Black Cow @ South Beach Avenue

South Beach Avenue is pretty near JW Marriot Hotel and nearest MRT would be Esplanade. There is an enclave of new restaurants including Black Cow, Fynn's, Atmastel and Alchemist amongst others. Was pretty amazed that there are people who knows about this place. From observation, the interiors of these places were done up pretty good. Very nice.

Met up with fellow foodies over lunch at Black Cow and we ordered a couple of items to try, including the signatures of wagyu truffle uni donburi and the kurobuta tsukune don. The crowd seemed to start after 1pm. Understandably so for weekends. One need not be up so early, ya?

table for four

Service was courteous, and there are off-menu items being introduced as well. Be prepared to spend.

cold tea

As we were the first few in the restaurant, the food arrived fairly swiftly. We spent quite a while taking photos and one of the staff approached us to gently prompt us to try the food before it got much colder.

Kurobuta Tsukune Don @$28++

The Tsukune Don is basically minced black pig on rice with onsen egg. All lunch sets came with soup, salad and pickles.

onsen egg lava

The most photogenic of the donburis would be the foie gras beef steak don. Cubed foie gras and wagyu beef were glistening and beckoning for a taste. Smooth, firm and well-oiled. Good clean flavours, which surprised me. Thought it would taste 'heavy'. Lovely.

Foie Gras Bifuteki Don @$45++

A visit to a place that serves Japanese food will not be complete without having a look at the drinks menu. Whisky, beer or sake?

Dassai 39 Junmai Daiginjyo @$78++ (300ml)

Finally, managed to try a Dassai. Very easy to drink and my preference is always a junmai daiginjyo whenever one is available.

Of all the dons, my favourite turns out to be the Signature Truffle Don with additional uni topping. The amazing flavours that had settled onto the rice, was really the clincher.

Signature Truffle Don (with add-on uni) @$60++

And, of course, if there's a time-limited-by-chance-special that was available just for that weekend only, the food-lovers decided to go-ahead and get one to try.  An appetiser portion cold dish. Presented with a luxurious feel with a gold flake adorning the top of the caviar.

Uni Truffle Somen with caviar @$78++

And, as part of the set lunch, one gets ice-cream at the end of the meal. A couple of flavours available. Most surprisingly? There wasn't any matcha flavour to choose from. Say what?!

Choose from yuzu, kyoho or black sesame.

yuzu ice-cream

But of course, the shaved ice here was good too. So we had one for desserts. Shared amongst the 6 of us. I think it was made for 2-3 pax.

Signature Milk Shaved Ice @$12++

Upcoming in new menu, warabi mochi desserts, adorned with edible flowers. Pretty looking and I liked the translucent jelly-thingy with black sugar syrup.

warabi mochi dessert

A cosy place to enjoy Japanese food. Would love to try other items in the lunch sets.

Lovely lunch with fellow food-lovers; Justin, Siew Yan, Mya, Belle and Ken.