With so many of my new feeds featuring this Impressive Modern Japanese Dining Eating place in Marina Bay Sands, I'm kind of shaken to visit it. Making reservations was not easy either, it took us a month to have booked a seat from KOMA for a weekend slot.
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| Koma |
KOMA, an original concept from TAO Group, is a Japanese restaurant and sushi bar offering a modern interpretation of Japanese cuisine. We make our entrance through the distinct 20m passageway into the holding area. These orange arches are reminiscent of the famous rows of Torri Gates of Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto.
Good news for Sake Lovers, this restaurant also comprises both bar and lounge that serves an extensive selection of over 30 types of sake sourced from across Japan.
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| Holding Area |
As we strolled into the restaurant, walking over the traditional Japanese footbridge with the gigantic 2.5m Japanese Bronze Bell hanging, overlooking the reflective pond. The first step into the 230 seat restaurant, including bar and lounge was breathtaking. For all i know, this stunning environment was thoughtfully designed by reowned Amercian from Rockwell Group.
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| Japanese Food Bridge |
The interior was gorgeous and the designs were dramatic. The voluptuous and oversized lanterns were part of the ornaments that gave the restaurant that WOW Factor.
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| Take my breath away |
The soaring high ceiling was adorned with modern Japanese decorations and if you notice, there is a private dining area at the mezzanine and an oversize sushi bar below it.
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| An overview view from the spiral stairs |
Zooming into the semi-private dining area located on the mezzanine floor: it offers both a wide view of the lower floor dining area as well as the beautifully decorated air space created.
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| Private Dining Area at the Mezzanine |
This private dining room definitely stands up on its own to provide a different level of environment for the diners' gathering.
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| An overview of the Restaurant from the Private Dining Area at the Mezzanine |
Glass owls were placed at some parts of KOMA too. These Owls represent good luck and is considered auspicious character in Japanese Culture.
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| Wide View from the Japanese Foot Bridge |
Look at the lovely hand folded cranes, let's make a guess what are they for?
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| Origami Cranes |
Have you guessed them right?
Skipping the conventional use of chopsticks rest, Koma has replaced them by using the hand-folded traditional Japanese origami cranes.
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| Unconventional Way of Chopstick Rest |
We ordered a 3-course Lunch Set at $68 ++ per pax and since we are in a group of 4, we get to try 4 different kind of items each from the courses.
Appetizers
The Crispy Chicken is a version of Chicken Karaage coated with crispy rice and sprinkled with some truffle oil. The tomato ponzu dipping sauce aids in elevating its taste. These chicken was placed on a bed of crispy rice too that added color contrast on the dish, thus enhancing the presentation of the dish.
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| Crispy Chicken |
The Agedashi Tofu was served with half immersing in umadashi sauce and these 2 blocks of Tofu were stacked with crispy fried eel, topped with grated radish as well as spring onion, not forgetting the Hot Spring Egg that is "swimming" in the sauce too.
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| Agedashi Tofu & Eel with Hot Spring Egg |
Thin strips of beef were served in Yuzu Ponzu, sesame oil and topped with shredded scallion, green chilli, finished off by sprinkling some roasted sesame seeds. Love such simplicity yet addictive to the palates with its zesty taste that excites one for more.
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| Wagyu Beef Tataki |
Here's what you have from the assortment: Eggplant, cauliflower, sweet potato and shrimp. This tempura was perfectly fried without leaving you any greasiness. Radish and tempura dipping sauce were provided for the pairing.
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| Assorted Tempura |
A LA Carte
We ordered some ala carte orders on top of our usual 3 courses meal.
These Crispy Tokyo Gyoza was made up of chicken, cabbage as well as miso served with a sauce that reminds me of Korean Bean paste.
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| Crispy Tokyo Gyoza - $12 |
It comes in a plate of 5 and slightly charred at the sides of the gyoza skin. A good point was that it was not oily.
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| Charred Gyoza Skin |
Apart from the Gyoza, we ordered skewers from their Robata Grill menu. Generally the skewers were pretty decent.
Shitake Mushrooms were coated with Kabayaki sauce and sprinkled with bonito flakes while Negima refers to Chicken thigh with Tokyo negi (leeks). The asparagus remained its juiciness with hints of salt and peppery taste. For the Unagi, it was coated with Kabayaki sauce coupled with Japanese sansho as its condiments. Last but not least, the grilled lamb chop was good to go with the cilantro and mint sauce.
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| Skewers - Shitake $8, Negima $9, Asparagus $9, Unagi $15, Lamb Chop $20 |
Main Course
All main courses come with rice in our Lunch Set Menu and using the Japanese Rice, this fried rice dish had the presence of aromatic Truffle perfume. The dish was then decorated by the lush greens from the broccoli and brown mushrooms stems.
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| Truffle Fried Rice |
Truffle Fried Rice set was completed with a bowl of Miso Soup.
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| Miso Soup |
It won't go wrong ordering their Miso Marinated Black Cod as main dish pairing with the bowl of white steamed rice. The tasty use of burnt Jalapeno vinaigrette accompanied by the refreshing fresh beets and charred edges of the Cod made a delighting dish.
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| Miso Marinated Black Cod 2 Pieces |
I'm a fish lover and this Pan Seared Barramundi was well served with its top layer of crispy fish skin coupled with Sansho sauce, decked up by a bed of beansprouts and green dragon vegetables. Yums!
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| Pan Seared Barramundi |
While the last Main Dish we had was the Korean kind of Barbecued Beef Short Rib that was served with korean big head beansprouts. The short ribs were cut into uniform strips and were well marinated.
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| Barbecued Beef Short Rib |
Enjoy the Beef Short Ribs by doing the korean way of wrapping them with the refreshing gem lettuce and big head beansprouts. A dash of kojijan (Korean Fermented Condiment) would make your experience on this dish complete.
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| Wrapping In Gem Lettuce |
Desserts
The last course of our meal was exciting too while we got flabbergasted by the creation of these desserts.
While the Menu offers 3 standard kinds of desserts, one of our dessert item was repeated.
The Japanese Cheese Cake was light tasting with bottom made up by biscuits crumbs, an indication of the usual old school digestive biscuits. While the top portion was embellished by attractive bright colors from slices of strawberries not forgetting the accompanying raspberry sorbet and sauce which perked up our last dish!
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| Japanese Cheese Cake |
Impressive creation where everything on the plate is edible including the pot. This dessert is an illustration of the Bonsai plant, made up by molten dark chocolate, sponge cake, a scoop of Vanilla ice cream and crunchy praline. The chocolate was both rich and bitter while the sweetness from scoop of Vanilla ice cream blends in well altogether.
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| Bonsai |
Summing up our meal courses, Staff of Koma had combined 2 desserts (Lemon Yuzu & Bonsai) onto a plate with their welcome message. If you are wondering how do they expect us to eat the entire lemon, you are tricked by their aesthetic looking dish too.
The Lemon Ponzu was artistically created exactly like a raw lemon. Crack open into the lemon to find luscious lemon mousse and mix them together to the yuzu jam and cacao crumble. The citrus gave a spike to our taste buds and the chilly ice makes the combination wonderful.
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| Welcoming to Koma with 2 kinds of Desserts (Lemon Yuzu and Bonsai) |
The trip to Koma was spectacular and upon entrance, it gave diners a feel of being instantly transported to Kyoto at the instance. While the place is instagrammable, do take more pictures when you are there. Food is decent and the tweaking of food recipe gives bits of surprise to the diner. If you like little surprises, you will enjoy their food apart from their astounding environment.
If you are celebrating an occasion or bringing your date there, do remember to make reservations in advance.
Rating: 4 .25 / 5
Koma
Location: Marina Bay Sands , 2 Bayfront Avenue, #B1-67 Singapore 018972
Website
