Starter which was some deep fried pork in a vinegared sauce with shredded onions and carrots.
Out of curiosity, I decided to be adventurous and try the Syuto and Cream Cheese ($9). It comprises of salted skipjack tuna guts with cream cheese. Having head about eating all the fish ovary and sperm and dunno-what-nots sashimi from C & K, I decided that guts didn't sound so bad (since Im fine with eating all those intestine things from pigs and chickens). But boy was I wrong about ordering this - the tuna guts reeked of something that reminded me of blea chan, and they were so intensely salty that it made my taste buds shrivel from osmosis alone. Unfortunately, and very sadly we all concluded that the best part of the dish was the cream cheese.
My main was the Hotate and Potato Mentaiko Mayo-Yaki ($15++), which is a perfect portion for those carbo conscious people. The sauce was creamy enough, with the salty mentaiko blended in, and covered in a bubbly layer of baked cheese. There were at least 5 pieces of small scallops inside my dish. However, these scallops aren't the very super fresh kind that you'll find in more expensive restaurants - these were not sweet or juicy. Perhaps it's because this is an izakaya? Of course, the small portion left me hungry for more and hence I ordered the pork omelet.
This is the Mentaiko Spaghetti ($19). I personally don't quite like Mentaiko Spaghetti, because the sauce is somewhat too watery for my taste. Then again, I'm no expert in this field, the only other Mentaiko Spaghettis I've tried are from Satsuma and Waraku Pasta. The sauce was tasty indeed, and the noodles were al dente.
The Salmon Ikura Kamameshi ($15++) is their speciality (I suppose it is because there were so many posters on the wall promoting this dish). Though it reminded me of Sun and Moon restaurant (which is synonymous in my food dictionary as iron pot rice), this was pretty good with the rice being moist and infused with the delicious flavours from the salmon. The salmon was tender and juicy, and the vivid orange of the fish roe looked very pretty alongside the green beans and pale salmon. This dish takes pretty long to come - I was done with my main course before this was even served, which bugged me somewhat. Usually, when a dish comes out much later than others, most restaurants will tell you that it'll take slightly longer, or have the time frame in the menu.
My Tonpei-Yaki (can't rem price) - egg omelete with pork and cabbage. I liked this dish because it's the first tonpei-yaki that I've had which has the egg slightly runny, which is how I like my omelet to be done. The egg was soft, without all the brown bits (which come from cooking it too much) and crispy edges (which I really don't like). 
The pork was extremely fatty (great for all the pork fat fans out there) and the whole thing was covered with lots and lots of mayo and sauce - pretty unhealthy despite all the crispy shredded cabbage hidden underneath.
Onsen Tamago ($2++), which essentially, is half boiled egg, just that this one is marinaded already.
My Tonpei-Yaki (can't rem price) - egg omelete with pork and cabbage. I liked this dish because it's the first tonpei-yaki that I've had which has the egg slightly runny, which is how I like my omelet to be done. The egg was soft, without all the brown bits (which come from cooking it too much) and crispy edges (which I really don't like). The pork was extremely fatty (great for all the pork fat fans out there) and the whole thing was covered with lots and lots of mayo and sauce - pretty unhealthy despite all the crispy shredded cabbage hidden underneath.
Onsen Tamago ($2++), which essentially, is half boiled egg, just that this one is marinaded already. 
What really killed my dinner was the dessert - the Ichigo Milk, which was also called the Japanese Ice Kachang. For $5.90++, I was appalled to find that it was just strawberry syrup and a little bit of condensed milk. I was expecting to find at least a sliver of strawberry for decoration. However, the strawberry syrup tasted quite good, and if you don't mind eating ice with lots of syrup and very little condensed milk, this is the perfect dessert for you. 
Somehow, I think I expect too much from izakayas (which are supposed to be homely, cheaper Japanese eateries), but then again, this isn't exactly my idea of cheap.Best of all, the service isn't great - when asked what we would like to drink, we replied green tea (which is the standard drink I take in most Japanese restaurants). And then the server said "green tea is charged per pot". Okaaaaay. So we then observed that other tables had cups (of tea) which were refilled - and on asking the server further, she said "that is ocha, not green tea". Right! She didn't even bother telling us that ocha is not charged for, and expected us to deduce it ourselves. Not exactly my idea of a homely Japanese restaurant.
Anyway, the pict on the right is their cute seasonal menu in a basket.
Tamaya Dining Japanese Cuisine
45 Cuppage Road, Cuppage Terrace
Singapore 229464
Tel: 68353539
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