Felt like eating sashimi. Good sashimi.
So, we went to UOUO. It's the place to go for good sashimi.
UOUO (魚王魚王)
Located in: Sunshine Plaza
91, 01-18 Bencoolen St, 19/20 Sunshine Plaza, 189652
Now, I'm really not affiliated to this restaurant or anything, but honestly quite surprised at the bad reviews of this restaurant on Facebook and Google.
My Japanese ex-boss introduced this restaurant to me, and I've been going there ever since. It's a good restaurant at a very reasonable price.
Maybe it's what you order? Maybe Singaporeans are surprised by the "otoushi" (appetizer) fees of $4 SGD which is a standard in Japan. Maybe some bad reviews driven by competitors? I don't know.
But in the eyes of a "Japanese Guru" (or on the tongue rather!), this is a place to go for good Sashimi.
Let's get right into it!
Appetizer, or Otoushi.
Wow.
It's shirako-ponzu (Cod Milt with Ponzu Sauce).
Usually it would be an edamame or some other simple dish. And I don't mind edamame at all. I actually really like it. But I must say I'm pretty lucky today to get shirako-ponzu as the "Otoushi" dish.
How's the taste?
I'd say it's a decent shirako-ponzu. I prefer it with stronger ponzu in the sauce.
Really fresh and quality shirako don't have any fishiness, but that's very hard to find in Singapore. This one I wouldn't say is at that level, but the fishiness was minimal.
I would guess that when they have shirako-ponzu stock that aren't moving fast enough, they're using them as appetizers before they go bad.
Nonetheless, very happy to have such a surprise dish for my otoushi.
The Sashimi Platter.
The main event.
We went for the 6 Piece Sashimi Platter. Which I always go for (unless there's more people and we can go for the 9 piece)
The price is $39.8, but if everyone in the table orders alcohol, you can get it for SGD $19.8. This is a huge discount obviously. (BTW I drank two alcoholic drinks because one of us was not a drinker, and yes I was able to get away with that)
I also ALWAYS go for the option to take the remains to make fish miso soup after you're done eating. This is SGD $7.8
I really suggest you do.
Look at this. This for $19.8?
Where can you possibly beat this?
From top to bottom, left to right:
Iwashi (Sardines)
Ebi (Shrimp)
Maguro (Tuna)
Salmon
Fuedai (Star Snapper)
Shime-saba (Vinegared Mackerel)
And I think some of these change depending on availability.
Let's go one by one.
The Iwashi.
Magnificent.
You'll really like this if you like blue fish sashimi. Super fatty. Fantastic umami and sweetness. The thing about blue-fish is that it gets "fishy" really fast. This type of fish is a headache for sushi restaurants or izakayas because of that.
This one has none of that fishiness. It means that it's fresh, and it's been stored and maintained expertly. You just don't find Iwashi sashimi of this quality anywhere.
You'll get some edible bones here and there. Which I like as well. But it might be unusual to some of you.
If there's someone in your group that wants to avoid the bones, I suggest that person eating the middle parts (instead of the tail end of the fish).
Also the Ebi in the picture. Superbly delicous.
Rich and tasty. As if it melts into your mouth.
Very less muddy and fishy, which are obviously signs of a quality ebi.
The Fuedai.
Delicious.
By nature, doesn't have the fattiness of the Iwashi.
It's more of a clear, white-meat-fish taste. Many white-meat-fish will have a blur or foggy taste if you know what I mean. It's not as defined as some of the other meat types because it has less oil.
But this one has a defined taste. Great texture as well. I really like this fue-dai.
Tuna.
Might have a little bit of chu-toro? It's definitely not completely red.
It's red enough to really enjoy the taste of the Maguro meat. It's striking a balance I really like.
When the Maguro gets too fatty, you loose the red fish meat taste. (Although it's more expensive!) When it gets too red, it becomes a bit dry.
This blend of fattiness and red meat is really perfect. You can enjoy the taste of the maguro as it dissolves and transitions into the fatty aspects of the meat.
It's perfect.
And of course, no fishiness at all.
Salmon.
How can you go wrong with Salmon. But this is a nice one as well.
I won't spend too much reviewing this.
So, next.
Shime-Saba.
It's the vinegared mackerel.
Mackerel is another blue-fish. And this one is especially famous for difficult maintenance.
The body of the Mackerel starts to break down immediately after it dies. That's why it can get fishy really quick.
The 'Shime saba' dish was originally a way to help preserve the Mackerel before it gets bad. So that's what this is.
This dish is nice as well.
Actually, the raw saba is one of my favorite sashimi dishes, but as mentioned above, that one's very difficult to maintain the quality of. I guess it's inevitable they use the shime-saba here instead of the raw.
Now we take the remains and make some miso fish soup.
You can see some parts of the Ebi and Iwashi floating inside the soup.
It's a fantastic, heartwarming and healthy miso soup.
Very brothy. Very strong bonito-flake broth and taste. Might be a hint of ginger inside.
Interesting thing is that the taste changes depending on the type of remains you have. Last time I didn't have Ebi, but this time I do. And I can tell the Ebi effecting the taste.
So let's have it served.
I mean, how can you go wrong with this?? Yummy!!
It's really a match made in heaven with the sashimi. Sashimi tend to be cold and relatively contained in terms of taste. However, by adding this soup to your order, it adds a warm, soupy, rich element to the overall menu.
It's a perfect conversation.
I actually also wanted to go for the Sanma Sashimi, but unfortunately I'm already at my Sashimi capacity. That'll have to wait.
Chikuwa no Isobeage (Deep Fried Chikuwa with seeweed)
$7.8
Need something other than Sashimi too. So went for this.
Chikuwa no Isobeage is one of those dishes that's hard to do bad at. It's a solid and safe choice for most izakayas.
Chikuwa is a fish-cake, and it's deep fried with seaweed flakes. The seaweed flakes are really nice giving it that "nori" scent.
Dip it in dashi before you eat.
This dashi is actually on the very sweet end of the "dashi" spectrum. I personally don't mind if it's a little less sweet, but still is nice.
It's a nice izakaya-quality chikuwa-no-isobeage.
Oroshi-ponzu gyoza (6 pieces)
SGD $8.8
Last item for today.
Didn't go for the normal Gyoza. Instead, went for the oroshi-ponzu gyoza.
Oroshi-ponzu of course is grated radish in ponzu sauce. It blends with gyoza well to give it a refreshing taste.
It's delicious.
The black burnt part of the gyoza is not the skin, but rather the sauce on the pan that is intentionally burned while you cook. It's a common way to add a crunchiness and smokiness to the gyoza.
The inside is juicy with strong taste. Strong garlic in pork. Very nice.
I enjoyed my dinner at UOUO as always.
The name UOUO (魚王魚王) translates to "fish king fish king"! And king of fish this restaurant indeed is.
Guru Rating
for the Sashimi Platter: 9.5/10
Extremely high rating. Fantastic quality and fish selection for a very reasonable price especially if you drink. Yes I would go again, and yes I have been recommending this restaurant and dish to many people already.
for the Chikuwa-no-Isobeage: 8.1 / 10
Yes I would recommend this as well. I've ordered this 3 times already. It adds a nice balance to the sashimi.
for the Gyoza: 7.6 / 10
I'd eat this for myself. I may recommend this to people as well.
for the Izakaya: 9.1/10
UOUO is an Izakaya that I really recommend. It has great sashimi, a great variation of sake, and that nice Izakaya feel.
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