Thursday, February 19, 2009

Nara Japanese Restaurant

Appetiser - my sister stole more than half from me cos she was hungry :/Wasabi and Crab Tofu ($4++), pictured in the background

The crab tofu is battered and fried until golden brown, and has a huge dollop of wasabi mayonnaise and tasty morsels of crab meat. The wasabi here isn't too strong, and tastes more sweetish than anything else. Pretty good for a warm starter. Pitan Tofu ($4++) comes coated in the blackish goo of century egg. For century egg lovers, this is delicious, paired with the slightly salty flyingfish roe. The bland tasting tofu goes incredibly well with the piquant taste of century egg and crunchy roe.

Nara's Speciality sushi roll ($20++)

It's more expensive than the other makis because it comes with anago, which is salt water eels. It's different from the normal freshwater eel (unagi) that you find in most sushi. Anago is supposed to have a blander taste and is less oily. Also, it's not coated in the sweet brown sauce used for grilling unagi.
Deep Fried Maki ($15++)

Actually, I can't remember the name, just that it has deep fried inside. I didn't quite like this one though. Probably cos I didn't like the batter coating it. It comes with wasabi mayonnaise. We requested for the chef to separate it cos I don't like wasabi. However, it doesn't taste like wasabi, more of a sweetish creamy sauce with a slight hint of wasabi.

It comes with avocado, tamago (egg), crabstick and crunchy cucumbers. Very much like the califonia handroll, just that it's deep fried. Califonia Maki ($15++)

One of my more favourite sushis, even though it doesn't have any raw fish in it. It's actually created for the American market, where avocado was substituted for tuna (this piece of trivia is from Wikipedia btw). The califonia maki is coated in a generous layer of roe, unlike the kind you buy from Iseatan supermarket, where they are v stingy.


This is a teriyaki squid (can't remember price, but it's aroudn $9). It's pretty well done, with just the right amount of teriyaki sauce so that it's tasty and yet not too salty, and the squid was cooked just right so that it was chewy but not hard.
Complimentary fruits.
(actually I think i should give it 3.5 stars but I'm outside now and i don't have my stars with me. I'll edit it when I go home). Nara also has some set lunches ranging from around $12-$20. I haven't tried any of those though. The sushi that I ordered also comes in half portions, for people who want to try a greater variety. I'm definitely going to come back to try more stuff from their menu. I think this is a perfect place for people who like Japanese food, and yet don't like eating raw stuff. It's pretty empty during lunches, so I dont think you'll need to book.

Nara Japanese Restaurant 奈良
167 Thomson Road
Goldhill Centre
Tel: 6256 6568

1 comment:

red fir said...

I like the maki rolls here. Pidan tofu is really one of the better ones around, I think it's even better than Akashi's.