An Omakase: Affordable $48 omakase in the heart of Keong Saik

Well hidden in the vibrant district of Keong Saik, An Omakase offers a remarkable dining experience that marries high-quality ingredients with masterful culinary techniques, all at an accessible price point. Their $48 omakase lunch is particularly noteworthy, making gourmet Japanese cuisine available to a wider audience.

The omakase experience at An Omakase is a symphony of flavours and textures. Each course is meticulously prepared, showcasing the chef’s creativity and commitment to excellence.

What I tried at An Omakase

The Lunch Omakase (S$48) menu is a basic 6-course omakase offering a variety of dishes that change with the seasons, ensuring a fresh and dynamic dining experience.

Entering reveals a dark waiting room, and opening the hidden doors leads to an intimate dining room with all counter seating. It is almost like a theatre where diners get to sit and watch the chefs in poetry.

To start off this affordable experience, we had some simple Japanese seaweed and seafood boiled in soy sauce. While there was nothing phenomenal about this course, it cleansed the palate and started us off on a lighter note. Despite my initial assumption that the dish might be made from leftover fish bits boiled in soy sauce, there was no unpleasant fishy taste that would indicate a lack of freshness.

We started off with light and silky Chawanmushi.

It is a silky-smooth egg custard base infused with umami-rich dashi broth and soy sauce, offering a delicate balance of savoury flavours.

Moving to the anticipated sushi— the Medai Yuzu Zest Sushi, a complex piece that combines the gentle, somewhat sweet flavour of medai (Japanese butterfish) with sharp citrus notes from yuzu zest.

The medai is served atop seasoned sushi rice, providing a melt-in-your-mouth experience. The fresh yuzu zest imparts a crisp, aromatic citrus flavour that balances the richness, of the fish, resulting in a harmonic and memorable bite. This combination demonstrates the elegance of using simple, high-quality components in sushi-making.

Moving on, we had Akami Sushi. The lean tuna, known as akami, offers a clean, meaty taste with a hint of natural sweetness. This part of the tuna is less fatty, providing a firmer texture and a more pronounced tuna flavour.

Following that was a Torched Hotate Sushi which was a combination of umami and sweetness. The torching accentuates the scallop’s inherent flavours, while the slight charring adds depth and complexity through smokiness. This was my personal favourite as it highlighted the sweetness of the seafood used, and the quality of the rice and vinegar.

In between courses we also learnt that the short-grained Japanese rice was specially chosen as well as using a high-grade red vinegar to season it. The end result is a slightly tangy and sweet yet umami rice. This seasoning not only enhances the taste of the rice but also provides a nice contrast to the richness of any fish placed on it.

The next 2 courses were a Salmon Bowl followed by a Miso Soup to end the meal.

While there was nothing too spectacular about these, the miso soup did have large clams in it.

For desserts, diners are treated to a chunk of Honeydew, Kyho Grape and a Mochi. While the honeydew tasted like any other honeydew, the mochi was slightly different.

Instead of the chewy skin that we are all very used to, this one had more of an agar-agar-like skin – more crunchy than chewy. Inside this skin was a bean paste that had subtle sweetness.

Moreover, if you mention that it is your birthday, you will be treated to a cheesecake, courtesy of the restaurant!

Feeling still peckish, we were also offered courses from their premium Omakase – the Hibiki (S$188). For diners looking to treat themselves to a once-in-a-lifetime experience, this is the one that you should be going for. It is a 9-course Omakase menu with premium dishes and sushi.

One such sushi was the Uni Handroll. The uni is the star of this dish, offering a rich, buttery flavour with hints of oceanic sweetness.

The nori adds a crisp texture and a subtle umami taste, while the sushi rice serves as a neutral base that complements the delicate flavour of the uni. When combined, these elements create a harmonious balance of flavours and textures, making each bite a luxurious experience that delights the palate.

The other was this Uni Rice Bowl. It was made by mixing mashed-up uni and rice to create this creamy, almost cream sauce-like rice as the base. As if that was not rich and decadent enough, it is topped with more uni and generous portions of Ikura.

This was a very luxurious bowl of rice with the uni providing an umami base and the little ikura balls providing mini explosions with the flavours of the oceans. The chef then sprays on gold glitter for the theatrics because after all those premium ingredients, why not right?

Final thoughts

An Omakase’s $48 lunch Omakase is a stellar choice for those looking to indulge in high-quality Japanese cuisine without breaking the bank. However, I felt that the portion sizes were small and the time it took for each course to be prepared was long.

Despite that, this was still a very affordable option to experience an Omakase for the first time albeit the fact that you would probably need to order more dishes after that.

Expected damage: $50 – $200 per pax

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