Hazuki brings well-priced Japanese dining to Orchard Road

NEW RESTAURANT

Hazuki #04-18A Takashimaya Shopping Centre Ngee Ann City 391 Orchard Road Singapore 238872 Tel: 6893 1555 Open for lunch and dinner Tues to Sun: 12pm to 3pm; 6.30pm to 10.30pm

ONCE we wished upon a star, for fine dining to go where car parks are That chefs not equate ‘the harder to get to’ with ‘the better to eat’, and shopping centres beneath their repute Not like a shoe shop neighbour is such a shame, when it saves so much parking pain Now, if there’s one that heard our diner’s lament, it’s Hazuki - where you can do premium Japanese kappo and a grocery run all at the same place.

Not like you would, but should the need for milk or eggs arise, Cold Storage is just a few floors down from this 4th floor omakase-only eatery at Takashimaya mall.

If it appears attached at the hip to the visually louder Crystal Jade next door, you’re not far wrong. Hazuki’s blink-and-you-miss-it facade is literally the Chinese restaurant’s backside – its former banquet space neatly carved off to accommodate this upscale addition to the mall’s merry mix of anything-goes F&B options.

Hazuki isn’t the first to elevate the random shopper’s dining experience. It has a predecessor, Mizuki, upstairs on the 5th floor which has a harder time telling apart sushi/tempura aficionados from the toaster oven shoppers at Best Denki.

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But it’s pretty clear who’s attracted to the glittery glassware in its display windows and the secret door that opens into a showflat of Gucci proportions – wallpaper, chairs, cushions: those looking for a taste of Kyoto-born Kenta Yamauchi’s brand of classic cooking at not-so-ridiculous pricing.

Yamauchi brings relative pedigree to the new restaurant, with stints in Ki-sho and most recently, Tsubaki. It also means that he’s used to handling budgets that don’t exceed S$350-S$380, so you get fair value for lunch starting at S$180, and just 2 options for dinner at S$280 and S$380. It also takes its pricing cue from sister restaurant Sushi Masaaki, both with the same owner and penchant for dramatic decor.

The lounge is an attractive addition, breaking up the usual straight-to-counter setup. For now, it’s a comfy place to wait, but later you might get cocktails or an a la carte menu once they decide.

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The real deal is inside, where the sight of Yamauchi carving up a slab of tuna puts you in the right mood. You can get a good meal with the S$280 option, but the S$380 menu is worth the splurge.

Either way, you start with kegani crab in dashi jelly, topped with oscietra caviar. Nothing new, but what makes or breaks this is whether the meat came pre-frozen or was handpicked from crabs that were physically present. We can attest that someone’s eyesight was harmed in the process, going by the neat little piles of crab meat arranged on the prep counter. We get ours arranged in an empty crabshell, just barely fridge-y but good in refreshing jelly and some roe for creaminess, and a little dollop of caviar for show.

The chef has his chawanmushi down to a fine art – piping hot and silky, a perfectly-timed piece of kinki fillet on top, and a shiny thickened glaze to finish it off.

The sashimi platter is a surprisingly good catch, led by bincho-kissed anago - bright white and expertly scored, with a rewarding bite. The plum sauce it comes with is a must. We also get passable tai, better kinmedai, crunchy Ishigaki clam and chutoro we will not malign.

A bowl of clear dashi isn’t clean enough on the palate but no real complaint, housing a fillet of amadai, slice of seasonal matsutake and a fat leek.

The presence of sushi chef Hirohito Tanaka from New York is a question mark. There’s no sign of edomae expertise in a simple layering of nori, shari, maguro and an overload of creamy uni. It wows just from the size of the bafun sea urchin and the palm-sized roll, wolfed down for sheer decadence than anything else.

The weaker link is tempura – corn, scallop and prawn coated in batter that starts out crisp with just a slightly soft underside. But the shiso leaf stays firm and crunchy under its heaving weight of uni - which is abundant in this meal.

There’s really a lot of food to get through. Whole fat awabi reappears as thin slices just a few chews short of tender, but ok if you have the jaws for it. What’s striking is the grated parmigiano that amps up the richness of the abalone liver sauce. Then, Miyazaki A5 wagyu shabu shabu is dipped into a milky miso hot broth and served very pink and showered with grated black truffle. And finally, a comforting donabe of nodoguro and rice, the tasty oily fish boosting the dashi-simmered rice.

A light ending of muscat grape encased in a mochi skin, and fresh peach with Hokkaido milk ice cream, seals the deal.

Hazuki – named for the moon in the sky rather than the chef – plays its cards right with a menu that’s reliable if not eye-opening, but gives you your money’s worth (you take your risks with the sake, though). Add easy parking and an optional toaster oven if you need one, and we’ll put this down as a good buy.

Rating: 7