Mozuku is an acquired taste and something that’s not commonly found in Singapore. It has a light flavour that’s actually quite mild and pleasant, but its slimy texture can sometimes put people off.
I’ve had it occasionally in izakayas and sushiyas in Japan before; marinated in ponzu and served as an appetiser. The acidity acts as a palate cleanser, just before what is usually a delightful meal of sashimi and sushi.
When we heard that En Dining was offering a seasonal autumn menu featuring mozuku, we were quite intrigued. Since the special menu was only available until the end of November, we promptly made a lunch reservation and headed down to Capitol Tower.
In the olden days, it would probably have been packed with the lunch crowd from offices along Shenton Way, but we live in extraordinary times and it was eerily quiet. Not just within the restaurant, but also throughout the surrounding central business district.
The interior felt very spacious, especially with the glass walls looking out into the pedestrian walkway and the super high ceilings. A wide range of sake bottles were displayed on top of the bar counter, sorely tempting me, but I successfully resisted.
We were here for the mozuku, and the seasonal menu didn’t disappoint. In addition to the vinegary mozukusu, there was also mozuku okonomiyaki and mozuku tempura. Basically, if it had the word mozuku in it, we ordered it.
The aburi scallop carpaccio also caught our eye, and even though we were slightly skeptical about the freshness of the hotate sashimi itself, we figured that the combination of light-searing and yuzu (!) dressing would drown out any fishiness.
One thing led to another and we ended up ordering the buri sashimi and the assorted sushi & sashimi lunch set to share. The photo of the thickly-cut buri sashimi looked quite appetising, made even more attractive by the wallet-friendly price.
Since there weren’t many customers, the food was served quickly, with the Mozukusu arriving first. As expected, it was cold, tart and slippery, and definitely helped open up our palates. It could have been more vinegary though, but it was a close enough rendition of what you’d get in Japan.
The Buri Sashimi came next, and we were pleasantly surprised at how close it resembled the menu photo.
Five generously-cut pieces sat on top of a shiso leaf and some wakame, which in turn sat on top of a mound of crushed ice. A half-slice of lemon and a blob of wasabi paste (more likely horseradish dyed green) completed the presentation.
When it comes to sashimi in Singapore, our expectations are always kept low, given how far the fresh fish has to fly to reach the country. The good stuff is always saved for restaurants in Japan, such as Kai (すし処 會) in Todoroki, Ajisen (肴や味泉) in Tsukishima or Sushi Sei (築地寿司清) in Tsukiji.
For sashimi that’s exported to Singapore, the highest quality is naturally reserved for high-end (a.k.a. crazy expensive) Japanese omakase restaurants with menus that start from S$300 per person.
I’m going by assumption that they’re as good as what you’d get in Tokyo, but at those prices, there’s no way I’m stepping in to find out first-hand!
Related posts
So we were really surprised when we took our first bites of the buri sashimi. It was fresh, meaty, fatty and full-flavoured, nothing like what we were expecting at all, especially at the $10 per plate price point.
I checked out the menu again, zooming in on the sashimi section, and started thinking about what to order the next time. The lunch selection was smaller but cheaper, and I would definitely want to try the tai, hotate and buri (again).
The dinner sashimi menu was more extensive but also more expensive, and had prices for tuna (akami, chutoro and otoro) and uni that were very much higher. Guess we’ll be coming back for lunch and not dinner.
As I was studying the menu, our waitress served the Mozuku Okonomiyaki on a black slate. It was cut into neat bite-sized pieces with a spicy soy dipping sauce on the side, and looked nothing like the okonomiyakis that we’ve had before.
The use of mozuku in the filling was no doubt interesting, and the main reason we were here in the first place, but it didn’t stand out and didn’t improve on the classic okonomiyaki recipe.
Similarly with the Mozuku and Goya Champuru Tempura, where the mozuku could be clearly seen and not quite tasted. In fact, the dominant flavours were the sticks of spam and the sliced goya, which I diligently fished out and passed to The Wife.
Because goya is bittergourd, and bittergourd is my sworn enemy.
So far, the mozuku-themed dishes were quite disappointing, but thankfully, we had ordered the Aburi Scallops Japanese Carpaccio. The lightly-seared pieces of hotate were delicious, especially when coated with the yuzu dressing.
The thin slices of cucumber and slivers of wakame seaweed added a nice texture contrast to the Japanese-Italian fusion creation. After devouring the entire plate, it made us even more determined to come back to try their hotate sashimi.
Our Sushi & Sashimi Set was the last to arrive, and we had to shuffle dishes around to accommodate the large tray of food on the table. Given the positive experience with the buri and hotate, I had raised my expectations for the assorted sushi and sashimi selection. But what goes up must come down.
The salmon was okay and the prawns were not bad, but the tuna akami was mushy and borderline flavourless. Both the anago and mekajiki were fishy and the scallop used for the sushi was the dried version.
Luckily they were happy to refill our gari when we asked, and the pickled ginger helped to counteract some of the lingering fishiness. The sweetness from the small slab of tamagoyaki was also useful in balancing out the aftertaste.
To be fair, if we had this set lunch first, it would have been totally fine and par for the course in terms of casual dining Japanese restaurants in Singapore. Unfortunately, the buri and hotate had raised the bar, and their usual menu couldn’t quite keep up.
So, would we go back to En Dining?
Most definitely yes, and especially for their ala-carte buri and hotate sashimi. But we’ll probably tread carefully with their other menu items, and maybe try out their meat dishes instead.
