[Tasting] Shinya Izakaya 深夜の居酒屋 @ 79 Boat Quay

Is it just me, or does Boat Quay look more vibrant nowadays? It feels that the area has rejuvenated by the steady stream of merry makers or just hungry people looking for good food, and reasonably priced drinks.

entrance to Shinya Izakaya

Was invited to the Shinya Izakaya and this new izakaya is helmed by Chef Kakiruma, Jack Wee and Vincent Lau. Shinya Izakaya specialises in fresh sashimi 刺身, kushiyaki 串焼き (skewers), Agemono 揚げ物 (deep-fried dishes), Yakimono 焼き物 (grilled dishes), Itamemono 炒め物 (stir-fried dishes) and Donburi 丼 (rice dishes). Location wise, it is just a few steps away from Georgetown Tze Char & Craft Beer. 

Izakaya in general, refers to a "stay-drink-place". I do like to visit izakaya (not the standing type though), as I could get a variety of snacks/appetisers (otsumami おつまみ) to go with the drinks.

Let's check out Shinya Izakaya! Being the new kid on the block, has its perks. Perks for customers! Spotted their 'Opening Special' promotion of the $1 sashimi or the $1 oysters, with terms and conditions applied. So, do check with the restaurant directly for any further query. 

good deal

cheers

If you're a teetotaler, then it might be a good idea to bring along a friend who does drink (alcoholic drinks to be specific) as the opening promotion requires the purchase of normal priced alcohol. Again, for friends who drink, please drink responsibly.

what are we drinking today?

The interior of the restaurant felt spacious. We were seated at one of the booths that could fit 5 to 6 pax. There are private rooms available as well, hence please check with the restaurant when you make the reservation.

booth seats

inner section of the restaurant

private room

For drinks menu, there are options for Premium Sake, Sake (in the form of 300 ml, 720 ml or 1800 ml bottle), Wine, Beer and non-alcoholic drinks such as soft drinks, green tea or juices. Iced water is complimentary. Selected per glass options for sake and wine are available.

We got ourselves a 720ml bottle of sake to try and to match with the food that we will be having today. Was recommended the Hokkaido Kanjyuku, an aged sake. Aged sake is also referred to as 'koshu'. This informal term refers to sake that's been aged at the brewery for some time before release. For Hokkaido Kanjyuku, it was aged for 3 years. The colour is light yellow, tasted sweet and mellow.

Hokkaido Kanjyuku (Junmai Daiginjo)

Alc                    : 16%

Polishing rate    : 65%

Brewery　　    : Kobayashi Shuzo (Hokkaido)

Not good to drink on an empty tummy, so we started with a platter of sashimi. It was beautifully plated. The default number of sashimi slices is 3 pieces for both the 5 and 7 Kinds of Assorted Sashimi.

5 Kinds Assorted Sashimi (akami, kanpachi, salmon, tai, hotate) @$48

 Ala-carte sashimi comes in 5 pieces per order. There's about 10 different types available on the menu, including premium items like otoro and chutoro sashimi. 

Ala-carte sashimi (clockwise): shima aji 縞鯵 (@$38), otoro 大トロ (@$48) and salmon belly 鮭の腹 (@$14)

close up view

looking otoro-ly delicious

What are the snacks/appetisers that you usually start with? Eihire or Grilled Dried Stingray Fin, is a typical Japanese drinking snack. However, the version here is more chewy as it seemed less charred than the versions that I had from other places.

Eihire (Grilled dried stingray fin) @$12

Gobo Stick Karaage @$6

I think this was my first time having deep fried burdock sticks and boy, I loved it! The flavour reminds me of pisang goreng (fried banana) but it's not. Hehe!

Moving on to the meatier parts, and I do mean it quite literally! We tried the Buta Kakuni, Chicken Teriyaki and Saikoro Steak.

Buta Kakuni (Stewed Pork Belly) @$12

The stewed pork belly was a whole lot thinner than I expected. Usually, we'd see thicker cuts of the meat for this dish. Tasted of savoury soy, sweet mirin and dashi. The fats was melty and dissolved almost immediately once it got into the mouth. Nice.

I was surprised by the Teriyaki Chicken dish, as it looked more like a deep fried item rather than a grilled one? No idea but it tasted good. 

Chicken Teriyaki (Grilled Teriyaki Chicken) @$12

Saikoro Steak (Pan-fried Diced Premium Beef) @$25

Am actually glad that the Pan-Fried Diced Premium Beef (Saikoro Steak) is more of cubes rather than too finely diced! Tender bites for all the two glorious pieces that I managed to steal. Light flavours for the meat.

Let's have a bowl of Tendon for something more substantial, although after having drunk the sake, a bowl of ramen would be ideal as well.

Tendon (Crisp Prawns with Vegetables on Rice) @$15

While the Tendon here does not have fluffy looking batter, nor was it superbly crispy since it was lightly drizzled with sauce, the taste kind of grew on me as I had more of the rice at the bottom. Only managed to try the root vegetables in the bowl and I liked both the pumpkin and sweet potato. Well cooked and tasted sweet. There's eggplant in there as well.

Usually, I'd look for chicken gizzard or heart but it's not available here. Instead, we tried the shishito, shitake, chicken meatballs, enoki bacon and tebasaki (chicken wing). The shio tebasaki was a tad dry but still flavourful. Loved the shishito (Japanese green peppers).

Kushiyaki (Skewers) - left to right: shishito @$2.50, shitake @$2, tsukune @$2.50, enoki bacon @$3, tebasaki @$3

 

My favourite dish for  the night, was the Grilled Yellowtail Collar. Looked a tad on the small side but tasted so good! Plump meat that felt buttery, and seasoned just right. Perfectly cooked.

Kama Shioyaki (Grilled Yellowtail Collar) @$20

Thank you Jennifer Yeo Consultancy for the invite and Shinya Izakaya for hosting the dinner.

Attended with Kris, Tracy, Hence and Ivan.

Shinya Izakaya

Address: 79 Boat Quay, Singapore 049867

Contact: 6327 9240

Reservation: 8112 8028

Business Hours:

Closed on Mon

Tus-Sun: 3pm to 4am

[Melbourne 2022] The Great Ocean Road - A Journey from Portsea to Queenscliff via Ferry, Scenic Route Drive, Jostled with School Kids at Chocolaterie, Lunch at Lorne and Getting Wet at Twelve Apostles

We left our AirBnB accommodation early that morning. Thankfully, weather was good and we were on our way to catch the 9am ferry. It was kinda cool to drive the vehicle onto the ferry with everyone so parked so close to each other.

Portsea 7.47 am, waiting for ferry to arrive

all onboard

departing Portsea

on deck

seagulls

Be careful out there especially with the seagulls hovering over our heads. One nearly shitted on me. Actually, it did but luckily the droppings missed me by an inch, perhaps. Hahaaa.

There's a cafe on the ferry, so we went to grab our morning coffee while enjoying the ride.

what do we have here

pie of some sorts

flat white

chicken pie

sausage roll

pretty tasty

After our breakfast, we went to the upper deck of the ferry to catch the beautiful morning sun.

travelling buddies that made the trip possible

reaching Queenscliff soon

We disembarked from the ferry and drove some more for a few hours.

passing by

nice building

passing by a bridge

passed by a flock of birds

canola/rapeseed field

Most of the nice view were on Ivan's side, so there's only a few photos from my end. We made a pit stop at The Great Ocean Chocolateria and Ice Creamery, to stretch our legs. 

The Great Ocean Chocolateria and Ice Creamery

eclair of some sort served with fresh cream and a shot of hot chocolate

Raspberry Ice Cream

The greatest discovery was the hot chocolate sauce will harden once it meets a colder surface. So we dipped the ice-cream into the chocolate sauce and voila, a hard chocolate shell would form outside of the cold treat. Yums!

We quickly made our exit after the morning ice-cream as there were bus loads of school kids coming into the shop.

Let's enjoy the view along the scenic drive!

We made it to Lorne at about 1pm for a quick lunch. Well, it was supposed to be quick but we got distracted. Read more about it here.

After lunch, we drove some more in order to get to the Twelve Apostles.

lots of cows

eyes on the road

wow, windmill

these are huge

more sheeps

must be nearing Twelve Apostles

there it is!

The Twelve Apostles limestone formation

documenting formations that eroded as well

Thanks to Tracy's persistence and insistence, we got to view The Twelve Apostles before more of it gets eroded.

walking to the other side to take photo

the photo before we got drenched by the rain

The drive to The Twelve Apostles took hours, and the time taken to snap the photos of the attraction was only a few minutes. Ivan wanted to walk to the other photo taking site 10 minutes away from the first scenic point, so we went but halfway through it started to drizzle. Ivan insisted that we press on and that the rain wouldn't get any heavier, and so we continued. Alas, the rain continued to get heavier and by the time we got back to the car, our jackets were dripping water.

Thankful for this group of buddies who braved through rain and sun, and arduous long drive, just to make sure we got the best experience in this trip.

Jersey cows

rainbow after the rain

Thank you Hence, Tracy and Ivan for a memorable trip!