The Place Located along Tras Street, Ki Su Shoujin Omakase is a new restaurant by the team behind Joie by Dozo with a focus on a plant-based omakase menu. Ki Su is probably the only plant-based centric omakase in Singapore at the moment, which in itself is quite a novel and forward-thinking concept.
The interior of Ki Su is elegant where the main dining hall is a long counter table where most of the courses are served over the counter from the open kitchen concept. There are also two private rooms for big groups.
The Food With one 8-course lunch omakase menu at S$88++ and a 10-course dinner omakase menu at S$168++, where I visited for their dinner omakase. You can expect a series of meatless courses as I was told by the staff, where some of the courses are a twist on the conventional omakase dishes.
Here is what to expect from the dinner omakase menu:
The meal started with a novel trio of snacks - Egg Yolk Toast with Air Flown Tonburi Caviar, Avocado Taco and Beetroot Cigar.
Next up is a series of Nigiri Sushi (4 types).
Shiro Shimeji (White Mushroom)
Red Capsicum You might mistake this for tuna sushi where the red capsicum here is slightly torched.
Nasu (Eggplant)
Pumpkin This looks just like an “Uni” sushi where you get the bright orange hue from the pumpkin. The texture of the pumpkin is quite smooth, and it does not taste too heavy.
Truffle Pate The pate here looks like foie gras, but it is in fact made from nuts. I like the crispy buttery toast for the base, where the pate is topped with mustard seeds and brushed with a tinge of truffle sauce.
King Oyster Next up is a mushroom course where the king oyster mushroom is topped with shiso leaf along with sweet pea puree.
Yakimono For this grilled course, I had two skewers made of beancurd skin wrapped with enoki mushroom and cherry tomato respectively.
Kabutoni For this simmered course, I had eggplant along with daikon, yuba (tofu skin) and morel mushroom where the sauce made with soy sauce and sake is flavourful along with the soft textures of the eggplant and daikon.
Golden Temaki This course features a crunchy seaweed handroll with maitake mushroom, gold flakes and egg yolk.
Entree For the main course, I had the juicy and meaty Monkey head mushroom along with bits of rice popcorn. Dip the mushroom in the accompanying black pepper sauce for more flavour, and it also comes with a truffle mashed potatoes by the side.
Soup The last course before dessert is a comforting leek-infused soup poured over the head of a baby Napa cabbage.
Dessert Moving on to desserts, the first dessert I had looked like a Matcha Bonsai. It is served with a side of juicy honeydew. The base is made of crushed almonds and walnuts with sweet caramel, followed by pistachio mousse, and topped with matcha cookie crumbs, a sprinkle of watercress leaves and a corn biscuit that resembles a leaf. Overall, it is not too sweet and quite a creative display I must say.
The second dessert is a colourful display of edible flower petals with mint leaves and other fragrant herbs. Liquid nitrogen is then poured over it, swiftly freeze-drying the herbs. Once frozen, the herbs are delicately crushed, before a scoop of Hokkaido ice cream is added.
Rants The dinner omakase price is quite steep given that most ingredients are vegetables. I also think that there could be more showmanship for some of the dishes in general.
Will I Return Again? Ki Su Shoujin Omakase has an interesting concept as there aren’t many restaurants which do plant-based omakase. You should not come here expecting a traditional Japanese omakase experience as there is literally no meat in each course. For the plant-based courses, I do find the price to be on the steep side.
This was an invited tasting, though all opinions expressed are our own.
TheRantingPanda says:Taste bud: 3.5/5Hole in the pocket: 4/5Ambience: 4/5Overall Experience: 3.5/5
Ki Su Shoujin Omakase 60 Tras Street #01-01 Singapore 078999 Tel: +65 8522 6824
Opening Hours Monday to Saturday: 12pm to 3pm; 6pm to 10pm Closed on Sundays Ranted by The Ranter
