Koh Grill & Sushi Bar: Home of the Shiok! Maki. Nuff said.

Within the usually quiet Wisma Mall, is a restaurant that has maintained popularity for quite a while now, boasting fans who readily swear on the goodness of a particular dish that their menu alone offers. Tucked along the side of the food court, Koh Grill used to be a hidden gem with few in the know, serving up a variety of good, though not great, sushi and more famously their Makis, which are among the best you can get at the price point (more on that later). They also offer a variety of cooked food and skewered barbecued meats (yakiniku) which for the most part is decent enough. 

Almost always a crowd during dining hours so be there early

By this point of the review, some fans of the eatery may be wondering why I’m even bothering to type out a review of the place lasting more than two sentences-is it not good enough to warrant a must-try on the get go? Indeed, taking only their unique Makis into account (again, more on those later), Koh Grill easily earns two thumbs way up and an instant must-try stamp. With that said however, their other dishes are at best, above average and at worst, mediocre. No, this is not a post written to hipster bash the eatery. In fact, I was quite hesitant in starting to pen the piece. However I have been visiting the place quite often in recent times and I do believe that a bit of honest tough love is in order every once in a while.

Quality and Taste: 

Let us begin with Sushi. 

No doubt fresh enough, but is that really all there is to good sushi?

Generally speaking, the made to order sushi they serve up are decent enough, using fish which are adequately fresh, especially the ones on their daily catch menu (which you can find pinned on a board to the far right of the sitting counter area). Sadly, that pretty much sums up all the praise I can give pertaining to their traditional sushi. Again, I cannot fault the freshness of the fish they use at this price point but sushi is not just fish on rice, and like any good dish it is a combination of different factors, like temperature, ingredients, freshness, seasoning, preparation and so on, the mastery of each of which within a dish warrants the title of genuine gourmet. 

I’m quite sure no one is expecting Michelin stars at this price point but, more often than not, their sushi are quite sloppily made: uneven cuts lead to quite extremely varied thickness of the fish topping the rice, resulting in inconsistent experiences on each visit; rice not properly kneaded or seasoned with vinegar leading to brittle pieces that fall apart when picked up; rather petty use of non-rice components which would be fine if not for the slight premium they charge compared to other places. 

Roes Woes: Very little roe were given for $4.50 a piece

One of the most miserably sized kanpyo fillings i have met

The fact is that they simply do not match up to competitors in their price range for traditional sushi, with places like itacho, Genki and Ikekimaru offering pieces which are more balanced, consistent and equally fresh and often at slightly lower prices per piece. Ultimately though, Koh Grill still blows away the competition of overly commercialized, budget sushi places which I won’t be naming here. Seriously though, those things exist solely to further damage the dwindling supply of good, grown fish. Pay a few cents more and get real food instead of that weird tasting stuff that will probably give you maggots in your brains! I exaggerate… But back to the point: Koh Grills traditional sushi like the Nigiri and Gunkan are above average for sure but definitely not the steals that their reputation might suggest.

Next, the cooked stuff. They’re satisfactory for the most part. Among those I have tried are the Salmon Miso Soup and Yaki Udon, both of which have a reasonable asking price of about ten dollars. The former is a hearty soup chock-full of lettuce and salmon. The soup uses dark miso which makes it a little heavier, meaning that it can serve just as well as a start to your meal or as the main course itself. It is served piping hot and each sip feels very comforting. As for the latter, I have a friend who raves quite fervently about the great taste of the dish. Now, I’m not sure if his sentiment is one held by all who have tried the dish but I personally wouldn’t call it incredible. Indeed, the Yaki Udon is a messy goodness with its flavour primarily carried by soy sauce which, I’m happy to say, has a good balance. This is complimented by bits of egg, leek, carrot and some chicken then topped with bonito flakes. It tastes rather sticky and chewy with the combination of the Udon noodles, runny egg and sauce deciding such a texture. It’s quite nice and those who have not tried it might want to do so. However, a rather meager portion and overly simple taste which it carries-basically tastes like mere soy sauce with little sophistication-does not warrant it an INCREDIBLE, it does however score a strong seven points or so on the scale. 

A hearty broth with fish and veggies

it's like fried rice but with Udon instead

As for the actual Grill’s part of Koh Grill, the last time I ate was too long ago and I cannot exactly remember its taste. I can say however that the Kushiyaki did not strike the best balance between price, taste and portion.

Finally we move to the best that Koh Grill has to offer - their amazing Makis. Singlish is quite the versatile language, and I say this because there is no faster or better way to describe the Makis than the word: "Rojak". They are not sushi, not the purist kind at least; instead, they are a delightfully unorthodox mix of traditional sushi ingredients and some unexpected ones with a Singaporean twist. The most famous is the shiok maki (1^st generation) which I must say is rather appropriately named. It features a tempura prawn rolled into the centre of the sushi which is then topped with salmon (or shake), flying fish roe (Tobiko) and lots of sauce-the key component of which is egg mayonnaise. The entire thing is then broiled, courtesy of a blow torch, which gives the already flavourful package even more flavours. Suffice to say, the first time one of these would be abominations enter your mouth an explosion of flavours and taste will be felt. Sweetness, saltiness and umami surge your palates on full assault. The dish is not at all delicate and it has no sophistication either, but the combination simply works, perhaps so due to the abundance of sauce which bring a bit of harmony to the otherwise overly-broad mix of sensations provided by each ingredient since it helps to adjust the overall taste of the dish to something more consistent. 

The star of the show. Everyone wants a piece of him...

All superstars need their closeups. Just look at him ooze glamour from every pore

Whatever the case, the Shiok Maki is a great eat and the same can be said about much of their other makis like the Pitan Maki which bravely throws century eggs on top of sushi, a combination that might make sushi shokunin cry blasphemy but makes my tummy extremely happy. My personal favourite is the Crappy Maki which combines swordfish and soft shell crab. It’s a good dish for those who like their food chewy and tougher to the bite. For those who haven’t tried, swordfish is quite unique: it's tougher to the bite but once through gives way easily. It's also slightly sweet and not too fishy. Some might like this combination and some might not. Try it for yourself and decide. The general idea is that all their Makis rely on a daring combination of ingredients which somehow find balance to provide a burst of flavours in each bite without becoming a disgusting mess of things-basically Rojak, as I have said earlier. There are quite a few more pieces on their menu but having put down the mainstays, I won’t be elaborating here.  Just know that if you’re new to the place, go for the Shiok Maki first. You can’t really go wrong with that.

Crappy Maki-soft shell crab within, swordfish atop. My personal favorite

Century egg sushi...sounds so wrong but tastes so right

Ambience:

Before I forget, the ambience is not that great. The lighting is alright and the service too, but what you get are really tight walking and seating spaces with tables cramped closely to each other. These are small flaws given the food there but ambience is nonetheless an important factor. Do note that it is not a great place for long chats though given the long queues and rather limited seats. You could choose to stay and have a long chat over the meal but anyone with a decent sense of consideration will soon feel like a douche-bag after seeing the queue.

Conclusion:

Now comes the difficult part. If you consider only the Makis in general, I think Koh Grill easily scores and 8 and up in quality and taste but then of course there are the other, more disappointing dishes; and I believe that if restaurants cannot vouch for the quality of an item, they should not put it on the menu. With that said, they are not really that bad either; they simply pale in comparison to the Makis. I hope you’re getting my dilemma and hesitance by now. And if you do, please forgive me for doing the ratings a little different this time. Here goes…I'm going to give two ratings, one for the desire to be strict in me and the other for the pure awesomeness of the makis...

FOODIE’S RATING (Overall)
Quality & Taste(75%)	7	Prevalent freshness in most dishes are upset by a lack of effort in preparation. Nonetheless relatively good eats
Value (15%)	6.5	Pricing is generally acceptable for given portions. A few hits (Yaki Udon, Makis) and a few misses (traditional Sushi)
Ambience & others (10%)	6	Nothing to write home about. Tight spaces and noisy but gets the job done
Total	6.8	A decent contender in the Japanese food scene But look below...

FOODIE’S RATING (IF YOU'RE JUST HERE FOR THE MAKIS)
Quality & Taste(75%)	8.5	Uniqueness in innovation combined with incredible explosions of flavour make their makis one hell of a treat
Value (15%)	7.5	The average price of 20 or so dollars is quite a bargain for all the different fish you are getting per Maki, not to mention the good portion.
Ambience & others (10%)	6	Ambience does not change just because we are singling the Makis out
Total	8.1	A really strong contender in the contemporary sushi scene

Koh Grill is a worthy restaurant which any sushi lover who does not consider oneself a strict purist should try. Again, I must emphasize that the stars here are their Makis and the Shiok Maki is the Madonna of the lot. Everything else here is quite average and some above so. You may want to try some of the other stuff, who knows you might like them, but start exploring more and I assure you that there are many places which give you more bang for the buck when it comes to traditional sushi, yakitori and so on. On the whole though I'd still recommend the place to any food lover. 

PS: After much discussion in a high key private meeting, Mark and I unanimously voted in agreement that actually, purist sushi lovers should just get their snobbish heads out of their asses and give the Makis a try anyways, because it really is quite freaking good. And let's face it, a true purist sushi eater in Singapore would probably have starved to death by now. 

Address: 435 Orchard Road, #04-21 Wisma Atria Shopping Centre, Singapore 238877 (inside the food court)

Hours: 11:30am to 10:30pm

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Koh-Grill-Sushi-Bar/167643069950487

Itacho Sushi (Bugis Junction): two and a half out of three ain't bad...

Intro:

Itacho's paper mat teaches you how to eat sushi properly

I'm a big fan of sushi and because of that I can be quite demanding when it comes to judgement, so before I start the post proper, let me just say that Itacho is a great Sushi Restaurant and that anyone who claims to like sushi will not likely regret trying it out.  It does not score on every level, but it hits more than enough yardsticks to put it on a class far above that of a particular popularized conveyer belt sushi restaurant (hint: think green logo) that is well received in Singapore for reasons unknown...well, maybe it's because most of us do not actively seek out good sushi and hence don't really know better; if that's the case, then please allow this post to show you what sushi should really be like.

When it comes down to it Sushi is a really simple dish, and therein lies the farce.  Simple it may be, it is also extremely difficult to get right.  The less ingredients a dish involves, the less factors one has at one's disposal to control its taste.  That means that every phase and ingredient involved in its preparation must be done as expertly as possible in order to produce a delicious meal.  Of course, that goes for almost every type of food, but these matter especially so in cooking simple foods.

I believe that there are 3 key factors when it comes to preparing Sushi, namely:

1. Freshness of the ingredients used

2. Quality of the cuts used

3. The skill and effort put into crafting the sushi. 

~3.5. (and of course cleanliness is a universal factor)

Itacho scores well for the first two criteria but perhaps not so much the third.  I will explain why below.

Quality and Taste:

Fatty Tuna with Spring Onion Roll ($6.50)

This was the first dish that arrived on my table and it is also the prime culprit for my impression on Itacho's lack of skill and effort in crafting Sushi.  As a disclaimer, I did notice that the Rolls in Itacho Sushi are not freshly prepared but are instead taken out of foil wraps from their fridge then put neatly onto plates when ordered.  However, that does not mean the dish will be judged with special leeway.  Any dish that appears on a Restaurants menu should match their standards, if not Restaurants might as well put a (beware of lower quality) sticker beside their lousier dishes.

Roll breaks apart when simply lifted

So, why do I say that this dish is not properly prepared?  First off, there is a lack of balance in its flavor, in that the tuna used was inconsistent and some of the rolls had an overwhelming taste of seaweed.  The rice was cold, again disrupting the delicate balance of the dish.  Lastly, there was a clear lack of physical strength put into rolling the sushi, resulting in a brittle structure that easily falls apart.  The tiny air pockets trapped between rice grains also affect the overall taste slightly.  

With that said, the Sushi does score on many other factors, all of which remained consistent with the other dishes I ordered.  The rice used was of good quality (which is precisely why it shouldn't be served cold to demean its taste).  It had just the right amount of stickiness, chewiness and fragrance. it was also seasoned well by the chef(s) to have just the right mix of vinegar, salt and sugar, resulting in the subtle but sophisticated style of smooth, ever-so-slightly sour-sweetness that any properly done sushi rice should have.  The Tuna was also of good quality, with a robust, fatty taste that melts in your mouth and leaves a delicate lingering aftertaste in your mouth.

Left: Fatty Tuna and Spring Onions Gunkan ($2.80)

Right: Roasted Kagoshima Beef Sushi ($4.80)

This was the second sushi that came.  The components of the sushi are close to exactly the same as the previous roll, but the presence of warm rice made it almost twice as delicious.  The warm rice mixed with the slightly cold Tuna really does work well to complement each other to leave a satisfying feeling on your taste buds.  The balance of ingredients here was better, although a little too much minced tuna was used, disrupting the overall taste of the sushi.  This again owes to what is possibly lazy crafting of the Sushi. 

Luxury~~~

The second Sushi on the plate was the Kagoshima beef Sushi.  This one was great!  The beef used was undoubtedly of high quality as its tough, marbled fats made me anticipate the flavorful natural juices that leaked out with each and every bite.  The addition of some ginger and spring onions really helped to compliment the beef too.  Besides for the mere quality of the beef used, the preparation here is also deserving of praise.  The meat was served as two slices atop the rice rather than a whole piece; this helped with chewing the Sushi due to the natural toughness of the meat and hence its difficulty to cut by teeth.

Left: Fatty Yellow Tail Sushi

Centre: Swordfish Sushi

Tuna Sushi:

Good things come in 3

The Yellowtail Sushi was mild and tender and as with most good Yellowtails, the texture was smooth and just a little tougher than tuna, making for an irresistible  choice for those who prefer lighter flavors.

Some people don't seem to like swordfish due to its rather dense texture and resilience to the bite whilst offering not as much flavor as Tuna.  I however love it for its meatier texture and extremely light salty taste which is best enjoyed with eyelids shut and mind clear over long chewing sessions.  Itacho did not offer what I would consider as extremely good swordfish, but it was delicious nonetheless.  The solid texture was not as apparent here and might be preferable to some who dislike the toughness of normal swordfish. 

Tuna...the epitome of Sushi

At last, we arrive at the Tuna, the fish that truly defines sushi and best reflects the ability of any Sushi Restaurant to pick good fish.  The slice of tuna that Itacho served was definitely from a Tuna that was a notch above most of his friends in the fish market.  The Tuna was subtly flavored-as it should be-and had no stench to it; it was very fresh and had a dense but delicate texture.  The amount of wasabi put into the sushi -as with most of Itacho's Sushi- was just right if not just a little less than ideal.  I wouldn't say this is top notch but it is surely one of the better Tuna Sushi's I've had in Singapore.

Value:

The higher price tag of Itacho's Sushi may scare off more casual Sushi eaters but the quality of the ingredients they use does justify its pricing.  The prices here won't win any over the top bargain awards but it is definitely more than acceptable.

Ambience:

Plastic plate feels just a little cheap

The ambience at Itacho was decent.  Besides the soft, Japanese music in the background, the Restaurant had a clean and refined design that involved lots of lightly colored wood which offered a sense of elegance when paired with the average dim yellow lighting.  However, the cheap looking plastic plates they used for some Sushi did contradict the overall feel a little. 

Chefs hard at work

A bonus point to mention however is how clean the place is.  I was sitting at the counter and noticed how the chefs made a good habit of cleaning up their workstations and equipment after making each Sushi.  This is always good to have at a Sushi place.

Conclusion:

Itacho Sushi nails the freshness and quality of their sushi very well but the amount of skill and effort put into their Sushi is a little half hearted.  Whilst some of the Nigiri were well prepared, such as the Kagoshima Beef, the laziness of the Tuna Roll is a definite offset for their rating. 

Ultimately though, Itacho is a Restaurant that serves up good quality Sushi that most Sushi lovers will most likely love. 

As for those who have only eaten at a certain Sushi chain store I mentioned earlier (think green again), I would highly recommend that you try Itacho out and decide for yourself what Sushi really is. 

FOODIE’S RATING
Quality & Taste(75%)	7.5	I find it hard to give them anything closer to a solid 8 due to some inconsistencies but its great Sushi nonetheless
Value (15%)	6.5	decent value that is more than acceptable
Ambience & others (10%)	7.0	Ambience is pretty good though cheap looking plates hold it back from higher scores
Total	7.4	Easy choice for any Sushi Lover

Outlets and Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Itacho-Sushi/158303486802?sk=page_map

Operating Hours:

Mon - Thu: 11:00 am - 10:00 pm

Fri - Sat: 11:00 am - 11:00 pm

Sun: 11:00 am - 10:00 pm