Stunning Contemporary Japanese Cuisine at Chotto Matte: Review

PUBLISHED July 8th, 2015 10:00 pm | UPDATED May 17th, 2017 06:25 pm

When Chotto Matte opened last year, we didn’t think much of the Japanese hole-in-the-wall stuck in Blair Road. Fast forward nine months – while its fuss-free, identikit feel hasn’t changed one bit, it’s certainly upped its game in the food department. Newly installed Executive Chef Alan Teo has designed an ambitious menu that’s devoutly Japanese with the slight crank of a European twist, the latter perhaps inherited from his time as Esquina’s sous chef. For the most part, the menu is also executed with stunning flair.

Chef Alan Teo

Who can reject truffle-scented anything? As a start to our Omakase lunch, Chef Teo slices Golden Eye Snapper (kinmedai) to a thickness somewhere between carpaccio and sashimi. He serves it with an aromatic truffle shoyu and generous shavings of truffle, which both assert a nuanced earthiness without bullying the subtlety of the fish.
A sashimi platter ensues, brought to us precariously on a black slate, by a server with a luminous pink tie no less. It’s a truly picturesque garden of immaculate raw fish. Starting from the milder seabream (tai) and fluke (hirame), working our way to the firmer textures of red tuna (akami) and salmon, then ending with luscious raw wagyu and fattier tuna (chutoro), Chef Teo brought us through each slice with an almost geeky ernesty. Top marks for freshness and presentation! Even the thickness of each slice of fish is calibrated to ensure maximal enjoyment of the sashimi type, we hear.

Kindemai with Truffle Shoyu

As Rihanna’s soundtrack repeats on loop, the next sushi course emerges as our clear favourite. Unadulterated-fish-on-rice types may be disappointed – or perhaps even pleasantly surprised – at how tiny tweaks and additions add texture to a torched (aburi) nigiri experience. A ginger and onion relish, for instance, is a welcome tangy-sweet accent to a salmon aburi. An unbelievably creamy fluke fin (engawa) benefits from a slight squeeze of orange, while a trifecta of wagyu, foie gras and uni is crowned gloriously with a housemade sweet sauce, the whole of which momentarily re-defines decadence in a bite. Chef Teo goes small on both rice and fish, so each morsel is gone in a moment and leaves you wanting more.

Lamb Tomahawk

Chef Teo’s magic hand also commands the grill deftly. A Yellowtail Collar (hamachi kama) is salt-wrapped and grilled long and slow, such that the fish is evenly tender and succulent. Rather than holler incessantly, the yellowtail’s natural sweetness whispers louder with each bite. A Lamb Tomohawk is brushed with miso on the grill, with nary the funky whiff of lamb when it emerges beautifully caramelised on the plate. A pity that the cut either came too flabby or the rendering of the fat isn’t long enough.

Chotto Matte Exterior

At times, while competent and creative, Chotto Matte’s cooking can come across a tad clinical. Give us a simple, rib-sticking miso soup perhaps. A whole fish on hot skewers. A trio of homemade pickles. Something. It may be because we’ve only tasted a fraction of his repetoire, or perhaps because the place appears eerily empty most of the time (which we’re sure it won’t be, soon). Foie gras-topped chawanmushi and strawberry cod fish are already intriguing our minds. Another visit appears to be in order. Now to actually get there…

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