Yakitori Taira 焼き鳥 平良 @ Japan Food Town Wisma Atria

Yakitori Taira is now occupying the shop space of what was previously Taki and Bar Nippon. Was at client's place in Orchard for a meeting and had a chance to drop by Wisma Atria for dinner. Well, having a soon-to-expire $10 voucher to redeem was also part of the reason of being at Japan Food Town.

Yakitori Taira originated from a sushi shop called Sushi Taira in Shirokanedai, Roppongi. Sounds upmarket! Nevertheless, there's an opening promo of between 20% to 30% off on their set menu. Original price ranges from $30 to $70 for the sets. The difference seemed to be the number of yakitori sticks included. Went with the $20 (UP $30) set with 4 yakitori sticks, with the yakitori decided by the Chef. Hmm. Am starting to wonder if they'd going to give all vegetable sticks!

grill station

For the set menu, one gets to choose the mini-don. There were 4 options but I just went with the salmon don. The waitress says that the don in the set meal doesn't come with ikura. That's ok, I thought. Took a quick look at the price and the normal salmon don with ikura costs $18 per bowl. Understandably, they can't possibly put an $18 bowl in a $30 course meal.

For drinks, I got myself $10 sake for two small glasses. One could choose from 3 available choices. Had one from Gifu prefecture and it tasted mild. The next glass was better, the Nenohimatsu Junmai Ginjyo (Morita) Aichi. Tasty!

Kourin Yuuki Junmai (Chiyogiku, Gifu)

The starter was a small cup of chicken soup. Much like the soup from Tsukada Nojo. Lip-smackingly good. But careful not to burn your lips because it was super hot.

chicken soup

Did not really look at the menu before ordering, so thought the next course would be the salmon don. Was wrong. It turned out to be a tofu dish. This was served warm. Thought it would be clean and mild but I was wrong. The broth was savoury and tangy. Not sure what was in it, but overall, it was a nice hot dish.

tofu dish

There was a certain umami to this dish. Lovely! Soup, salad, tofu and a glass of sake was enough to make me start feeling a tad full. Perhaps, it was due to the long'ish interval between the dishes. Not too sure if the dishes were supposed to come out bit by bit or served all at once.

smooth and savoury

Next up was a small salad. Loved the citrus soy dressing but the rockets were bitter. Thought Japanese salad usually would use other greens such as lettuces, or spinach... Nevertheless, it was good to have salad in our meals.

salad

As I was at the counter, was already anticipating which yakitori stick was for me. The first stick appeared as I was about to complete the salad.

The sunagimo, in other words the chicken gizzard. Lightly salted. The texture was good. Finished in 20 seconds.

sunagimo 砂肝

Feed me more. What's next? What's your guess? I was sincerely hoping that they would not give that piece of white meat...but they did. Chicken breast or also known as sasami. Ugh. So lean, and with a tiny dab of wasabi on those white'ish flesh. It was not dry, but this just wasn't my thing.

sasami ささみ chicken breast

This was quickly followed by chicken thigh yakitori (secret yay!). All three sticks were without tare and only lightly salted. Now, what would be the finale stick?

momo もも chicken thigh

Turned to be something similar to chicken heart but a lower part? Aiya, my Japanese not so good so the Japanese staff who served the yakitori made a gesture of his heart and slightly downwards. Orh, but couldn't quite catch what was the name of this stick except it sounded like hatsusomethingsomething.

chicken heart

Goodness, that was the best stick for the night. The chicken hatsusomethingsomething yakitori drenched in tare (sauce) was the best ever! Bouncy bouncy texture that's also 'crunchy' in a delicate way. Yums.


The biggest letdown, got to be the salmon mini-don. The rice was at fault. It was grainy and non-sticky, unlike Japanese rice.

salmon mini-don

Fortunately, the set meal came with ice-cream. Flavours available are the usual yuzu, goma and matcha. Guess my choice.

match ice-cream

If you're interested in Yakitori Taira menu in Japan, here is the link.

Anzu @ Japan Food Town Wisma Atria

Have I tried all the restaurants in Japan Food Town? Not yet, but have tried many. I've done Rang Mang Shokudo, Nabe Seizan, Yomoda Soba, Yakiniku Heijoen, Inaniwa Yosuke, Hokkaido Izakaya, Sabar, Kyoto Grill Taki and Bar Nippon.

Let's add one more and that's Anzu. Visited on a Thursday evening, and decided on Thick Katsu Pork Loin Set which was reasonably priced at $25 nett. Staff were non-Japanese but that's alright.

kitchen view

menu

Hot green tea was served immediately upon seated. It is always nice to have complimentary green tea/water in a restaurant. For the set, there was a choice of miso or clam soup, and white rice/black glutinous rice. Though we didn't order any alcohol, there was a plate of appetiser served. Tasty, slightly sweet salty and would be a good accompaniment for the beer.

otoshi (お通し) appetiser (complimentary)

The first item served after one had ordered, was the salad. Sliced cabbage and some lettuce. Yuzu-soy dressing was provided and there is a white 'herb' dressing available on each table.

large salad (shared) with yuzu-soy dressing, toasted sesame and chawanmushi

'herb' dressing for salads

I actually liked the white 'herb' dressing which tasted of perilla leaves as compared to the yuzu-soy dressing which is slightly leaning towards the salty side.

grind the sesame

Chawanmushi was smooth and not too sweet. Pretty good with the shitake mushrooms. Was beginning to feel full after having just the salad and chawanmushi, haha! But, one must eat meat!

thick pork loin katsu set

Can't say I wasn't impressed when the thick pork loin katsu was served. Gorgeous golden brown battered meat cutlet, a small bowl of Japanese grains, clam miso soup (which tasted like regular miso btw) and small plate of pickles. There were two types of tonkatsu sauce. Existing on the table is the original version and the one that was brought to the table, is a sweeter version. I preferred the sweeter version as it was more flavourful.

'sweet' tonkatsu sauce

look at that thickness

Joshu pork from Gunma Prefecture is used for this set and the more premium version would be the Ginjo pork. Joshu pork has a rich taste and a gentle velvety texture especially if that part has some fats. The meat is predominantly lean and solid to bite but yet, tender. As advertised, it was a good thick cut of pork. Lovely! Drench it in tonkatsu sauce, add those fragrant toasted grounded sesame and a dab of yellow mustard for a satisfying taste.

flavourful

Not sure why, but some of the meat was a tad bland, so the sauce became a necessity. The clam soup tasted like regular miso soup and mine only had a single clam shell in it. The pickled radish helped to refresh the tastebuds.

For JPassport users, one could redeem a free ice-cream during this promo period, so I did.

matcha ice-cream (redeemed via JPassport)

Overall, the meal was enjoyable and satisfying. Liked the nett pricing and quality obtained. Value for money.

Thank you Anzu. ごちそうさまでした!