A spate of Japanese restaurants opening in the past couple of months has given diners here an even better choice of the country’s varied culinary delights.

These include Shabuya in VivoCity, which focuses on shabu-shabu, and Sakae Izakaya in Sentosa, where you can enjoy small bites designed to go with drinks.

But if you are seeking an experience that transports you to cherry blossom land itself, you should dine at the three-week-old Takumi Tokyo in Keppel Marina.

K’s Culinary Planning, a Japanese company that runs 11 restaurants in Tokyo and Yokohama, has delivered a slice of Japan here with its new baby.

The restaurant focuses on two styles of cooking, teppanyaki and robatayaki (charcoal grill). The chefs for both were sent here from Japan, and a number of the serving staff are Japanese too. It’s like entering a mini Japan as a chorus of welcomes greets you in Japanese when you walk in, and I’ve never been bowed to by so many people in a restaurant.

And when the food arrives, you are told that the sashimi is from the renowned Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo.

If you check with the waitress, you will also find out that the sweet potatoes and broad beans come from Japan too.

The restaurant is dominated by two large counters – one for teppanyaki and the other for robatayaki – which are separated by a wooden lattice screen.

There are tables set around the room, but sitting at the counters allows you to watch the chefs at work.

Also, if you sit at the robatayaki counter, the chef serves food to you the traditional way using a wooden paddle as the seats are placed out of hand’s reach away from the burning charcoal.

Prices here are not low but not outrageously high either – at least, not by Japanese restaurant standards.

Before the eatery’s official opening on May 15, it has just three set menus: a Tokyo Teppan Course at $100, an Edo Robata Course at $170 and a Takumi Tokyo Course (a combination of the teppan and robata courses) at $200.

The upcoming a la carte menu offers starters from $15 to meat and seafood items from $30.
I tried both a teppan course and a robata course, and came out slightly in favour of the former.
Both courses started with the same set of appetisers consisting of temari sushi, slices of lightly roasted beef and pickled vegetables.

Temari sushi is rather unusual as it is in the shape of marble-sized balls, with the fish wrapped round the rice. Their small size makes them really neat to eat as you can just pop the whole thing in your mouth.

This was followed by a sashimi platter comprising what is available for the day. I had very fresh slices of sweet scallops and tuna, and glistening pearls of salmon roe.

From here, the dishes for the teppan and robata courses started to differ, albeit in a parallel manner.

For example, next on the teppan course was seasonal vegetable teppanyaki, while it was grilled vegetables for the robata course.

But for my dinner, there was a little mix-up and I got two teppan veggies instead of one of each.
I wasn’t complaining though, because the fried vegetables – sweet potato, mushrooms and broad beans – were so delicious that I was happy not to have to share them with my fellow diner.

The sweet potato was my favourite. It was slim and had a red skin, with soft and sweet flesh. Browned in the pan with just a touch of salt from the mill, it was so delicious that I could well imagine manna tasting like this.

The main item for the teppan course was a choice among premium sirloin steak, kurobuta pork and wagyu beef (which cost an extra $50).

I picked a wagyu called Mayura from Australia. The meat, which was tender and well-marbled, was good but lacked the rich flavours of Japanese Kobe beef, which unfortunately still cannot be imported.

For the robata course, you get to select a fish among the catch of the season.
I had a kinki fish which cost an added $40. But unless you are a fan of this fish, which the Japanese prize for its rich taste, you may want to try something else with no extra charge instead, and this may include a swordfish that has been dried overnight.

Yes, the kinki had a smooth texture and tasted good but there wasn’t much meat on it.

Next up was the rice item.

The teppan-fried garlic rice was very simple – steaming rice fried with crispy bits of minced garlic and a dollop of butter, and seasoned through a few twists of the salt and pepper mills. But that was enough to create bursts of flavour in the mouth.

The appeal of the grilled rice ball for the robata course was more subtle, with the charcoal adding a pleasant aroma to the rice.

Dessert was the same for both courses, comprising a trio of sake granita, green tea ice cream with red bean paste and a slice of cantaloupe.

The granita was intoxicating and refreshing at the same time, while the ice cream was rich in flavour. The cantaloupe, however, was ordinary.

Dining at Takumi Tokyo is unlikely to be an everyday affair for most folks given its prices. But when you get the urge for some truly Japanese flavours, here’s where you can get them without having to board an airplane.

TAKUMI TOKYO
2 Keppel Bay Vista, Marina at Keppel Bay, Tel: 6271-7414
Open: 5.30 to 10.30pm (Tuesdays to Sundays, closed on Mondays)
Food: ****
Service: ***½
Ambience: ***½
Price: Budget from $100 per person