Ki-sho Revisited @ Scotts Road

I can never get enough of Ki-sho. August, especially, being a month for sea urchin became the single most attractive month to visit in the entire year. Of course there are other seasonal specialties but sea urchin has such a haul on me, I am just...sold.





















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Chef Kazu brought in Aka uni for this period and how precious is every bite. I only wanted to try that and the meal would be complete. We were presented with his little book of sea urchin education, where the types of uni are sourced from and served at his restaurant.

















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With his recent travels back to Japan, Chef brought back a different experience with minor touches along the way. Tea in particular is something new.




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Meet the King of Green Tea - the cost of a down payment of a car in Singapore in a bottle.





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If anyone is interested, they retail locally too!





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We were presented with welcome tea.







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Pickles, I missed you! So much. Everytime I remind myself to pace my appetite for these appetizers, I over eat.




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Chef Kazu prepping our second course by skewering these precious slices of bonito.





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Ki-sho's signature of caviar, uni and edamame.






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Food porn. The same ingredients yet everytime I have this, it brings me back to why I love Chef Kazu - it's how the ingredients taste so good together. That harmonious deliciosity.






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Kurumazaka JG ($150)







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Smoked by rice straw and served with a dab of freshly grated wasabi. Bonito probably never tasted this good in any other form, these were so melt in the mouth and has an air of smokeyness.




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Yam stem, prawns and a host of seasonal delights all snug in the crab shell. How more luxurious can this get when the gold flakes were not even eliciting a single wow from us, more like the crunchy prawns and pops of ikura roe.





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Kuruma shrimp, madai with bafun uni, ishigaki clam, rock fish, shimaji, chutoro from a 220kg blue fine tuna all on a single delicious plate. Every sashimi platter that Chef Kazu dishes up always springs a surprise, expect to be wowed by the day's freshest catch.


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Getting these counter seats always gives me first dibs of Chef in action, especially what to expect next.



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Grilled unagi too is not to be belittled, best around in that lightly grilled, heavily fragrant and terribly juicy few slices. The good stuff always get served in such small portions!





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Abalone with shimeiji and daikon and served with abalone liver sauce does sound like a whole lot of abalone in a dish - yet I am not complaining.








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So succulent, I wish I never have to eat canned abalone again. The meaty texture especially makes fresh abalone such a treat, dunking into abalone liver sauce is another drumroll moment. So gooood.




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Chef had to offer me a ball of vinegared rice to mop up the liver sauce. Oiishii.











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Chef teased our tastebuds by plonking this heavyweight on the table.


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Kinmedai




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Chutoro


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Shrimp with bafun uni married two of my favourite ingredients in a single bite. Creamyness meets a touch of cold and sweet.




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Maguro black trout turned into another tender loving affair. I can always count on Chef Kazu for the freshest fish around.




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Smoked beef in the most cliché manner ever, lipsmacking delicious with that kind of marbling too.


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Smoke gets in your eyes.


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And a delicate dab of wasabi once again.




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Sunmuck from the pacific and this had the perfect sear on the skin, crispy meets the rest of the unctuous sliver of yum.


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Uni feast starts here!


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First to auction and these guys got them!


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Hokkaido uni is intense at some points and very sweet. One bite and I got catapulted straight to umami heaven.




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Alas, aka uni we meet from Awaji-shima in Hyogo Perfection, it is available for such a short period of time Chef even mused that he'd see me again in two weeks time. This is very fluid, very mild and refreshing. My favourite to date!


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We opened another bottle, Manrei JG ($75), that went so well with the uni courses that we embarked on.


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Kitamurasaki uni is briney, creamy and very intense, so different from the aka uni.




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Another type of aka uni from Kumamoto, Nishinihon area and this is creamy, sweet and ends off bittersweet. Such a complex experience and I am loving this!


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Can you ever eat enough uni? Clearly I did not and wish so much for these again.


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King crab presented one way.


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And the meatier part inverted. Either way, I was still a treat.


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Do you spy omi beef? First it gets a coat of shoyu.


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And some heating under charcoal.


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Drool please.


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So much effort for just one bite and it went up in smokes, almost. The way uni melts in the mouth, omi matches the same for beef.




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When I thought we were done with uni for the meal, Chef pulls out a tray of carefully sorted uni and proceeds to plate.


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How could I have forgotten about bafun uni with ikura rice, another of his signatures. As miniscule as it looks, the quality of ingredients far exceeds the quantity and every bite was precious.


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Looks like we are ending with two of his signatures, omi beef with truffles.


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Chef sure knows the way into all our hearts and tummies, shaved truffles, uni and omi beef cooked just right. There is a lot of precision here and I cannot pick which omi course fared better. Both were a party in my mouth.


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When miso soup is served, I hate to say goodbye. Homemade tofu in a robust broth, possibly the only other slowcooked broth I'd consume next to double boiled soups.


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The meal ended with a cup of tea too paired with the medley of desserts.


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I can never get tired of their dessert medley, it has been the same since day one and everytime this is presented I already feel like returning for the same meal all over again. All are exceptionally good - seasalt macaron icecream, green tea mousse and kinako mochi.


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Kudos to Ki-sho for yet another magical meal. No matter how many times, each visit manages to pull some surprising yet stunning stops. Thank you once again for this amazing food memory, I cannot wait to return.

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