Sushi Kikuzawa, International Building

First place we trotted to with our brand spanking new Olympus PEN EPL-2 Camera!

We're the kind of foodies who would take a Monday off just to try out a sushi lunch buffet (hope my boss isn't reading this). Equipped with our new toy, we stepped foot into this tiny sushi bar at a building near Orchard Road.

Just FYI that this place used to be called Sushi Kikuzawa (this is google-able name) but it's now called Sushi Kanazawa (this is the one you should walk into). Plopped ourselves down on the bar counter and said "give me anything".

{ White fish in Ponzu sauce | Sashimi Platter (Salmon, Maguro, Ika, Tobiko) }

Within 3 minutes we got served (aha!). First to come was a small appetizer of white fish in ponzu sauce. It's the regular appetizer that they serve, the white fish was chewy and soft in the very citrusy / salty ponzu sauce, I guess kinda to whet the appetite. Onward!

Then came a plate of sashimi each - salmon, maguro, ika (cuttlefish) and tobiko (flying fish) - fresh and welcoming to the palette! We braced ourselves for the avalanche of sushi soon to come.

After almost 2 hours, we had ...

{ Ebikko, Aburi Unagi, Aburi Salmon }

We particularly loved all the aburi sushi that was served (with a twinkle in the chef's eye I swear). This was especially memorable - the flavours of blow-torched shrimp with a dollop of mentaiko is heavenly!

{ Aburi Ama-ebi with Mentaiko }

(Un)fortunately neither of us went into a seizure after eating blowfish. Was quite meh actually - I prefer the bak kwa version I had at Shin Yuu :P

I had heard that fugu sashimi had a mild sweet taste but this was a little tasteless honestly. Maybe it was due to how hard I was clenching to my seat while eating this.

{ Abalone, Aburi Saba, Fugu (Blowfish) }

We had that glazy fatty salmon sushi sitting on our plates for a while before we popped the sucker into our mouths. In a momentary instant of sheer joy, i was like " ... FUCK! THIS IS SALMON BELLEH". Good lord, it MELTS in your mouth with all that glorious fattttttttt and Omega 3. Fantastic.

We had a short discussion with the chef about why tuna toro is so much more expensive than salmon toro - apparently because tuna is caught in the sea (and is dolphin-unfriendly) and thus is in short supply, whereas salmon can be reared. Hmm!

{ Aburi Tai (Sea bream), Unagi Handroll, Crab leg, Salmon Toro }

Right after the salmon belly ...

Chef : "How? Want some more?"
Us : "Ya, but I think after the salmon belly, nothing you give me can taste better"
Chef : "Realllyyyyyy ..."

He proceeded to prepare some mekajiki (swordfish) slices. As we had had bad aburi mekajiki before, we told him we wanted it raw, but he reassured us that his rendition is unlike anything we've eaten. So ... okay. After the aburiration, mystery topping and furikake, it was YUM - way better than the crappy one that we've had.

{ Aburi Mekajiki, Tobiko, Aji (horse mackerel) }

Continuing to outdo himself, we told the chef that we'd never had torched tuna before. He gave us an incredulous look and then promptly introduced the element of fire onto this fish. He then topped it off with miso paste. OH MAN THIS IS GREAT STUFF *weeps*

{ Aburi Maguro }

Beyond these we also had another 6 or 7 undocumented sushi - which brought the total count to 22 each - a chawanmushi to share (which was yum), and an oden. For a final bill of $29++ per pax for weekday lunch, I don't know how much better it can get!

The chef was brilliant, funny and entertaining, and sticks by his principle of japanese cuisine (insisting sushi should be eaten whole rather than in portions). It was a fabulous experience, and we will definitely continue supporting such small establishments.

HGW Link : http://www.hungrygowhere.com/singapore/sushi_kikuzawa/
Rating (out of 4) :