Yonehachi @ Takashimaya Basement

Update  30 Oct 2012: 

A few weeks ago, went back there because didn't know what else to eat. The standard of food has dropped a lot. Absolutely not worth going there at all/anymore.

In the post below, I said the food was Ok. But this is no longer the case.

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(first part was written at 12.51 a.m., later part written 11.30 a.m.).

Unfortunately, I don't have pics to show while eating there, because didn't think I'd be posting about it or taking pics.

Tonight (last night, since it's 12.51 a.m. now), didn't cook. Tired. So went out with bro to try the "new" restaurant at Taka basement.

It's new because it wasn't there before and I've been wanting to try it since passing it a few times before.

During those times when I passed by, I saw the food on customers' tables looked Ok, but rice very little. Still... the counter staff taking orders looked professional and friendly, so that's a plus.

(11.30 a.m.) Was interested in their Okowa. I didn't know that's what it was called back when I ate it in at the food basement of a mall in Sendai Japan.

Okowa is steamed rice, sticky with ingredients. Looks very homemade and delicious. Looks like fried rice but this is far better. The correct portion will last long in the stomach and fill you up very satisfyingly.

When I saw the different types of Okowa in the Yonehachi display case at Taka, I wondered how their taste and flavor would compare with the one I ate in Japan, especially the one that looked like it had little clams in the rice.

As I remember it, the packet I bought from the supermarket area in Sendai, was not hot, but very sticky, full of flavor from the little brown clams and rice.

It cost around $3 or $5 and was in a shallow, transparent plastic takeaway packet. The rice had a little salty flavor and even though I don't eat clams, when I saw that rice, I bought it and loved eating it. It was something like our local Zhut Bi Berng (glutinous rice) with sweet or salty peanuts, but far better.

At Yonehachi, the menu is very nice, with a fine delicious-looking spread to choose from.

Before you sit, order at the counter first, then the seat will be assigned to you--a very efficient, orderly and perfect system. No need to worry a customer has not paid, no need for customer to wave and wave for the bill after eating.

The counter and serving staff are from China and the Philippines, but service is excellent--quick and friendly.

I ordered the Asari (clam) Okowa set, comes with a small Salmon piece, miso soup, a little cup of Japanese seaweed, a small bowl of pumpkin soup with raddish and other vegetables, a few French Bean stalks in a little plate.

Bro ordered the Chicken Teriyaki set.

Total was $28.90. An Ok price, I think, for a Japanese restaurant for 2 persons.

There was a short queue but it was cleared very fast. While ordering, the sweet scent of Gelato was just across and Bro was finding it distracting to order from the Japanese menu while his mind was being grabbed by that Gelato scent.

I said we can try that ice-cream after our meal, so then he could pay attention to what he wanted to order from the Yonehachi menu.

Table #2. To our right, was a real Japanese woman with her young daughter.

If you notice, Japanese people don't eat at those common Japanese restaurants that we go to. It's because the rice does not taste Japanese at all, and sometimes, the rice tastes like Chinese rice without flavor. Those are not real Japanese restaurants.

If you see Japanese people eating at a Japanese restaurant/counter-top, it should mean the rice and food are close to the real thing.

So, when I saw this Japanese woman with her daughter, it upped the expectation of what I had ordered, and I was keen.

In about 10 mins or so, the 2 sets arrived together. Most excellent. This should be the way, instead of one and then another (although completing everything in an order at the same time can be difficult).

I ate everything around the side first, leaving the Okowa last so I can savor it slowly and fully.

Everything around the side tasted very homemade and bland. So, you could say it's healthy. But too little of everything.

The clear soup was nice--a little soup with a slice of pumpkin with its skin, a small piece of radish (gave to bro), a bit of vegetables. This was the only dish with some flavor from the sweetness.

(Usually, I cut away the pumpkin skin, but I notice Japanese restaurants like Botejyu retain it, so maybe I should keep it too. But how to get it so soft?).

The Okowa--was bland. Asari were quite plentiful in there, with some green beans, but overall too bland and no flavor from the Asari at all. Totally different from what I ate in Sendai.

This Okowa at Taka was also nice, but portion was too little.

For drinks, since we didn't order anything, we were served water (which was already very good, considering Streets restaurant @ Liang Court serves nothing).

Overall, the meal at Yonehachi was not hearty enough, not satisfying enough and very bland. But still Ok.

As for the Okowa rice, the taste of the grains still loses to that I tried at Sendai.

How close is the Okowa to the real thing? Just on its own, without comparison, Yonehachi's Okowa is Ok, quite nice. But compared to the real thing... 2/5.

(Maybe Yonehachi's Okowa is made differently depending on which prefecture their chef comes from etc...So maybe comparing to Sendai might be unfair because both are the real thing.).

I guess the Japanese woman ate there because the rice is Ok, compared to other restaurants, and the meals are simple and healthy.

Would I go back to Yonehachi again? *nodding* Probably.

The Okowa at Sendai was so good and memorable, I would return there just to eat again a packet of it. I miss it so much and think of it all the time.

As for the Itallian Gelato across from Yonehachi, that is a temporary stall, I think. We got to try the flavors first, and chose the Raspberry Cheesecake a scoop (in a cup) for $3.80 (less than what other such ice-cream counters are selling for.).

Very delicious, creamy and smooth ice-cream. You get to choose cup or cone.

Beside it was an interesting Taiwan machine that shoots out popcorn-style flat crispy pancakes. Costs $3.80 per packet for original or butter flavor (3 packets for $10). We bought the original that the young guy let us sample.

When hot, the crispness is very nice, melts in your mouth, airy. But in the packet (pre-packed in Taiwan or Taka? Saw him packing fresh ones in a packet.) after bringing home, it's not as delicious.

Back to Japanese rice, for authentic Japanese meals, try Don in the basement of Liang Court, just across from Meidi-ya supermarket.

I don't know about the quality now, because since the 2 Japanese men stopped cooking the meals, I stopped going there. The meals are now all prepared by local/foreign girls.

Back when I ate there some time back, the rice was really 100% Japanese flavor and taste. That accounts for the Japanese men eating there.

I still see a few Japanese men there, I think. So, I guess the rice is still as good.

But always, when I ate there, the rice was never enough (especially when it's so good).

Bro and I had the privilege of getting to know the Japanese man there who cooked for us, back when he was still there. I felt their rice was so good that I had to compliment him by saying "Oishii". :)

I only know a few Japanese words, but he knew some English, so that's how we could say something to each other. Also, he was a very nice and friendly guy.

When I told him I have been to Japan, his eyes lit up with his smile. He asked where, then he said he's from Okinawa.

During our dining there, he also told me the secret to why their rice tasted so good. I tried it at home, but could not replicate it. When I told him, he was puzzled. I said, maybe I need to get your type of rice cooker. Hahaha....

But he shook his head saying it wasn't the rice cooker. Hmm... (but I think the correct rice cooker is important. They are using the big types that give better overall heating, compared to the small home-style type, I think).

He would also give us little gifts now and then. We would be eating and all of a sudden, he would lean over the counter and give us 2 individually wrapped jelly desserts.

The last time, he gave us 2 packets of red bean rice topping for the rice cooker, and said it was for celebrating our SG National Day. Hahaha... He said this red bean topping is used in Okinawa/Japan for celebration (I forget if he said Okinawa or Japan)

What a nice man.

Once, he pointed out his wife to us. She was shopping with the kids and she came over. I didn't see her but bro seemed to have, although she was already walking away.

But too bad, we never saw him again. Probably went back to Japan, we'll never know. His position was taken over by another Japanese man who wore a baseball cap (like our Japanese guy), but wasn't friendly at all and sniffed all the time like he had flu.

We ate there another once or twice, then stopped.

I was quite displeased he never said he was going to leave or leaving soon when he gave us those 2 red bean packets. Shortly after that, he wasn't there anymore. I told bro that at least, he could have just mentioned it.... *pouts* (though of course, he had no obligation to). It just would have been nice to at least say goodbye.

For a while after that, I thought maybe I could go to Okinawa and who knows, maybe bump into him there (that's if he went back there and was not still in SG in some other outlet or restaurant).

He never said his name.

(A new Japanese restaurant will be opening on 1 Dec at Liang Court basement and I'm wanting to try).

Update: Bro just mentioned something I hadn't thought about. He said the reason why Yonehachi's Okowa doesn't taste as nice as what I had in Japan, is because Yonehachi could be using ingredients not from Japan (but from China which is cheaper). Ah ha! I see.