PUBLISHED April 30th, 2012 11:27 am | UPDATED March 28th, 2016 12:56 am
There are a few concepts which will always be popular in Singapore. One of these is the irresistible combo of Sushi and the magic words ‘all-you-can’eat’…challenge accepted!
There are not many places on our sunny isle which offer this deal at rather reasonable prices, so when a good Japanese friend of mine recommended Ikoi at the Miramar Hotel, I couldn’t resist… After getting together a healthy group of 10 us, we arrived at Ikoi late on a Saturday evening with ravenous bellies, only grabbing the table thanks to a last minute cancellation.
First thing to say is that I totally loved the decor of the place! It’s a bit kitsch with posters of celebrity diners covering much of the walls, but the atmosphere and feel of the place was surprisingly….well, Japanese!
So here’s the deal peeps, it costs $35++ per person and this effectively entitles you to a-la-carte freeflow of an enormous selection of sushi, sashimi, tempura, udon and soba dishes, soups and much, much more.
However to start the evening, we thought we’d try something a little out of the ordinary…frozen sake! Effectively they bring you a carton filled of semi-frozen sake slush retrievable by squeezing it out of the box. Super cool. I can’t say that the sake was fabulous quality, however very refreshing and did have enormous novelty value.
As for the food, please forgive the photos as I foolishly left home without my trusty Canon. However, I hope you can see clearly how lush the portions are….nothing worse than ordering a plate of sashimi so small you end up eating two pieces at a time just to get a reasonable bite. Thankfully this is not the case at Ikoi. The orders come out fat and generous.
What massively impressed me was actually the quality of the fish. Despite being a ‘freeflow’ restaurant, their fish is genuinely good. The sashimi was tender and quite delectable.
The same went for the nigiri, of which we ordered a ridiculous amount. Well-cooked rice and good fish/rice ratio. None of this ‘fill up on rice nonsense’.
Whilst we did try many of the other dishes such as the curry udon, the tempura, miso soup, chawanmushi – all of which were decent – pride of place must go to the sushi.
On a side note, despite being practically full house, the service was decent, with orders flying out and someone always at hand to help with a smile. Well done.
So, if you are a sushi fanatic like us Nomads, grab a few friends and head over to Ikoi. It’s not somewhere I’d recommend for a date per say, but get a group of guys or gals together and it’ll be the start of a great night!