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Friday, April 4, 2008
There are some restaurants that one goes to regularly, places you head to after a long day of work when the last thing you want to do is cook. There are other places as well. Some might be places you go to begrudgingly, because your friend or family-member really likes it — while you never have. Then there are places you have to be in a specific mood for — the dimly lit romantic restaurant that requires appropriate companionship or the noisy, crazy always bustling bistro that, if you’re not ready for, would otherwise give you a headache. Lastly, there are the places you save up for, places that for a pretty penny deliver amazing culinary experiences that you tell your friends about, savour the memories of, and can’t wait to experience again, despite the high price tag. GOTO, one of Singapore’s newest Japanese restaurants, is one such place. S and I first discovered GOTO by accident a couple of weeks ago. We had planned on having a quick, late night dinner at Wacha, a cute cafe that I’d first written about in February last year. We figured the smart thing was to walk over before a meeting we had in the area and make a reservation. But when we got there, we were shocked to discover that Wacha had closed down, and had been replaced by GOTO. Almost as surprising was that the sign on the door announced that the restaurant was “reservations only”. Since I was there, and since the sign had GOTO’s phone number on it, I did what any hungry foodie would have done and called them. A very sweet Japanese lady answered the phone and said that yes, I could have a table that night. Then she told me that they offered just two menus, one priced at S$180 and the other at S$280, and asked me which one I would like. Because S and I weren’t in the mood for a long, gastronomic affair, I sheepishly apologized and said that we’d book a meal another time. Over the next week, I asked several friends about GOTO. None of them had heard of it, let alone had a meal there. One friend, a foodie that I respect enormously, decided he’d be the first to try it. The day after his visit I received a super-positive SMS raving about it. He said that this small Kaiseki stunner was as good as some of the best restaurants in Kyoto and very, very much worth supporting. He liked it so much that he and his wife returned just a few days later. During that week, I also discovered that the owner and chef, Mr Goto Hisao, was, just before opening his eponymous restaurant, chef to the last Japanese Ambassador to Singapore.
S and I, with two other greedy gourmets, decided we had to check out GOTO for ourselves. We booked the S$280 menus — figuring that we might as well go all-out on our first visit. The meal, I have to say, was one of the very best I have had in Singapore and worth every penny. We had a beautiful 11 course Kaiseki dinner. Each course was perfectly executed. The produce was fresh and exquisite. And the service was friendly, delicate and effortless. We started with a small portion of crabmeat tofu topped with uni and lightly flavoured with yuzu. Next was a platter of delicacies: the freshest, lightest ankimo (monkfish liver) I have ever had; marinated baby sea eel; bamboo shoots with mugwort tofu and goma tofu; two kinds of seasonal octopus; and some gorgeously fresh, raw giant clam. After this was a delicate soup with goma tofu and steamed Green Ling cod flavoured with just a hint of ume paste. Then we had a bowl of sashimi. We were given o-toro, salmon belly, two delicious kinds of clam that I didn’t recognize, and some lovely yellowtail. All were amazingly fresh. This was followed by a really savory and rich miso eggplant with abalone and shrimp. Next was usui bean with baby eels topped with a sakura blossom. At this point, I had turned to S, wishing audibly for some fried food. Almost on cue, we were served a tempura plate consisting of a small pregnant fish, broadbean, garlic shoot and angelica leaf. Our second to last main course was gorgeous, some savoury, seared wagyu beef rolled around asparagus and served with mustard. To round off the meal, we had a small portion of rice with toasted sesame seeds and fresh greens with some miso soup. We then had two desserts. The first was a portion of black sesame pudding sauced with homemade caramel, served with some coconut ice cream, and musk melon and strawberries. Our final course was a small portion of a sweet jelly served with a freshly whisked bowl of really high-quality green tea.
At first glance, GOTO isn’t a fancy restaurant. It has a sparse, bright interior. There are just a few tables. The food, though, is what you’ll go for. And it is exquisite, complex, and ridiculously good. The price, of course, might put off many potential punters. But a meal this good is worth saving up for. And splurging on. For me, it’s the closest I can get to Japan without getting on the plane. And that’s reason enough to go as often as I can afford to. GOTO        Posted by Chubby Hubby 
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Thanks for the review! I’ve wanted to visit Japan for the real deal but it may not come soon enough. Since I go home through Singapore all the time, I might just try this.
Posted by: Venny | 5 April 2008 @ 9:08 pm
Your first paragraph perfectly sums up why restaurants are so special. Thank you for sharing this spot.
Posted by: Kirstin | 6 April 2008 @ 11:19 am
That meal looks exquisite. That is the kind of meal I can only dream of so thank you for that little sample of it.
Posted by: helen | 6 April 2008 @ 10:19 pm
Hi,
Any idea if *gotta-go-to!* Goto operate for lunch? How much would it cost for the kaiseki then?
Thanks. *need-to-go* Goto soon…
Posted by: ice | 7 April 2008 @ 8:26 am
Ice: Yes, they do serve lunch. Like dinner, it is reservation only. It is S$68 for 6 courses.
Posted by: Chubby Hubby | 7 April 2008 @ 9:32 am
Sounds lovely although with that price tag, it’s not a fix you get every week! My personal favourite - Tokkuri at the Icon, which has a great value for money omakase set which should be between $70 - 90 (depending on whether it is lunch or dinner).
Posted by: M | 7 April 2008 @ 11:46 am
dont mean to sound stupid..s$280 for 1 person??? thats a crazy rm700pls meal! aiks..i think even the omakase at shangri la borders rm350..
but i guess the pictures says it all..
Posted by: lotsofcravings | 7 April 2008 @ 12:22 pm
That’s a yummy meal! S…I dropped you a email
Posted by: vanessa | 7 April 2008 @ 9:26 pm
that looks beautiful, but i can’t help feeling a little wistful that wacha has closed down…
Posted by: clarisse | 8 April 2008 @ 1:16 am
My daughter would do anything to visit Japan. Your a very luck person. I love your photo’s … just beautiful!
Posted by: Chuck | 9 April 2008 @ 3:08 am
The pics look awesome and you description makes me drool. Definitely need to try on my next trip.
However I always wonder about the viability of these places in a city like Singapore. I have been to restaurants opened by former chefs to ambassadors (including France), and remember that we were the only table for dinner during the weekend. As someone’s comments indicated, Singaporeans simply won’t pay this kind of money for food! How can they hope to survive without the subsidy and the customer flow that a 5-star hotel can provide?
Posted by: Peech | 9 April 2008 @ 8:55 am
Peech: I agree that it is going to be really tough for restaurants like GOTO to survive. Only a small handful of the population can really afford to go more than once every few months. But I think every great city needs a few of these gastronomic temples — if for nothing else then to push the boundaries of the local culinary scene. One of the reasons I decided to write about GOTO is in hopes that people will try it and that the restaurant is able to stay afloat. It would be a huge shame if we lost a restaurant this good only because our customers aren’t willing to pay for the exeperience.
Posted by: Chubby Hubby | 9 April 2008 @ 9:53 am
It’s a shame GOTO is so expensive, because that food sure looks delicious!
Posted by: Wheeler | 10 April 2008 @ 2:17 am
Actually i think they’ve got a workable business model going.
Conservatively, say they receive 8 lunch customers and 6 for dinner daily.
That works out to around $2k per day (8*68)+ (6*220-avge of both menus)
For such a place I reckon that their costs (not including renumerations) doesnt go too much beyind 50%. So that still leaves them with a tidy $30k at the end of each month (though the Goto couple probably get a bigger cut).
I tried the 180 menu , thought it was worth every penny. The ingredients might not have been that expensive by themselves, but resulting products were pure artistry.
Hope they’ll be around for the long haul.
Posted by: Zephyr | 11 April 2008 @ 2:07 pm
Beautiful, mouth watering looking food! I’ll be in S’pore next month so may have a chance to look this place up! Cheers!
Posted by: The Culinary Chase | 11 April 2008 @ 6:11 pm
those photos are beyond beautiful…i am completely unworthy of that meal.
Posted by: michelle @ TNS | 14 April 2008 @ 8:56 am
Yeah, I had heard from the lady running the place that Wacha had closed down some time ago and they were going to put up a Kaiseki only place. I thought the prices were a bit steep though.
Posted by: Weylin | 14 April 2008 @ 9:49 am
Excuse me while I wipe the drool off my keyboard. I’ve been on a Japanese kick lately but then I’m always game for this cuisine. Everything looks so tantalizingly yummy!!
Posted by: veron | 26 April 2008 @ 6:08 am
I had the $180 set tonight and thought it was fabulous. I finally found a decent kaiseki place outside of Japan. Will definitely try the $280 set next time.
blogpost: http://chi-he-wan-le.blogspot.com/2008/09/great-start-to-trip.html
Posted by: Peech | 27 September 2008 @ 1:07 am
I think everyone ought to try this place & give it the support it deserves. I had lunch there today & the food was exquisite!! I already have plans to return for dinner & yes it isn’t an everyday affair but it will be the best money you will ever spend without having to visit Japan. Like Aun says we need restaurants like this & should give it our support even if we can’t afford to eat there every day. Everything I had tasted like sheer perfection & it’s hard to put a price tag on such bliss.
Posted by: kenneth wong | 6 June 2009 @ 4:42 pm