Friday, October 23, 2009

Ootoya

This is perhaps the most celebrated unit at Orchard Central.

With each visit, we observed an ever growing legion of fans queuing outside the restaurant - mostly young folks and stylish working adults. Not to say that this is just a place to be seen or plain happening. The food here is homely good, in my opinion. On our third visit (within the span of 2 weeks) somewhere in July, the waiting list got too long for us and we resorted to a nearby restaurant for dinner instead. It’s now October and if the trend is true, then the waiting list must have gotten even longer and the crowd may have just spilled to the nearby escalator.

It was everything Japanese about this imported teishoku (set meal) chain. Not in a classy Ginza-Roppongi kind of way but it’s what most Japanese eat on a daily basis. Restaurants such as this can be found everywhere in Japan – subway stations, shopping malls, villages, etc. Not on top of Mount Fuji though. Generally, I like them because the food is delicious (disregarding the use of Japan’s national treasure – MSG), the servings are substantial, there’s free drinking water and service is prompt. And we've not begun on the many varieties of condiments! As a foreigner in Japan, the installation of vending machines to ticket orders is helpful in lowering the language barrier. Fun too! No such machine here though.

In comparison, Ootoya is definitely more upscale than the other famous chains like Yoshinoya or Matsuya (a perennial favourite of mine!). In fact, I wouldn’t even put them in the same category. Their dining experience includes a well decorated interior, comfortable seats and attractive utensils. But it doesn't translate to exorbitant prices. Looking at the online menu on their Japanese website, prices are relatively average.

The food. Well, where should I start? My favourite - the fried chicken with sweet and sour sauce. I know what’s on everyone’s mind. Aiyer, Chinese also got sweet and sour dishes like that la. So different meh? Well, yes. The typical tomato-based sauce was replaced with a kurozu sauce made of black vinegar. So, it was sour without being fruity. Got to like the interesting choice of vegetables that went with the meat like lotus roots too. I chose the sweet and sour chicken because it was rated as the top favourite dish (genki) among customers on their Japanese website. The grilled fish was not far behind. We've tried both the atka mackerel and the Alaskan red snapper. The atka mackerel, to us, was more flavourful and firm. By the way, don't underestimate the size of the fish. It's rather huge, even to me. On our second visit, I had the other dish where the picture was superimposed in the menu - the Ootoya Special Dish, which consisted of a piece of croquette, deep-fried chicken and a sunny side up for a smoother bite, I guess. The desserts in the menu looked tempting but luck was never on our side as the bestsellers were always sold out by the time we placed our order. The only dessert we managed to grab was the green tea ice cream parfait. The combination of Japanese sweet potato and matcha ice cream worked well.

Definitely money well-spent, for the quality and quantity of food that we’ve got. It’s good to know that there’s a dependable, reasonably-priced restaurant that serves a slice of tasty, regular Japan that’s nothing of pretense and mediocrity. Now, please expand! And make more desserts!

Fried chicken with sweet and sour kurozu sauce (black vinegar)

Soba

Charcoal grilled minced chicken and herb

Charbroiled Alaskan red snapper

Ootoya Special Dish - croquette/deep-fried chicken/sunny side up

Green tea parfait

Ootoya
#08-12 Orchard Central
Orchard Road
Tel: (+65) 6884 8901

They've visited Ootoya too:
Ice
LiquidShaDow
The Travelling Hungryboy

12 comments:

red fir said...

Finally blogged! I'm so going back.

ai wei said...

a place with long queue? and the best seller desserts always sold out?! that must be a good place with good jap food!!!

Paranoid Android said...

Beautiful food. Wished there was something similar in KL. Impeccable photos, as usual.

"Joe" who is constantly craving said...

i agree with PA, y no such restaurants in KL??

minus the queue of course

Tummythoz said...

U had me at 'free drinking water'.

LiquidShaDow said...

I went back again to try the black vinegar chicken and the chicken balls as well. Didn't blog it. To be fair, the former does taste noticeably different from the regular chinese sweet and sour meat. This was in my opinion a notch better. Croquette was certainly nicer than what I was expecting as well.

His Food Blog said...

Overheard that the Jap chefs are heading back by end of the year.

Hopefully the local chefs can still maintain the same standards. Otherwise, do pay them a 2nd visit before its too late!

qwazymonkey said...

"the installation of vending machines to ticket orders is helpful in lowering the language barrier"

Oooh I missed those things. I remember makan tengah malam every night in Tokyo at these 1-man runned shop. I miss my real japanese grub.

Anyway back to Singaporeans and their queue...why?!?! still don't get it. LOL

Xiu Long Bao said...

What's more: The rice is free flow as well.

I'm more than willing to queue than resorting to substd food. This comes from a tg pgr worker who queues every work day during lunch time.

choi yen said...

Charbroiled Alaskan red snapper seem like quite dry, izzit?

HairyBerry said...

ice, me too! darn the other distractions...lol!

ai wei, it is a great place for good Japanese food! do check it out the next time you are here! :)

paranoid android, thanks for the compliment, bro! that Japanese in plaza damas is kinda good, right? i must check it out one day.

joe, that izakaya something at plaza damas serves good, homey J-food, right? check it out la. i wanna!

tummythoz, i should mention free flow of bonito flakes! ok la, only applies to certain chains...hehe

HairyBerry said...

liquidshadow, i expected the black vinegar sauce to replace the tomato flavour with yuzu. turned out, it was just caramelized black vinegar, which is really distinct. i've yet to try any of the steaks. maybe i shd do that the next time.

his food blog, ahhh, now i remember where i heard about the chefs' departure. haha. it'll be interesting to see if ootoya is consistently good when the locals take charge. i'll sure give it a try.

qwazymonkey, omg, yesssssss! the ramen and okonomiyaki pondoks by the roadside are great. not forgetting those 24 hours fast food chains. on the queues, i guess if it's really really good, it's worth the wait. like how ppl queue up to buy lottery la, i guess...hehehehe.

xiu long bao, oh yeah! i almost forgot about that! free flow of rice. plus the attentive service. i dont mind queueing as long as i think it's worthwhile. unless i hafta go to the toilet la.

mimi, it was actually quite moist. but compared to the mackerel, it has a slightly fishy smell and the meat's rather chewy. the mackerel rules! :)