Dashi Master Marusaya Tasting Session 2021

Dashi Master Marusaya Tasting Session 2021
86 Robertson Quay #01-01

Opening Hours:
Mon - Fri: 5pm - 11:30pm,
Sat - Sun: 12pm - 11:30pm


https://marusaya.sg/en/

This was an invited media review. I did not pay for the meal during the free hosted tasting session, but I did pay the standard price during subsequent visits.
Attended with representatives from Jennifer Yeo Lifestyle, Chubby Botak Koala, Emily.EatingThyme, and Food Gem.

Uni Chawanmushi (SGD $89++ / $129++ Part Of Set Meal)

Masterful Dashi Hot Pot

(Ratings: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 = Worst and 10 = Best)
Overall: 8
Ambience & Setting: 7
Food & Beverage: 8
Service: 8
Value for Money: 9
Budget about SGD $129++ per person.


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Since 1962, the Marusaya Group (a Japanese katsuobushi wholesaler) has been producing and retailing top-quality katsuobushi / bonito fish flakes. Their flagship restaurant Dashi Master Marusaya opened in Singapore in November 2014, and has since been offering all-natural, preservative-free, healthy dashi dishes made from their katsuobushi / bonito fish flakes. We'd previously visited Dashi Master Marusaya just before the circuit breaker phase in Singapore in early 2020, and were excited for this return visit.

Ambience at Dashi Master Marusaya remains homely and comfortable. Spotlights overhead cast interplay of light and shadow on the furnishings, from the dark wooden cushioned chairs, plush booth seats, to the light wood brown tables and walls. The 90-seater place feels serene. 3 private rooms offer privacy for business meals, while the al-fresco outdoor seats by the Singapore river are great on cool nights.

Service at Dashi Master Marusaya remains discreet and efficient. Staff efficiently perform their tasks, from serving orders to proactively topping up drinks. They proactively clear finished plates during the meal, and clean up quickly when diners leave. Staff product knowledge still remains basic, unless the restaurant manager is present to describe the dish. If dining on hot pot, staff will help prepare and cook the meal.

Food at Dashi Master Marusaya remains traditional Japanese cuisine, focused on soups, stews, and small bites, with the highlight being the house dashi stock. Fresh premium ingredients are used, resulting in dishes that are tasty, hearty, wholesome, and healthy. Portions are sized for communal group dining, and sharing remains encouraged. Prices are pegged at a premium, budget about SGD $129++ per person for the hot pot meal here.

Dashi Master Marusaya Exterior

Dashi Master Marusaya Interior

We chose a tall glass of Roasted Barley Tea, which is refillable, but more importantly, is served chilled, because it helps cool you off during a hot pot meal. This has a toasty grainy earthy flavour.

Roasted Barley Tea

Loved the exquisite Uni Chawanmushi (SGD $89++ Part Of Set Meal). This features a base of warm wobbly soft silken egg custard infused with dashi broth, resulting in a deep eggy sweet savoury flavour. Topped with luxurious creamy bafun uni / horse **** sea urchin and juicy globules of ikura / salmon fish roe, bursting with delightfully briny sweet salty flavour. Finished with a chrysanthemum flower petal which lends a touch of visual elegance, and a delicate floral note. Highly recommended!

Uni Chawanmushi (SGD $89++ / $129++ Part Of Set Meal)

Uni Chawanmushi

Their all-natural basic dashi (Japanese soup stock), known as satsuma hongare-honbushi, is made using skipjack tuna fish / bonito flakes / katsuobushi that is smoked and dried for 3 weeks, then fermented for more than 2 years. This aged bonito is then cooked with rishiri kombu kelp seaweed (harvested from the frigid waters of Northen Hokkaido in Japan), for over 1 hour to create their delicious dashi stock, which serves as the base for the majority of dishes here. Besides satsuma hongare-honbushi, they also make other versions of dashi in-house, including niboshi (anchovies & seaweed stock) and sababoshi (cured Spanish mackeral fish & seaweed stock).

Dashi Hot Pot Broth

Preparing

Dashi Hot Pot Broth With Katsuobushi

Choose from up to 6 dipping sauces to pair with your hot pot meal. There's Ponzu Vinegar sauce, Sour Plum sauce, Sesame sauce, Sukiyaki sauce, Yuzu Rice Malt, and Leek & Sesame Oil.

Selection Of Dipping Sauces

The hot pot meal starts with a vegetable platter. There's crisp lettuce with bright vegetal sweet flavour, bouncy shimeiji mushrooms with delicate earthy sweet flavour, crunchy leeks with sharp vegetal earthy bitter grassy flavour, and wobby soft silken tofu beancurd with mild grainy sweet flavour.

Hot Pot Vegetable Platter (SGD $129++ Part Of Set Meal)

Hot Pot Vegetable Platter

Cooking

Lettuce, Silken Tofu Beancurd, Shimeiji Mushrooms, Leeks

Lettuce, Silken Tofu Beancurd, Shimeji Mushrooms, Leeks

This visit, we were treated to the A5 Miyazaki Wagyu Beef Platter. Succulent premium cuts of wagyu beef, sliced thin and flash cooked in the bubbling hot pot dashi broth, with a tender juicy chew to texture and bold meaty fatty savoury salty flavour. Great on its own, or, pair it with the dipping sauces.

A5 Miyazaki Wagyu Beef Platter (SGD $129++ Part Of Set Meal)

A5 Miyazaki Wagyu Beef Platter

Cooking

Cooking

A5 Miyazaki Wagyu Beef

A5 Miyazaki Wagyu Beef

The ala carte Oden Platter (SGD $24++) is interesting. There's a variety of different oden, style is rather like the Singaporean Yong Tau Foo / YTF, where you pick and choose various pieces. The Money Bag (Tofu Puff With Rice Cake) was the most interesting for me, the spongy light tofu puff absorbs the savoury sweet hot pot broth, while the filling of soft rice cake lends a light chew to texture. The tube-shaped Chikuwa is lightly savoury salty with a bouncy chew, while the round spongy Satsuma Age carries a layer of savoury sweet notes in the fish cake. Not so used to the triangular Hanpen, with its soft fluffy texture and mild sweet savoury flavour though.

Oden Platter (SGD $24++)

Oden Platter

Cooking

Money Bag (Tofu Puff With Rice Cake)

Chikuwa

Satsuma Age

Hanpen

To complete the hot pot, they served us Black Fungus & Arrowroot Vermicelli Noodles (SGD $10++). The crunchy black fungus / cloud ear fungus is nicely crunchy, with earthy vegetal flavour. The silky arrowroot vermicelli noodles absorbs the savoury sweet hot pot broth, but also breaks apart a little too easily. We finished off the hot pot meal with some udon noodles, cooked directly in the broth. The udon was silky and slippery, infused with light grainy sweet savoury flavour.

Black Fungus & Arrowroot Vermicelli Noodles (SGD $10++)

Black Fungus & Arrowroot Vermicelli Noodles

Black Fungus / Cloud Ear Fungus

Udon Noodles

The Dessert Platter (SGD $89++ / $129++ Part Of Set Meal) highlights sweet potato as the star ingredient. Of the 2, the Sweet Potato Cake has a nice soft moist crumbly texture, with mild sweet savoury earthy flavour. A drizzle of honey makes this more palatable with floral sweet notes. The Sweet Potato Ice Cream was better, with stronger earthy sweet flavour, though it started to melt rather quickly.

Dessert Platter (SGD $129++ Part Of Set Meal)

Sweet Potato Cake

Sweet Potato Ice Cream

Dessert Platter

Dessert Platter

We enjoyed our return dining experience at Dashi Master Marusaya, and will be back for more. Those who love hearty Japanese hot pot dining will love Dashi Master Marusaya as well.


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