Nagae - Lunch

Nagae is a Japanese restaurant located at Waterfront plaza. It serves affordable set lunches (though I think dinner can be quite expensive). It's exactly like some of the smaller, more traditional Japanese restaurants with a woody interior, and the servers/waitresses even wear kimonos.

I got myself a Yakisakana Teishoku with Mackerel ($18++)

It's priced differently, depending on the kind of fish you order - Salmon ($18++), and Cod ($27++). I really like grilled mackerel and it's my default choice when ordering grilled fish at any Japanese/Korean restaurant.

The mackerel here was perfectly grilled, without any burnt parts, but yet the skin was crispy and brittle. The flesh was firm and it wasn't dry. The mackerel is completely de-boned, so no need to worry about picking through the fish and removing the bones. I particularly enjoyed the fatty belly part (which is usually very tedious to eat because of the many bones), and it tastes better when smeared with the grated radish as the bland, watery radish reduces the oily taste.

(And if you're wondering - no, I don't squeeze the lemon over my fish).

Two thick pieces of fatty salmon sashimi. Glides down the throat... ahhhhh! (Sounds familiar Annalisa? :P)Chawanmushi - with mushrooms and a slice of fish cake.
The full set (missing the chawanmushi). Not bad for $18++.

The miso soup has lots of ladies finger slices, and it was pretty weird because it made the soup quite slimy (I drank it up anyway). It's not very salty, and there were some cubes of tofu in it. I quite liked the long beans marinated in miso sauce, but the brown appetiser (between the sashimi and the rock melon) was quite unidentifiable and forgettable. The rice is the pearly looking, glossy rice, which is my favourite kind of rice. The rock melon was intensely sweet, and it was a satisfying way to end the scrumptious meal.The Nagae Natto Teishoku ($23++) which comes with the same sides as my mackerel set. When we ordered this, the server asked if we had tried natto before, since it's an acquired taste. Great especially for people who haven't tried it before, since an unsuspecting diner might have a horrid lunch experience eating the gooey, coffee smelling musucy mess that natto becomes after stirring.

There's strips of raw tuna, raw squid, ladies fingers, wild Japanese yam, prettily arranged over a heap of natto with a raw quail's egg in the middle. Since the last three ingredients are naturally gooey (or mucusy, whichever way you prefer to think), lots of slime is produced whilst mixing the ingredients together. It's a healthy (no oil at all!), nutritious meal when topped over steaming Japanese rice.

Overall, the dining experience was very pleasant, with green tea and iced water being topped up regularly. It's also not very crowded, so it's a nice place to relax, especially since there's such a nice view of the river. The restaurant has a few al fresco tables overlooking the river for people who appreciate outdoor dining.

Part of their menu - I think their cheapest set is the Oyako don for $12++. They also serve noodles (udon and soba).

Nagae
392 Havelock Road

#01-02 Waterfront Plaza
Tel: +65 6737 1708