The Hungry (Greedy) Hippo: Tomo Japanese Restaurant

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Tomo Japanese Restaurant

On the recommendation of an ex-classmate who had told me about the good lunch sets, I decided to try out Tomo. I had earlier read many reviews from many other food bloggers who have already raved about the sashimi, sushi and omakase sets, so it wasn't a difficult decision to make.

If you're thinking of checking it out on the internet, ignore the website that tells you Tomo is no longer in business and to go to Hokkaido Sushi at M Hotel instead, as this is apparently due to some dispute between the business partners. Tomo is kicking and alive, as of today.

The restaurant is tucked away in a corner of Marina Square, facing Raffles Link and Suntec City. They have a lunch set menu, as well as a normal menu. No guesses as to which is better value for money. My friend had told me that all the $18.80 sets were going for $14. This isn't written anywhere, but the waitress confirmed it when I asked her.

The restaurant was completely empty when we got there on a Sunday at 12pm. This alarmed us a bit.

After ordering, we were given a bowl of raw veggies and miso dip to share. This was a nice beginning to the meal. We were even happier to find out after the meal that it was free of charge, since some places give it to you silently and then add it to your bill afterwards.

Many of their a la carte items were on offer, including botan ebi sashimi, ama ebi sashimi, and hotate sashimi. We ordered the hotate sashimi for $10 (marked down from $25). Most of these items are now between $6 and $12, which is pretty good value.