Great Japanese style BBQ with fine sake pairing at historic Purvis Street.
Restaurant name: TANOKE
Address: 7 Purvis Street, Level 2, Singapore 188586
Tel: 9106 3378
Hours: 11:30am - 2:00pm | 5:00pm - 10:30pm (Mon off)
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| Raffles Hotel |
Passed by the grand dame on the way to Purvis Street. It would be a major crime not to stop to take a photo.
If you spot the photo bomber, write it down in the comment 😄 Hint: S/he is well camouflaged 😄
The easiest way to look for TANOKE at 7, Purvis Street is to look for Santa Fe Grill - it is right above it on level 2. More clues - this is directly across the road from Garibaldi Restaurant.
TANOKE has no signage that is visible from the street.
Step into TANOKE, the first things that greet us are the selection of some forty sake, and the bar. TANOKE stocks only artisanal / craft sake from boutique breweries across the length of Japan. All carefully curated, nothing from factories.
Stepping a little inside opens out to the dining room. It's an intimate space. Pleasant and comfortable, elegant yet unpretentious.
Wagyu Sliders welcome snack to get our saliva juicing ($26++ for a pair).
Wagyu patty, red cheddar cheese, Momotaro tomato, sweet karashi mayo between soft grilled brioche bun.
You know, we have eaten enough wagyu sliders and burgers... right... . But, this one at TANOKE stands out from the first bite because the toasty smokey flavour and aroma jumped out from the sweet juicy wagyu patty (thanks to the binchotan grill).
Binchotan also known as "white charcoal" is made from Japanese oak. It produces extremely high temperatures.
Aburi Kani Miso Senbi ($12++ for six).
Snow crab miso, Tobiko (flying fish roe) and scallion on crisp Japanese rice crackers.
Our first sake of the evening to pair with our starter - Kotsuyama En Tokubetsu Junmai. Not sure what sake to go with your food orders? Just ask the friendly staff or sommelier in the house.
Disclaimer: I didn't taste any sake today as I am required to abstain from alcohol for now.
Hamachi Carpaccio (price $28++).
Japanese Yellowtail with Ikura (salmon roe) blanketed with freshly shaved seasonal Black or White Truffles dressed with Truffle Shoyu sauce.
Japanese Fruit Tomato on Tofu Mascarpone dressed with Yuzu Vinaigrette and Cream of Balsamic (price $22++).
I enjoyed the soft grainy-creamy texture and tart sweet flavour of the Tofu Mascarpone.
Gobo Age. Crispy braised burdock root (price $10++).
For our mains from the Shichirin Binchotan Grill, we were served Sharaku Junmai.
TANOKE Classic Wagyu Rice Bowl (price $32++).
Binchotan grilled Australian Wagyu Striploin (grade MB7), runny onsen egg over boiled Niigata rice dressed with Kabuke Truffle Shoyu sauce.
Coastal Lamb Rack (price $38++).
This stood out as the most memorable dish of the evening. The Koji Aged New Zealand Coastal Baby Lamb was oh... so... tender and moist. The meat grilled to medium rare doneness oozes savoury flavour with a subtle fermentation savoury-tartness from koji. The savoury flavours were rounded with a bit of sweetness from Onion Marinade and signature toasty-smokey flavour of binchotan grilled meat. No lamb gaminess at all (though I wouldn't mind a bit of it).
Comes with Sweet Karashi Mayo dip which I didn't use as the binchotan grilled lamb was so good, I couldn't bear to mess with its taste profile.
Must order this when you come to TANOKE. At $38++, I feel it is good value.
Surume Ika Ichiyaboshi (price $24++).
Wah piang! This was another dish that blew my mind!
1-day air dried Japanese flying squid grilled over binchotan - that's it. It's the ultimate test of the chef's skills. Served with Yuzu Kosho Cream which I didn't use. We did squeezed the Charred Lime over the squid though.
In its tender-soft meat, the squid ink flavour and briny taste of the sea stood out. Overlay this with toasty-smokey flavour, flying squid transforms into flying muaks... 😘 Lovely muaks muaks.
Must get this besides the Coastal Lamb Rack. At $24++, it is a steal.
By the way, this isn't any old sotong but flying squid from Japan 😄
Spicy Baby Corn (price $10++).
Chargrilled Baby Corn dusted with savoury Furikake seasoning and served with spicy Siracha Mayo. The chili pepper threads added a hot spicy heat to the savoury-sweet grilled corn.
Last sake pairing of the evening Hakurakusei Junmai Daiginjo.
Uni & Ikura Udon with White Truffles.
Slurpy silky udon studded with delightful uni (sea urchin) and umami svaoury ikura (salmon roe). Topped with freshly shaved white truffle and dressed with truffle shoyu sauce.
Shiso Lychee Sorbet (price $10++).
Lychee sweetness with a bit of herby zesty taste from shiso and a subtle tinct of umeshu (plum liqueur) sweet zing.
Food tastes so good, gotta say hello to the binchotan grill maestro behind it 🙇
Singaporean Chef Rio Neo started at a fried bee hoon hawker stall. Ten years of blogging, I have great respect for chefs who come up through the hawker route.
Chef Rio's fifteen year culinary career next took him to Orchard Plaza, Singapore's hallowed ground for authentic Japanese food where Rio imbibed the spirit of Japanese cuisine from seasoned Japanese itaeme. From there, Rio's journey took him to Kinki, Fat Cow and he was last at Kabuke gastrobar before joining TANOKE.
Purvis Street together with Seah Street and Middle Road was the Hainanese enclave of Singapore. Arriving in colonial Singapore only after the 1880s, the Hainanese were latecomers and hence couldn't find any foothold in the designated "Chinese campong" in the Raffles' Town Plan. Hence, they settled in the "no man's land" between European Town and Arab Village.
Naturally, the Hainanese enclave became the cradle of Singapore's influential Hainanese cuisine. The iconic Hainanese chicken rice was first sold by two-basket hawkers plying Middle Road etc. The first chicken rice stall was set up in a Seah Street coffee shop. The legendary Swee Kee chicken rice restaurant was at Middle Road. (Swee Kee closed in the 1990s. Their workers returned to Senai, Johor and opened Sin Swee Kee with the blessing of Swee Kee's founder.)
Yet Con founded in the 1940s was the oldest chicken rice shop in Singapore before it closed in 2020. Yet Con can be seen on the left of the photo above of old Purvis Street. The closure of Yet Con left Chin Chin as the flag bearer of Hainanese culinary tradition at Purvis Street. The legendary Hock Lam beef noodles was also once at Purvis Street in the 1990s.
Today, Purvis Street is completely transformed - from a once drab grey street to one of Singapore's hottest dining hotspots. It is home to leading edge F & B concepts which TANOKE is a prime example bringing the joy of food and sake to the old Hainanese enclave.
Image of Purvis Street in 1993 courtesy of National Archives of Singapore.
Disclosure: Please note that this was an invited tasting. No restaurants or stalls paid fees to be featured in Johor Kaki.
For another gastrobar featuring binchotan grill check out FLNT @ 1-Atico 👈 click
There's a meow meow in the raffles pic.
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DeleteThe Tofu Mascarpone looks interesting, I would like to try that!
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