Akanoya @ Tanglin

Walked past this place many times, but did not try. Heard it was good but expensive.

Akanoya is a Japanese bincho grill restaurant by the Akashi Group that has been serving up robatayaki dishes since 2008, has gone through a revamp to offer a more modern, enhanced robatayaki experience. Robatayaki 炉端焼き roughly translates to ‘fireside cooking.’ It is the authentic Japanese technique of slow-grilling food items over hot charcoal. It originated centuries ago in Hokkaido.

Traditionally, Hokkaido fishermen lit the charcoal at the beginning of their day and carried it in fire-resistant stone or wood boxes that they used for extended fishing trips.  They placed the box on top of an oar and cooked fish inside the box when making the trip back to shore. Once they reached land, they just picked fish out of the box, and enjoyed themselves some Robatayaki. Even today, some traditional restaurants serve Robatayaki on oars!

Akashi Group second-gen boss Javier Goh, together with his former colleagues at Unlisted Collection’s The Study – the head chef, Brandon Teo of Jaan, Pollen, PLUCK, and Wanton Seng Noodle Bar; and the general manager, William Liou of SPRMKT – helmed the revamped Akanoya.

Sashimi Moriawase

This dish came from the sister Japanese restaurant next door and was a portion for one person. The fish were hamachi (yellowtail), tai (sea bream) and chutoro (medium fatty tuna), and were all very fresh and tasty.

Mangaji / Grilled Chilli

Mangaji is a cousin of the sweet capsicum, and is perfect for grilling. A simple Japanese mayo sprinkled with sichimi came with the grilled pepper, it was not what I expected. It could do with a bit more smokiness.

Hamaguri 蛤 / Clam

This was a really large clam, and beautifully grilled in its natural au jus on the half shell.

The skirtings were not dumped and were grilled together with the rest of the clam to produce a crunchy and delicious eat. But at $26 per clam, it as also the most expensive one I have ever eaten.

Kuruma Ebi 車海老 / Japanese Tiger Prawn

The XL sized kurama tiger prawn was grilled on the charcoal to give it a smoky flavour. Nothing else was added except salt.

The head of the prawn was not left alone. The brains and other deliciousness in th head was used to make a miso that was served alongside the grilled prawn.

Also the head was stuffed with sushi rice and grilled for that flavour only a prawn head can impart.

Croquette

Potato croquettes served with a sprinkling of ikura and a dollop of kuro ninniku (black garlic) mayo. OK, but nothing to shout about.

Kinoko / Specialty Mushroom

These days, almost all kinoko are cultivated. The mushroom used was mainly bunashimeji (Brown beech mushrooms). Very salty, they were too literal with the tare, and the natural umami of the mushrooms were totally drowned in the sauce.

Suganimo / Chicken Gizzards

Competently done, I would not say this was the best gizzards in town.

Soriresu / Chicken Oyster

The chicken oyster was slightly better with its crispy skin and a nice shio taste.

Okura / Lady’s Fingers

Grilled with tare and served with a sweet bean sauce, the okra turned out to be my favourite yaki dish for the evening.

Hamachi Kama / Yellowtail Collar

We wanted to order the kinki fish, but they were all reserved for the regulars. William suggested that we get the next best thing. Hamachi Kama はまちのカマ is the collar of the yellowtail and is the fattiest part of the fish, making it naturally juicy. A rather common ingredient for the robatayaki, it was not done very well (too dried out).

Gyutan / Beef Tongue

Grilled beef tongue with tare and served with yuzukosho (a green paste made from the Yuzu citrus, salt, and chili). It tasted more like pan fried than grilled on the charcoal, there was a distinct lack of smokiness.

Tsukune / Chicken Meatball

The tsukune is a real test of any yakitori-ya. The chicken meatball itself was nothing to fault. But the sous vide egg was not up to scratch.

Usually the raw egg yolk was used to dip the tsukune that was grilled with tare. However the tare was added into the half-boiled egg. Overpowering.

Sankaku Bara / Chuck Short Rib

Wanted to order the karubi but they were out of it. So William suggested that we go for the Omigyu A5 sankaku bara (chuck short rib) that came with grilled kabocha (pumpkins). The cut is taken from the entire big whole muscle which is connected from the neck right next to the ribs until the sixth rib where the ribeye is connected. This was a rather chewy cut, and I couldn’t say I enjoyed it.

Onigiri / Rice Ball

I always end my yakitori/robatayaki meal with a grilled onigiri, and I placed the order at the beginning of the meal, before they can come back and tell me they are out of rice balls. It came with nori sheets and a dollop of natto. A bit like marmite (or vegemite for Australian readers), natto is well known for being one of those foods that you either love or hate, there’s no in-between!

Maybe I came on an off-day, but the hype was more marketing than the food, of which many staples of robatayaki were not available. There were many regulars (Indonesians coming to Singapore to seek medical treatment?) and they were quite generous with tipping, and that explained why the last kinki fish was given to us and then cancelled. Not somewhere I would come again if this kind of discrimination is going, despite great service from William and team.

Akanoya Robatayaki 红乃家炉端烧
#01-01 Orchard Rendezvous Hotel, Singapore 247905
Tel : +65 31381560

Visited May 2023

@akanoyarobatayaki #akanoya.sg #akanoyarobatayaki #akanoyajap #suganimo #hamaguri #yakitori