SHIMA, a Japanese restaurant known for its teppanyaki, has been in operation since 1980, and there’s something comforting about that in today’s fickle food scene. The management of the restaurant has recently changed — it was bought over by the JR Group, who also operates Imperial Feast and Ocean Spoon. The restaurant’s interiors also underwent a recent transformation. It’s now sleeker with dark wood laminate tables and a re-worked floor plan.
The restaurant’s heart-centre can be found at the teppanyaki tables, which were custom-made in Japan and have been given 35 years to accumulate rounded, smokey flavours – you might call it the Japanese version of ‘breath of the wok’. But at the relaunch, we try SHIMA’s overlooked dishes: the sushi and sukiyaki.
We start with a plate of seven kinds of assorted sashimi ($70), which is good for two. There’s a good mix of raw seafood fresh from Tokyo such as octopus, tuna, salmon, and scallop. The plate of ten assorted sushi ($75) is good for one if eaten as a main. The selection is dominated by raw fish, but there’s tamago, Japanese cucumber, ebi and ikura sushi offered as well.
Both the sushi and sashimi were acceptable, but if you want a single recco to accompany your peek of new-look SHIMA, order the US Ribeye Sukiyaki Set ($80) — it’s fantastic. There’s a full table-side service offered with this dish, and it all starts with the server swirling around a slab of beef fat on the sizzling-hot pot. As the fat melts down, the rich buttery, beefy flavours release. The server then adds vegetables like Dutch onions, carrots, enoki mushrooms, cabbage, and garland chrysanthemum into the pot. It’s flash cooked and then simmered in a slightly viscous sweet-savoury broth of mirin, terriyaki, more Dutch onions, and seasonings. The paper-thin raw beef, which is served on the side, is now ready for your dipping pleasure. Springy shirataki and udon noodles are saved till the end, when the broth has soaked up all the flavours of the vegetables and beef.
Other premium options include the Australian Wagyu ($110) and Japanese Wagyu ($170). Each sukiyaki set comes with appetisers, steamed rice or zosui rice soup, as well as seasonal fruits.
SHIMA is located at #01-00 Goodwood Park Hotel, 22 Scotts Rd. Open for lunch from noon — 3pm and for dinner from 6 — 10pm. Call 6734-6281 to reserve.
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