Sumiya – Orchard Central’s Japanese Rooftop Restaurant

About Sumiya

Despite the number of Japanese restaurants you can all over Singapore, there is still a constant queue at many famous eateries. Singaporeans’ love for Japanese food stems from their undying cravings for fresh sashimi, delectable ramen broths and springy handmade udon noodles.

While many Japanese restaurants serve sashimi, only a handful serve truly fresh and authentic sashimi flown in all the way from Japan, prepared by Japanese chefs. The best Japanese restaurants in Singapore are definitely worth searching for. Styled in a traditional 1950’s Japanese look, as well as coming from the same parent group as popular Japanese restaurants such as Kuishinbo, Ichiban Boshi and Menichi, Sumiya easily falls into this elusive group of premium Japanese restaurants.

With fresh fish specially flown in from Japan 3 times a week prepared by one of the best Japanese head chefs in Singapore, the food at Sumiya is of the highest quality.

The Food at Sumiya

Starters

For starters, we had the Salmon Avocado Monaka ($5.80). This is a Japanese wafer sandwich, which was crispy and light, filled with chunks of fresh salmon sashimi, avocado and mayonnaise. It went so amazingly well together that I wished that I could have more, but decided to save my stomach for the more food. What a start to the meal.

Next, we had the Sashimi 5 kinds platter ($58), an assortment of their best and freshest sashimi. There was the usual Salmon, Tuna, Yellowtail, Swordfish Sashimi and even uni. But what’s special was the Lion Fish sashimi, something that I never tried before. It was very sweet and soft, and surprisingly didn’t have a fishy taste. The Lion Fish sashimi is something you should try when you’re here as it’s rather uncommon in Singapore.

Mains

To kick off our mains, we had the Japanese Wagyu Beef with Crazy Salt ($53.80). The crazy salt flavour made it exceptionally tasty, and the beef had just the right amounts of fat and meat to go with it. I felt though that the portion size wasn’t big enough and I craved more of it.

Our second main was the Grilled Yellowfin Tuna Cheek with Salt ($28.80). This dish is subject to availability, so you’ll have to try your luck! It was good nonetheless, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Don’t be fooled by its bony structure, this huge slab of fish had enough meat to feed the 4 of us.

Japanese fishermen in the past survived days and nights out at sea eating out of a tin can, quite literally. Sumiya has brought this concept back for its customers with the new Can Can Mushi ($52). It basically consists of seafood steamed in a sake, dashi and shoyu broth, all in a tin can.

We had the Mixed Seafood Value Can, which came with Scallops, Prawns, Oysters, Abalone, Turban Shell and Snow Crab. For that much seafood, it is good value for your money! The broth is delicious as well, with all the flavours coming straight out of the seafood.

Our last main course was the Buri Kama ($24.80), which is a Singapore style Yellowtail Cheek Curry. Despite this being a Japanese restaurant, the curry was excellent. It was thick, had just the right flavours and one of the better fish head curries I’ve had in a long while. I would highly recommend it.

Desserts

Our desserts were rather simple, just 3 variations of the Mochis that they had. Our first was the Daifuku Mochi of the day ($3.80), which was matcha with cream filling. We also had the Karinto Manju ($3.80), a deep fried Japanese cake which was crispy with a soft pumpkin filling. This was probably the best of all 3 flavours.

Lastly, we had the Grilled Butter Mochi ($3.80), recommended by the chef. It tastes like a slightly less sweet version of our traditional chinese nian gao, and it was delicious.

Verdict

I enjoyed my meal at Sumiya thoroughly. Overlooking the city on the top floor of Orchard Central, it is a nice place to take friends and family, or even a romantic night out with that special someone. The food quality is amazing, but the prices can be quite steep. So do yourself a favour and look out for their discount brochures. Upon presenting them, you can get up to 50% off some dishes.

I will definitely be back at Sumiya again.