The "fruits" finally met up for a dinner gathering after a couple of months. Full attendance for the first time in what? 2 years? The last time we all caught up in the FYP group was at Mandarin Oriental where we had the superb hi-tea at Axis. Since then L and i have had our defunct monthly indulgence, the girls and our weekend Malacca food trip and ADC bitched over brunch at FfT. So yay! We finally managed to find time in our busy schedules (them not me!) to have dinner at Shabu No Koya which is located at Liang Court.
I like to hang out in the Clarke Quay area (not for drinks but for all the awesome Japanese food) and Liang Court has been one of my favorite hangouts because of Meidi-ya. Did i mention how i love supermarket shopping (especially Japanese ones)? :)) There is also the Trung Nyugen Coffee place which serves up quite a decent Viet coffee, Tampopo ramen and the list goes on. The point is, i was always too distracted to check out the other eateries and surprisingly the basement level has a lot more to offer these days. One of which is Shabu No Koya.
If not for Groupon, the probability of dining here is close to zero. Even though i am quite skeptical about some of these establishments that are advertised with these discount groups, what's the harm when we are only paying $14 for Ribeye Beef shabu shabu right? As the evening progressed, it turns out that it was indeed a good deal for us.
Shabu No Koya specializes in Kaminabe (paper pot steamboat). For $14, you get a veg platter with japanese mushrooms, beancurd, lots of cabbage and udon. We were pretty amazed by the paper pots and we only discovered the mystery behind the cooking at the end of dinner.
The dashi (fish stock) soup base was pretty bland at the start because we haven't added in the meat. It became very flavorful towards the end due to the essence of the beef (and fats...)
This was what we came for. Thinly sliced ribeye beef fillet. This is a portion for 2 and it seemed pretty meagre when it was first served. This was despite the fact that each slice of beef was bigger than the size of my face.
Call me greedy but nobody eats shabu shabu for the veg. It's always for the meat. And i'm a self confessed carnivore. I wasn't very happy at the start till we started on our meal proper. By the 2nd slice i was kinda filling up and was thoroughly stuffed after 4 slices of beef (with plenty of veg, udon and RICE!). Was carbo loading unknowingly because the ponzu sauce (a citrus based sauce) for the meat was so appetizing. The mix of vinegar, soy, mirin and citrus helped whet our appetite and we started making after-dinner food plans during our meal!
Other dishes we ordered were the tamago tofu which was silky smooth. It's about $6 for 3 small pieces. Quite a miserable serving.
Gyoza comes highly recommended! Unlike the usual pastry, Shabu No Koya uses a puff pastry (same sort as the epok epok or curry puff) which was light and crisp. Each bite was a celebration of flavors. Think juicy sweet and savory minced meat with spring onion dancing with the crunchy buttery crust in your mouth. Ahh.. lovely. 5 for $8 if i didn't remember wrongly.
The normal prices are not very pricey and i think i'd still pay the normal price to dine here. I suppose they should have some lunch sets too. Anyway after eating SS with the fruits, i had another SS craving a few days later and S and i ended up having it for lunch. Post up soon!
Shabu No Koya
177 River Valley Road, Liang Court B1-03/05
Tel: +65 6337 7856
Weekdays: 11.30am - 2.30pm, 6 - 9.30pm
Weekends: 11.30am - 9.30pm