Kakurega The Lair @ Smith Street

I was a little surprised when told that the place we'd be going for (a Japanese) dinner was right in the center of the enclave this side of Chinatown. 

i hadn't even known that there were any (Japanese) restaurants in the vicinity, much less on Smith Street, too. 

But there we were, on a Wednesday evening, looking about for the place, address firmly tucked in hand. 

It didn't take us long to find Kakurega The Lair in the ground floor unit of a shop house located closer to South Bridge Road.

First thing about the place you'll notice once you step through the door is the ambience. 

Forget the bright, cheery warm tones of red, yellow or brown.

Aptly named The Lair, Kakurega majors in only one color- Black- and it is this shade that welcomes you through the furniture and the walls.  

Far from being contemplative and depressive, however, against the Black, their traditional art pieces stand out, as do the large Japanese paper fans mounted on the walls. 

 

What genuinely stands out most over the Black decor isn't just the art alone, but the shiny, glittery sake bottles that line along one side of the wall. 

I wish I'd gotten a picture. 

But then we had been directed to our table and I'd gotten busy looking at the menu.

Kakurega is an open-concept, intimate space. 

It is the sort of space where the arranged tables will make each group huddle together and modulate their voices so that conversations can be made as private as possible. 

It's not always doable though. 

I should know. 

Whilst looking through the menu, I clearly heard- from the table in front of me- the patron loudly wondering to the staff just how large the portion in 'their grilled cheese' was, and what 'other' kinds of cheese could she expect there to be.

Maybe it has something to do with the place you're assigned to. 

I was in a booth close to the serving kitchen with some sort of blower behind, so enough noise there already was. 

One thing about Kakurega The Lair is that it encourages conversation. 

Even if you happen to arrive there not inclined to talk, you somehow gradually will.

I didn't find it hard to hold conversation with my companion over our recommended order of soft shell crab and (thick) house-produced chili crab sauce. 

The crab was crisp- you could feel it as you bit through the legs and the deep fried shell- but inside, the crab was meaty, fleshy, and clean-tasting all at the same time. 

I liked that the dish didn't feel oily. 

And that it was tasty enough for me to not need the chili crab sauce at all. 

My friend, however, liked the intensity of its flavors, and so ate ethe halved portion with all of the sauce, even mine. 

I cannot remember whether this crab was the first dish to arrive, but I know the kushi-yaki skewers didn't take very long.

They've got a fantastic variety of skewers over here, by the way. 

In the kushi-yaki menu, they've got Aspara Bacon (asparagus wrapped with bacon), Buta Enoki (enoki mushroom wrapped in pork), Bonjiri (chicken butt- yes, really), Sunagimo (chicken gizzard) and Buta Bara (pork belly)- the signture skewer of The Lair. .

We ordered the Buta Bara. 

And if I remember correctly, we placed an order for their Tontoro (pork cheek) too. 

It's a little hard for me to describe just how the skewered meats were like- I've little experience with such descriptions- but can I say that meats grilled over a charcoal fire really do make a difference when it comes to taste, and texture? 

Grilling is what makes it possible for the meat to have a bit of burnt, burnt taste, have a bit of chao ta at different ends, and still be evenly cooked with its juices retained snugly inside, 

The fat of the pork belly melted so easily over my tongue I can still taste it in my mind- and admittedly I was a little sad when it was all gone. 

As for the other skewer, to be honest, I'm not really sure if it is Tontoro we ordered, but whatever it was, I know it had a bit of saltish flavor (like foie gras) and it was remarkably nibbly and tender. 

If you ask me to describe it, I'll simply say that it was a piece of meat that I wanted to slowly savor and not pop it straight into my mouth like how with other skewered meats I sometimes do. 

We had to make a decision between ordering a few favorites from the entire menu or a few each from the Zenzai, the Age-mono and the Sumi-yaki menus.

If left to my own, I would've ordered a few from each. 

Like the exotic sounding Fugu Mirin Boshi (sundried puffer fish) or the Kaki Ponzu (oyster with citrus dressing). 

Or the Kani Cream Korokke (creamy crab cake croquette), the Camembert Cheese Age (deep fried camembert cheese cube) and the Satsumaimo Tempura (Shizuoka Sweet Potato).

I might have ordered the Salmon Mentai Yaki (seared salmon, mentaiko, fish roe) together with the Hotate Mentai (scallop with mentaiko sauce) because Mentaiko is one of my new-found favorites and I love it when they do it good. 

This evening we didn't manage to order any of them lovely dishes up there, but went for the recommended Gyu Tasaki from the Sumi-yaki menu instead. 

As simple as it looks, think not lowly of this 230g Meltique beef that's been marinated with soy sauce and mirin, seared, then sprinkled with garlic chips and chopped spring onions before they serve it to you.

Thinly sliced, it makes for easy eating with chopsticks, and the garlic chips give added crunch to the otherwise very tender beef. 

It's a recommended dish to go with sake. 

But it's just as good with hot hojicha too. 

I found myself eating very slowly during the meal here at Kakurega. 

No, it wasn't like I had to. 

Rather it was that the ambience, the drinks, the way they served the food to you- everything- made me want to slow down and not rush through my food. 

I was able to delight myself with the marinate of mirin and soy  sauce in the Gyu Tasaki.

I was also able to play a little game of picking up the spring onions and the garlic chips piece by piece for the fun of it.

And I felt not embarrassed one bit to be seen nibbling on the skewered meats whilst, caught up in mid-conversation I wielded the half-empty skewer enthusiastically around. 

There're more dishes I wish I could have tried. 

The Camembert Cheese Age from the age-mono menu sounded interesting. 

So did the Mozzerella Chizu Maki from the kushi-yaki one.

I missed it out the last time. 

Perhaps, hopefully, next time.