Gastroliterary 18: Japanese Cuisine iii

Nara Japanese Restaurant
Visited: 13/08/2005
Location: Novena Area, Thomson Road

I cannot help but to mark this restarant with respect with the celebrated Matsuo. Although it may have distorted my vision for judgments, nevertheless the view of this restaurant is objective enough.

Food: 7
Green tea was moderately good, at no extra charges. The restaurant start luring the customers with wonderfully fresh, raw, crunchy vegetables as a great starter, however with the embedded cost of $5, to be discovered after the meal, might not be pleasing to many customers.
Salmon Teriyaki ($15): Mistake. The dish was cooked in a Chinese style, close to a coffee shop version. It was totally unexpected and it made such a nasty disappointment.
Mix Tempura ($18): This is close to Matsuo's standard; meaning that it was a joy in biting into the crispy flour mixture while revealing the fresh tender prawn, still sizzling hot, yet oiless and guiltess.
Gyoza ($8): With a total of 6 pieces, the menu indicated 'home-made'. Rather it tasted closer to 'supermarket' than 'home'.
Sushi ($30): Just 8 pieces, this had better be good. The seafood was fresh enough, though the rice portion was not too generous.

Service: 7.5
Polite staff who greeted their customers as they entered. However, they should allow the customer to finish their food before clearing the plates. Maybe they just wanted to look busy.

Ambience: 7.5
The restaurant could easily gotten an 8 grade if there was not a loud blaring sounds system blasting irritating noises to my ears. I yearned for a quiet environment that matches the modern and cosy interior.

Overall: 7
A dinner meal for one can easily cost over $30. Not exactly worth it unless one appears for lunch which should be below $20. Unsuspectingly, I chose to look at the prices for lunch time and appeared during dinner time.