[Food x Media Tasting x Review] Fusion Izakaya Boruto Singapore with OpenRice

by Kiyo - 2/22/2016 11:43:00 PM

Another food adventure with me~!

This time is at a Fusion Izakaya restaurant!!

This restaurant isn't named after Naruto's son! Boruto is actually 'vault' pronounced in katakana (just like for the Japanese people R/L and V/B are hard to differentiate).
Located in the heart of the CBD area, it's very easy to access from Raffles Place MRT, Chinatown MRT, and Clarke Quay MRT!

This building was actually a bank and instead of changing the interior...they kept it! It's like dining in a building with lots of history!

The interior has a izakaya (Japanese restaurant)-like atmosphere but with a western touch. This perfectly reflects the dishes you can enjoy in Boruto.

On the second floor, they have more seating areas that includes a big refrigerator with all the sakes like umeshu!

Umeshu is plum wine and as you can see, this is home made and takes 6 months to make! Talk about dedication! Besides umeshu, they have a WIDE range of western and Japanese alcohol and if you're lost at what kind of sake to choose...just ask the friendly waiters/waitresses and they will recommend you a drink that will compliment your food.

Remember how I mentioned this building used to be a bank? Well they kept a vault that stores all the rare sakes from Japan! This was a super cool place to check out as the vaults have safes insides as part of the interior.

How cool is it/???

There's also a private room located on the second floor. This area can be enclosed with a sliding door to provide privacy. It's suitable for larger groups or private events! For Japanese people they like to go to Izakaya's after work to have 'bonding sessions' and share a drink or two with colleagues/classmates/friends after work/class.

Don't forget the beautiful decoration of the Japanese Taru (barrels) which are used to stores sake! Don't worry, these are empty so you won't get a sake shower!

The night began with the Saga Beef Tataki. Tataki refers to a cooking style where you sear either fish or meat over a hot flame/pan and marinate with a sauce. It's kinda close to an Italian Carpaccio (but cooked on the outside). Saga beef (or Saga Gyu) is one of the highest grade/quality of wagyu. It's marinated with soy sauce and garnished with negi (spring onion) and edible flowers.
I'm a meat lover so I loooved this dish but I kinda wished I could taste and savor the high-quality Saga beef.

Next appetizer is...another type of tataki! This time is fish! It's the Ahi Tataki - 'Ahi' is a Hawaiian term for Yellowfish Tuna. The sauce includes black pepper, wasabi, olive, and a citrus-y sauce. It doesn't have any salt because the olives gives a salty flavor and it helps bring out the flavor of the sauce and ahi fish.

Next came a show-stopping dish. This brings fusion to the next level because this dish is called a... Crispy Rice Cracker Tacos! It's a crispy deep fried rice cracker with pulled pork, guacamole and chili salsa. I'm a HUGE avocado fan and this a dish you can pop in your mouth and enjoy with maybe a sip of sake or whiskey!

Moving onto the main dishes, lets add a bit of Chinese cuisine influence! The Tori-take roll is a crispy chicken roulade with stuffed shitake jam drizzled with a Chinese sauce. It's quite filling and very flavorful!

Let's end the main course with a 'shime' (〆). In Japan, after a meal or drinkin session, people will eat a dish that brings the night to an end. 'Shime' usually refers to carbohydrate dishes like ramen! This signature Uni Pasta v1.1 is a great shime - braised cappellini in sea urchin and yuzu stock, topped with fresh sea urchin roe & Hokkaido white wasabi. Yes the white cheese-like garnish is the Hokkaido white wasabi! Don't worry it's not spicy like the usual wasabi! If you're wondering what 'v1.1' is...this dish is an upgraded version to the previous uni pasta. Instead of the usual garlic/white wine sauce, a refreshing seafood broth is used.

Then comes my favorite part of a meal- DESSERTS!
All the desserts are homemade (like the umeshu!) and it's great that a restaurant provides a personal at-home touch. One of the desserts that's very traditional is the warabi mochi!
Warabi mochi is a jelly-like dessert made from bracken starch covered with kinako powder. Kinako is roasted soybean flour! The texture and flavor is great - I could probably eat this whole bowl by myself!

Ice cream = YES!
Hot n Cold dessert = um...YES?!
This chocolate surprise dessert is just great. With a chocolate lava cake with homemade vanilla ice cream topped with peanuts gives a ferrero rocher feel.

Last but not least, is this unique dessert that I think can also be a great appetizer/side dish! It's a truffle creme brulee. It's my first time to see truffles in a dessert and I must say...it works! The only thing is that the creme brulee is quite watery so after a few bites I thought it would be a great dip. Pair it with some fries and it's like truffle fries v1.1!!!

With that brings the end of the meal at Boruto! What we ordered were great dishes to pair with some drinks and suitable to share with maybe a group of 3-4. The reason why I recommend pairing it with a drink is because the flavor of the dishes that we ordered are quite strong and packs a punch so it'll go well along with a sip of sake! It really depends on which dishes you order since some dishes aren't sharing friendly (like the pasta). If you're looking for a different twist from your usual Izakaya, this is a great place to try out. You'll see a different side to the usual Japanese dishes!

A huge thank you to the lovely people at OpenRice & Boruto for the great nice!
What makes a great meal isn't just great food but also great company!

For more information about Boruto Singapore and OpenRice Singapore, check out the links below!