traps, with pregnant females returned to the ocean to ensure the long-term survival of the species.
In addition to the food, Takayama also changes the carefully curated beverage menu according to the seasons. Besides wines, Champagnes, craft beers and sakes, you can try the rare Traditional Uji Tencha Royal Blue Tea ($488/750ml). Green tea from the southern Kyoto Prefecture is infused in water using the mizudashi cold-brewing method over several days to ensure full flavour and aroma extraction from the leaves, leaving a delicate note on the palate.
The seasonal Lunch Sets offer a choice of four main courses, Start with a creamy, homemade tofu topped with uni, before moving on to a hearty selection of seasonal otsukuri delicately showcasing fresh ocean gems. For mains, choose between the two fish options (Saikyo Miso Black Cod for $68 or Grilled Kinmedai for $88), or the two meat options (Stewed Agu Pork for $68 or Grilled Kumamoto Wagyu Beef ‘Waoh’ for $98), each of which is accompanied with rice, homemade pickles, miso soup and dessert. While the kinmedai was lacklustre, the premium beef fared much better; the buttery A4 Wagyu has just the right amount of marbling to render it forktender after grilling. Although lunch offers the beef with salt or flamed with homemade teriyaki sauce, the dinner version with just a sprinkling of fluffy snowflake-like awayuki salt gets the vote. Comprising 50 percent sea salt and 50 percent rice flour, the salty flakes stay longer on the tongue to fully complement the natural flavours of the beef.
Evenings offer a choice of three Seasonal Kaiseki Dinner menus. The eight-course Tasting menu ($190) is actually a more concise version of the 11-course Monthly menu ($280), but without Takayama’s signature Steamed Abalone with Uni served with abalone liver sauce. The liver is first steamed and then whisked into an emulsion to complement the uni and abalone. Unfortunately, while we liked the smooth emulsion, the abalone didn’t quite meet our expectations.
The Tasting menu, however, offers better value. We were impressed with the caviar-topped, minced maguro tartare with a hidden frozen-yolk centre on the stunning otsukuri platter; and the Monaka, where smooth foie gras ice cream and homemade dekopan marmalade are sandwiched between crisp rice flour wafers. If you want the full works, try the personalised Takayama menu ($380), which is best for pre-planned occasions. The specially curated experience needs to be ordered two days in advance as the restaurant will craft the course selection according to each diner’s unique preferences.
With its authentic interiors, pristine service and niche Osakan offerings, Takayama is headed in the right direction. But it does need to elevate its food quality in order to truly impress discerning diners.