Akashi Orchard Parade Hotel

This restaurant has been around for a long time and has garnered quite a huge following! My family and I were there on a Saturday night and boy was it bustling with people! There were so many regular customers who knew the chefs and the wait staff very well and many expats too. The table turnaround time was so quick! People left, clean up, and its filled again.

After a meal at this restaurant, I can understand why. If you're looking for a bustling, relatively wallet friendly, good friendly service, and quite yummy food, then this is definitely the place. But if you want a nice quiet cosy place, this is definitely a no-no, especially on weekends!!

Here's what we had: 

Edamame

Now I'm definitely a fan of this but do yknow how much this costs? $4! And its served to you when you sit down so yes, that's all I have to say.

Appetisers

Now this is also served to you once you sit down, one per pax, and guess how much this is? $5! A mushroom, 2 carrots and a small piece of meat. Marinated in Jap wine I think, its slightly on the sweet side.

Scallop Sashimi

This was quite fresh! And there are many textures to this dish :) The top layer was mmm like the usual scallop kind of texture, but the middle layer (the slightly brownish one) was sooooo soft omg. Wonderful texture! The bottom layer was SO crunchy!!! The different textures made this sashimi a rather enjoyable one 4.5/5

Tamago

I didnt fancy this at all. Barely any taste, a little too dry for me, meh. 2/5

Fugu

aka pufferfish

This was nice, one of the better ones I've had. This is reminiscent of bak kwa, but this has a slightly different taste! Savour it slowly in your mouth and you'd find this slight sweetness to it. Its also a bit sticky but that's how it is. 4.4/5

Assorted Sashimi

Now this was the result of my Dad and I going to the sushi counter to see what's available. We didnt really like the selection of fish 'cos we've tried 'em before and are quite normal (salmon, swordfish, aji, kinki, etc) so we just ordered toro, think it was chutoro? Then akagai, geoduck, and this other clam which I'm not sure of. Oh and the uni below!

The toro was quite good, fatty slab that tastes just like mmm rich fish oil in your mouth, no fibres, quite easy to swallow and chew. Akagai wasn't that good, not that sweet/fresh. Geoduck was not bad, crunchy and sweet. The other clam was q ok too. 4/5

Uni Sashimi

Sadly the uni didnt fare as well. Some tasted bad, while some were ok. Think it was more bearable when wrapped w seaweed. This definitely isnt as sweet as some uni I've tasted. 3/5

Assorted tempura

Now this had many diff tempuras! Prawn, sweet potato, mushroom, hugeass onion, salmon (q surprising!), eggplant, not sure if the green one's cucumber or capsicum. But yes quite a variety! The batter was q thin, nicely fried, not bad! 4/5

Unagi

I LOVED this unagi!!!! Think its one of the best I've eaten so far!! The meat was so soft it just falls of like that and you don't need much chewing and you're done! My mouth is totally watering now as I remember the tastes and the textures of this dish. The sauce isnt too sweet, coats it nicely and well such that each bite is a mixture of the soft slightly sweet-fleshed unagi. We all agreed this was a good dish! I'd say, TRY THIS IF YOU'RE AN UNAGI FAN!! 5/5

Miso eggplant

This was okay, not strong miso taste. Quite hard to dig the eggplant out haha. 3.6/5

Soft shell crab

Mom commented that you cant taste anything except for flour 2/5

Uni Foie Gras sushi

This was uh okay, sounds awesome and yummy but taste-wise doesnt work out. Both have too strong flavours and somehow cancel each other out when it enters the mouth. You can barely discern what you're eating though the texture of the whole sushi is REALLY SOFT. 2/5

Cha soba

Donbushi 

aka teapot soup

I've always loved this ever since I first tried it back when I was in primary school at this now-closed Jap restaurant. This one was well simmered, sweet tasting broth with many vegetables and quite a big piece of cod (relative to the size of the teapot) inside! There were small chunks of prawn and chicken too. You pour the soup onto the little "teacup" on top of the teapot in the first pic and that's how you drink it! 4/5

Green tea ice cream (Matcha)

This was not too sweet, luckily! Milky definitely and matcha taste was quite rich. Alright choice if you're green tea fan! 4/5

Yuzu

This was tart and sour, nice end off to a meal!! 4.5/5

Peach (Momo)

This tastes totallyyyyyy like Qoo Peach!!! If you're a fan of that, pls go ahead and order this! Q fragrant :) 4/5

Goma/Black sesame ice cream

Fans of black sesame ice cream take note!! This is one good scoop! Full of yummy black sesame goodness, true true taste and rich, totally my kind of ice cream :) 4.5/5

I'd say Akashi appeals to people because of the wonderful friendly service, and that most, if not all, speak Chinese there! The food is definitely quite good and prices are reasonable as well. Its certainly not a posh, chi-chi Jap place run by Japanese, speaking mainly Jap, so I guess that appeals to the wider audience too?

Not sure if the other branches are as good, but apparently, this is the best out of all the other branches!

Total spent: $620 something, cant remember the exact price! But do note this is mainly cos of the sashimi which was alr 200 odd!

Akashi Japanese Restaurant

Orchard Parade Hotel