Gastroliterary 35: Japanese ix, Ohsumi

Ohsumi, situated in the off-beat part of Orchard Road, is a Japanese restaurant specialising in shabu shabu.









Service +++:
Customers will get a pleasant greeting at the instant they flip the curtain aside and step into the restaurant. Because the waiter inside gets to see anyone's shoes which is approaching under the curtain. The waitress and waiter and were generally polite and customers were bidded off warmly as they leave the place.

Service: ---
The waitress had forgot to provide us with dipping sauce. When she was told, she seemed quite apologetic for overlooking this important ingredient. We had an a la carte buffet which means there was a massive ordering of the thinly sliced pork.However, there was a long and hungry wait on the third ordering, probably because they mixed up the order or they had trouble providing customers with enough meat. Luckily, the subsequent orders came relatively smoothly.

Service: 7

Food +++:
The thinly sliced strips of well-marbled pork with the dipping sauce came not only as a tempting feast but also a wonderful display of the chef's slicing skills. It was time for gaining of saturated fats but also time for soft, fresh meat that has a wonderful texture. There was a large plate of vegetables, not only for consumption but also to relieve some guilt of overeating the juicy meat.

The meal came with a range of drinks, from sake to beer to shochu and tea. It was a time where customers get to taste such wide variety of drinks in such a short moment. This moment was heighten because the oolong tea was uniquely refreshing and shochu with added oolong was a drink certainly worth remembering.

Food: ---
The vegetables were probably the lows for the dinner because the restaurant gave a lot of the cheaper cabbage rather than the more popular mushrooms or vermicelli.

Food: 8


Ambience: 7.5
The place was crowded with many working adults which consist of mainly ethnic Japanese and also some with their families. And because of this, the whole restaurant was noisy, busy and happening. A homely style was probably an appropriate description.

Overall: 7.5
The meal was considered relatively expensive although it will be a worthy trip if one wish to explore the range of drinks they provide. Plus, if one is a pork lover, then this could be a pilgrimage site. Perhaps this is a place for true Japanese steamboat feast due to the great number of ethnic Japanese patronising. And reservations are needed for this place fills up quickly.