Father's Day Dinner at Humo - Keong Saik Street - Fabulous Japanese Spanish Fusion food.

 

Yesterday we celebrated Father's Day (20th June). The selection of venue was made by me, and frankly, I will read the reviews on Google as well as other blogs to get a feel of what the first timers would hope to experience. The Google reviews were generally positive (4.6), though they weren't a lot (less than 400). Normally above 4.6 is good enough for me to give the restaurant a try.

Nestled amongst the many shophouse cum dining establishments along the gentrified Keong Saik Road (No. 21), finding parking was a big challenge especially after 7 pm. There are car park lots alongside Keong Saik Road on both sides, as well as Teck Lim road and JIak Chuan which forms a neat triangle and they run roughly parallet to Neil Road. However, since our time slot was 8.15pm most diners hadn't finished eating hence there was no curbside parking last night. 

We decided that - in future, we can take the brown line (Thomson East Coast Line) and walk into Keong Saik Road. I will try that train - walk strategy the next time. Its fast, no hassle if the weather is fine and no need to circle endlessly for a car park lot.

I had to drop my family off, before heading into the adjoining Bukit Pasoh Road and I finally found parking at Dorset Hotel - which frankly offers one of the worst parking programs in Singapore. Cars park on some kind of conveyor roller contraption and each slot is encased on top by another level of conveyor roller but to each side runs chains - these chains reach perilously close to the vehicle and the chances of getting the car scratched from these chains is high. The roof of the conveyor also has a height limit, so SUV cars also have risks of getting scratched. Not a good park place. The less times I visit the hotel the better.

We settled in eventually for dinner, and the first dish was a great starter, the Yellowfin Tuna Tartare. The bread crackers were just nice, slightly warm and the raw tuna flavor was greatly enhanced by the dachi gazpacho - whatever that was, it tasted great !  

The second and third dishes were really outstanding too. 

The Japanese eggplant (at right) which was baked to a fine crispiness, and topped with Miso glace, pomegranate seeds, and laid over a goat cheese yoghurt. It was really flavorful especially with the goat cheese yogurt topping.  

Japanese Eggplant with Miso Glaze and Goat Cheese Yoghurt 

Chargrilled Iberico Pork Ribs (500 g) with Japanese Cabbage - Yum 

The chargrilled Iberico Pork Ribs 500g was definitely a crowd pleaser. I had 3 ribs and while the meat did not fall off the bone, it was very tender and the flavor was one of (something like) ranch BBQ flavor. Nice.

The Japanese cabbage was also 10 / 10. It did not look like cabbage and when I had the first bite, I had to take a second and third one too. It was that good. 

The interior of the Izakaya was quite unique. One cant tell if the place was a Western or Japanese one, the 120 lanterns and the Sake Bar certainly gave it a Japanese feel but once inside you couldn't be sure.

My son Andrew and I were quite taken by the decor and the music playing inside  was a mix of late 80s to early 90s disco as well as rock and roll. Bands such as the Pointer Sisters, KC and the Sunshine Band, Earth Wind and Fire as well as the Bee Gees certainly made this father (me) young again !

The Piece de la Resistance 

Seafood Paella Japanese Style 

with Grilled Unagi, Baby Scallops and Firefly Squid 

The Piece de la Resistance or the Magnus Opus - which we waited nearly an hour for f- inally came. The Seafood Paella Japanese Style (S$ 48) did not disappoint. The rice was nicely cooked with some burnt edges and the baby scallop was lovely and flavorful. The unagi or grilled eel was done just right, and I had a couple of the firefly squids - I would rate this dish 8.5 out of 10.  

Seafood Paella 

My wife felt that the Paella at Kulto (Amoy Street) was better and I have tasted great Paella at the InterContinental Hotel along Claymore Road. 

The total bill for 4 dishes came to S$ 163 which was pretty decent for 3 adults. We had no alcohol and the prices all in all for most dishes were in the mid 20s to low 30s. Only the Paella was $48 but the pan was rather small in my opinion.

Would I return again to dine here ?  Certainly !

Music, the vibes were all 10 / 10

Food was 8.5 to 9 / 10

Location / Parking was 5 / 10

Price was 9 / 10.

So the key information :

Humo 

21 Keong Saik Road

Singapore 089 128