Dinner at Tomi Sushi

238 Thomson Road, #02-76 / 77 Novena Square Shopping Mall, Singapore 307683

Tel: 6255 2355

Website: http://www.tomisushi.asia/novena

Tomi Sushi has come a long way from its first outlet in Japan back in 1954. Today, it has expanded to 14 outlets in Japan, and has penetrated the Singapore market as well. Currently there are 3 outlets here, being Cuppage, Novena and Katong.

*Celine and I chose the outlet in Novena Square. The brightly-lit Japanese restaurant had a very warm and welcoming ambience; the interior is also decorated in light earthly hues. There are a variety of seating areas - the sushi counter, the booths in the main dining hall, and also small rooms housing a few tables. We managed to get one of the dining rooms with 3 tables in all - pity one of the tables had an infant that kept howling, hence shattered our peace.

Nonetheless, we had to fill our stomaches. Their extensive menus consist of many traditional dishes as well as some rather exotic items. As such, we decided to get a mixture to share. The items are all at very affordable rates by the way.

We started off with the Ankimo (SGD$15.00) - the Anglerfish Liver. It was soft and creamy, the texture reminding me of foie gras; but the flavor made me think of cod liver oil - a little fishy, savoury, yet piquant in its deliciousness. They serve this item in different ways - you can choose to have it as an appetiser like we did, or the sushi version at SGD$10.00.

Then we tried the Madara Shirako Ponzu appetiser (SGD$20.00) - Pacific Cod Soft Roe. It looks coiled like intestines, but it is so brittle it melts in the mouth into a mouthful of lusciousness. It was so smooth in texture I felt I could simply slurp it up with a large straw. The flavor was not unlike cod flesh - buttery, and much, much softer. This dish also comes in several versions - the appetiser version, the sushi version at SGD$16.00, the tempura version at SGD$20.00 or the chawanmushi version at SGD$12.00.

Now came the mains. They served the Sashimi Set (SGD$35.00) first. This set consists of the pickled vegetables, a miso soup, a chawanmushi, fruits, and of course the precious platter of assorted sashimi (salmon, tuna, yellowtail, swordfish and shrimps) with rice. Yes, for that price, we get so many items, and the thickly-sliced sashimi were fresh, bouncy as well as tasty.

Finally, the Tempura Set (SGD$28.00), also made up of pickled vegetables, miso soup, chawanmushi, bowl of rice, fruits and basket of assorted tempura items (shrimps, eggplant, carrot etc). The battered tempura items were crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. The taste was rather bland, but was enhanced wonderfully with their sauce served on the side.

Overall, it was a lovely dining experience and the quality of food is good. There are many other exotic items on the menu that I would like to come back again to try.