You know, out of all the things that I can be thankful for in the year of 2023 (besides the fact that I survived), a meal here at OUMI most certainly does count as one of them.
It had been a very pleasant surprise when told several months ago that we'd be having a weekend brunch at this restaurant atop the 51st floor of the CapitaSpring Tower downtown.
Back then, as with every first visit that I make- I hadn't known what to expect.
But then I fell in love.
I fell in love with the view.
I fell in love with the food.
Best of all I fell in love with the entire experience that a meal at OUMI brings.
It's a little hard for me right now to put into words just exactly what that entire experience is.
So let me just say that much of it revolves around a single pair of chopsticks.
And that is all you really need.
We were seated at, I think, the same table that we had the last time.
Might have been one table before, one table after, doesn't matter.
The view was gorgeous.
It's not every day that one gets to look across (and down) at Marina Bay Sands on the opposite side of the water.
Neither is it every day that one gets to look down (and across) at some of the offices which I might have visited but don't really remember.
From where we sat we could see along the entire south east coast, which was so different from this height I found my eyes drifting to the coast where East Coast Park lay, towards the line where Marina Barrage stood, wondering if there were more families today out on their bicycles compared to any other day.
Up here at OUMI this afternoon we were each served a glass of complimentary champagne.
Perfect a drink to go with the meal we were about to have, never mind that I'm not good with pairings, and in any case, what was supposed to go with what, and why, I didn't quite care.
We began our meal with a plate of truffle fries from its sister restaurant KAARLA (which I think is located in either the same place, or next door)
Served hot, fresh and crispy, we happily nibbled fry after fry whilst taking our time to look over the rest of the menu.
There was a bit of challenge trying to decide.
On one hand I was interested in some of the dishes that previously I hadn't had a chance to have.
Yet on the other hand I'm a creature of habit, I know what I love, and I really wanted to savor the same dishes I'd had had last time all over again.
On the other hand I'm a creature of habit and I really wanted to savor those dishes that I had previously had.
Let's just say that we (mostly) went for the familiar.
Like this Kajiki Tataki which we'd had the previous time and which we really liked because there was a charm to the lightly grilled squares of swordfish served with Tosaka Seaweed, White Onion and Roselle Leaf.
To be honest I cannot remember just how the Roselle Leaf tasted like- it probably got overwhelmed with the flavors of the fish, and the (slightly chewy) texture of it.
In that sense I remember the Momotaro Fruit Tomato better.
This dish was a special order because cherry tomatoes are my thing and what better way to have it when there's a dollop of feta goat cheese, a hint of wasabi and fennel somewhere within?
We moved on to a couple of fish-based dishes after that, like this Salmon Butter Yaki which was Fried Salmon with Butter Shoyu and Tongarashi (that I've idea at all what it is), and this Smoked Salmon Crudo that had Dill Cream Cheese, Pickled Cucumber and Thyme Crouton.
You know, there'll be those who will say that salmon's quite a commonplace thing, like who hasn't had fried salmon, what's the big deal, but theirs has a lovely blended flavor of savory shoyu and butter, plus that teeny weeny little hint of cream.
The smoked salmon too might have seemed ordinary to some, but oy, I have a thing for smoked salmon (especially at Christmas and New Year) and this one came prettily served with the slices taking centre place on the plate and every other thing daintily scattered all over it.
Salmon wasn't the only fish-based dish that we ordered.
There was a portion of Petite Beer Battered Fish and Chips which I'm really really glad we got to have because I wanted to try it the last time but then got too full.
Then there was this.
The Fish Soup.
I love it, I tell you.
If there's one soup over here at OUMI which you want to have, it is this.
At first look it seems ordinary, just like any other clear soup which you're accustomed to have, but one sip is all it takes for you to realize that this is, in fact, a very rich tasting broth bursting with the flavors of umami perfectly boiled inside.
I don't think I've ever had such a rich-flavored clear-looking fish (broth) until I came here.
So this afternoon we decided to order two bowls.
After this we went for one more portion of the Kajiki Tataki- because swordfish prepared this way in neat rectangular slices is not the easiest to find- and then a Bara Chirashi bowl that today had salmon cut into cubes (as per Chef's choice) and a Food Forest Salad that consisted of tiny little leaves, tiny little flowers scattered all over the bright-looking, fresh-tasting fish.
After this there was some Sushi, some Tempura and some Tori Karaage.
Sounds commonplace, yes, but everyone has their favorites, and so do we.
Don't underestimate the sushi and tempura that they serve here, though.
It's not every place where you get a Salmon Cheese Rolith Sliced Salmon, Salmon Skin, Avocado, Cucumber and Housemade Miso Cheese on top of it. I didn't try to differentiate the flavors- what I did was to simply pop each piece into my mouth and chew it in a very non-elegant but shiok shiok kind of way.
I loved their Tempura too.
On the menu it said Assorted Vegetable Tempura, but far from the sort of tempura that I'm oft served even at (authentic) places, here at OUMI this was what they had.
I can't remember what exactly were the vegetables served but from the looks of it, there was a favorite of mine- eggplant- there was long bean, sweet potato, seaweed, some kind of leaf- which I might not know its name, but cannot forget its crisp.
In fact the Crisp of all their Tempura is impossible to forget.
I don't know what the gold standard of tempura batter is, but this, I tell you, was exceptionally good.
You know how we're more or less familiar with thick (sometimes cold) tempura batter?
Here the batter wasn't a thick layer caked slipshodly over the vegetable (like some casual sushi places do).
Neither was the quantity so scant that you couldn't taste the flavor of the batter nor its deep fried crunchy crisp.
Let's just say it felt like a pure vegetable cracker snack minus all the (biscuit) (snack) flour.
Not going to deny, the Tori Karaage was just as fantastic too.
Yes, it seems a bit ordinary, and perhaps it is familiar enough to most diners to not warrant a lengthy description in the menu, but each bite sized piece was done very well.
You got no lingering oil taste whatsoever, and best of all, you didn't have the feels of MSG when you bit into each piece.
Only thing, I wish I knew what the dip was.
It might have been some sort of a honey mustard that I imagine would complement the Karaage pieces very well.
Perhaps next time I'll pay more attention to the details.
But this afternoon we were getting a bit full, and even though I wish we could have ordered some of the other dishes, like the Tempura Futo Roll (I can't believe we missed out on this one again) or the Teppanyaki Tofu, we decided it the right time to go for their desserts.
Which, no matter what, you must not miss.
There're four on the menu which you can choose from.
Today we decided to have just three.
And so here are the Matcha, the Yuzu and the Chocolate Trifle.
Out of all three I liked the Matcha and the Yuzu best.
My companion, on the other hand, liked the Chocolate Trifle most, and no wonder too, because how often is it that one gets to have a cup of Vanilla Chantilly with 60% Caraibe, 40% Jivara and Pear Sponge?
Honestly I couldn't quite detect the taste of pear in the sponge- it seemed to have been overwhelmed by the chocolate.
But I had the Yuzu, which, is one of the desserts here at OUMI that you live live die die must go for.
Not only is it 3D-esque in the shape in a (big) Yuzu fruit, it's got Opalys at 33%, Yuzu Curd, and something called Wasabi-Yuzunama Chocolate.
Perhaps one day (if I remember) I'll have the staff explain to me just what all these percentaged chocolates mean.
But I guess, as can well be expected, that single-minded me be just concentrating on the desserts alone, even for something like the Matcha, which is actually a Matcha Panna Cotta with Azuki Red Bean and Black Sesame Brittle.
I've said earlier that coming here to OUMI at CapitaSpring was one of the best dining experiences that I'd had in the year of 2023, and more so, yes, it is, I'm going to say again that a blessing it is to be here on the last day of the year, with a certain hope that there'll be more- and more- to come.
May their brunch ala-carte buffet continue to be present, and may I have the space next time to have the Char Grilled Pork Belly, and the Bucatini Pasta too.
I like pork belly.
And I'm keen to try zucchini done pesto style, and zucchini charred.