You put something in your mouth & it disintegrates into mystical air. The flavor is extremely palatable, magical & out of your senses. Nothing like bitter, sweet, salty or sour. Definitely more obscure than that. It hovers around pungent, savoury, meaty.... But when you rummage your wordbank for a word, you realize it is empty.
Umami.
That elusive "fifth taste" undefined.
*
Word aside, on birthday eve a friend took me to Liang Court for nouvelle Japanese cuisine opened by the Social House.
Stepping into Umami was like entering a posh bar lounge by mistake. It takes time before anyone can register the lavishly dressed environment with Japanese food. Intimidating at first, but you'll soon warm up in their swanky plush booths & affordable lunch sets ranging from $12 to $25++.
ika, maguro & salmon sashimi
Both of us picked the Assorted Sashimi Umami Style to start off our $25 Premium sets. Out of three seasonal varieties i particularly fancied the tender Maguro for its well-defined grains & fluently gliding layers.
Tamagoyaki, truffle oil & black truffle pieces ($8)
We couldn't resist ordering the Rolled Omelette with Truffle Oil from dinner menu cos i.so.love.tamagoyaki & i.so.love.truffle.oil, so how can the two not unite haha.
The idea was brilliant. I mean, if drizzling truffle oil on scrambled egg can be so agreeable, why not on tamagoyaki? Although Umami's loosely conforming layers were not traits of my ideal TMGY (i loooove sweet fluffy spongy ones), the earthy essences of truffle made it extremely bewitching. It lingered on for a few good hours...
I had Grilled Sanma for main. Check out the lovely presentation... beautiful streaks of fish protruding from an encircled deepfried body. The flesh mushy and oh so fatty~ Comes with rice & a teacup of miso soup.
If you're pining to be filled, go for the Umami Chicken Ramen & Negi Don set. Noodles+rice is the solution for any hungry man. Anyhow this ain't any plain & boring carbs- the ramen broth was milky (porkbone-effect) and rice nicely flavored.
I liked their homemade custard pudding! A dainty pot of caramelly-glazed cream as dreamy light & smooth as you would desire it to be.
Then came thunder-vs-cloud comparison when my impression of Cheese Mousse turned out unexpected yucky. Or maybe Mousse was a misleading word to use... Pudding sounds a whole world closer.
Ta-dah! Here's the elaborate dessert platter Chef Mizushima prepared for my birthday, with 2 extra scoops of icecream & 2 lovely ladies surrounding me with a zealous birthday song... really nice of them! Rum Raisin & Mango icecream icy mediocre if you ask me, but THANK YOU chef for the surprise!
Their personable service made my exit a smiling one (=
Umami Dining Lounge
177 River Valley Road
#01-26 Liang Court Shopping Centre
6333 1166
haha definitely a meal worth remembering! =) oh and i forgot to tell you that the half egg in the ramen was no ordinary egg. it was deliciously season and the trapped flavouring juices spew out when i bite it.. took me by surprise. =)
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