Reviews

• 

  Japanese Drama

  Freddielovesfood | Sep 15 2010

  A dramatic experience with a lot of shouting, clapping, sizzling, all happening in a black and dark grey dining area that is more chic than some of the lounges in LFK. Each dish (or ingredient?) is handed to you on a wooden paddle, the traditional way. As with all robatayaki, the food is heavy in salt so you are almost forced to order wine. Good thing this place has a decent selection. A fun but very expensive night out.

  • How much did you spend?
    900
  • Overall Rating
    Good
  • Food 8
  • Service 8
  • Ambiance 8
  • Price 5

• 

  good lunch deals

  gastronomerr | Aug 8 2010

  So I was here for a lunch with a friend I hadn't seen in quite a while. The elevators weren't working so we had to hike up these stairs - a pre-meal work out that made me sweat like mad in today's 35degree weather =(.
  
  We chose to sat at the famous counter where two Japanese chefs sat (or kneeled) in front preparing grilled meats. Presented with a lunch and drink menu only, we proceeded to study the well-chosen and reasonably priced menu.
  
  I had a tough time debating in my head whether I wanted the seafood robatayaki set ($250), the deluxe sushi/sashimi set ($200) or the Beef Teriyaki set ($100) and a waitress quietly interrupted my thoughts and told me there was a "Suzie set" ($168) which was their day's special that had five kinds of sashimi, a bowl of rice and the standard miso soup, steamed egg and pickles etc. It was quite similar to the sushi / sashimi set, save for the bowl of rice instead of somen noodles and additional sushi. Since the former sushi / sashimi set sounded like too much food any way, I went with the Suzie set which I thought I'd be able to handle!
  
  My friend ordered the Pork Cutlet Donburi Set ($98), and we waited patiently whilst catching up and watching others devour their food. I must say I couldn't stop staring at the Beef Teriyaki that was being preparing in front of me...medium-well and all.....next time!
  
  
  Soon enough we were presented with a small salad of mesclun and cherry tomatoes dressed in a vinaigrette. The dressing could go more Asian...perhaps some yuzu or sesame? But I wasn't complaining!
  
  After a while our lunch 'trays' arrived, looking gorgeous. Although the pictures pretty much speak for themselves, let me describe a little!
  
  In one covered tea cup was some steamy miso soup with spring onions and precisely diced tofu which was yummy. The soup was not too salty either.
  
  In another wider tea cup was Japanese Chawanmushi (egg custard). This was again executed very well - steamed to just-set, the egg was silky, soft and smooth. At the bottom sat a ginko nut, and at the top a couple pieces of thinly sliced mushrooms and ikura (salmon roe). Yum.
  
  Then I tried the yellow radish pickles which were nice but not as sour as ones I've had. This is quite nice for people who like milder pickles. The sakizuke (pictured as the little white square thing in a dish by itself) is the appetizer that also appeared on all their set lunches. I didn't care for this at all - it had a spongey/soggy texture and didn't carry much taste. My friend didn't even bother trying it.
  
  My plate of sashimi, although consisted of all local-favourites, certainly looked wonderful! When I was ordering I asked not to have salmon and whether they could give me something else. The waitress kindly said it was okay, but they would probably swap the salmon for more of the other sashimi that were to be plated for this particular set. I agreed, but when it arrived I still found five different types of sashimi. From the left there was hotate (scallop), tai (snapper) maguro - akami (lean tuna), hamachi (yellow tail) and kanpachi (amberjack). Not the most exciting sashimi, but all were very fresh - after all that's what is most important right? The maguro (tuna) + hotate were my favourites - sweet and succulent.
  
  The rice is equally important. Mine was a bowl of luke-warm Japanese pearl rice which was cooked to my liking - a bit of chewiness retained....yum!
  
  My friend liked the miso soup and chawanmushi equally, and enjoyed his katsudon but would've preferred if the pork wasn't so peppery... a bit over-seasoned there.
  
  Our meal ended with a small tiny plate of fruit - melon, one grape and a thin slice of strawberry. A bit sad, but we weren't here for fruits.
  
  All in all, a very reasonably priced meal we had. The setting of the restaurant was spacious and quite genius. This one, I'll definitely return =)
  
  For photos and original post, http://gastronomerr.blogspot.com/2010/08/busy-suzie.html

  • How much did you spend?
    about $270 total
  • Overall Rating
    Good
  • Food 6
  • Service 6
  • Ambiance 8
  • Price 2

• 

  A place to be seen or place to eat?

  Foodfu | Aug 5 2010

  Been to Busy Suzie 3 times. It is convenient for me, location wise, and the food is quite acceptable. The ingredients are fresh. Cooked and seasoned just right with dash of salt. Nice soya too. Good selection of sake.
  
  It's only my personal opinion, but there is a bit of a mismatch in combining old style robatayaki service with a club/lounge style high ceiling design. It's neither here or there. The immensely open design doesn't create the cosiness like you would find in a true Japanese robatayaki restaurant. Sort of a waste with the flown-in Japanese chef kneeling and cooking in front of you. Put in some lattice work to drop the ceiling where the counters are. Create some privacy and warmth, surely Suzie will be Busy. The rest is already there.

  • How much did you spend?
    With Sake, $500 pp
  • Overall Rating
    OK
  • Food 7
  • Service 7
  • Ambiance 6
  • Price 4

• 

  TASTY!

  JL | Feb 4 2010

  Was quite skeptical about new restaurants but pleasantly surprised here! A robatayaki restaurant which serves very high quality food (mostly flown in daily from Japan). This is a place where the Jap chefs will shout out your orders (in a FUN way) and food are passed from the chef to the customer by way of a large wooden paddle. The main specialty here are the sticks of lightly salted (very addictive) meat and seafood and veg - i.e. yakitori.

  • How much did you spend?
    $650
  • Overall Rating
    Good
  • Food 9
  • Service 7
  • Ambiance 7
  • Price 3

• 

  totally disappointing; dont bother...

  Gluttony | Jan 28 2010

  I went because someone asked me to go. This experience reiterated my philosophy of NEVER going to an unproven restaurant. Food was inconsistent, but mostly lousy. ALL of my 10 dishes came at once. Design was pretty nice but it felt cheaply built. The club music (prob same playlist as Dragon-i) was thumping like its saturday night in NYC. Some servers were dressed in questionable casual graffiti-like outfits. Price was $700/head with no alcohol and I had to buy some bread to eat afterwards because i wasnt full. If you read this review and still go, then beware that you will leave feeling hungry and ripped off. Just for the record, I thought the idea was totally cool but could have been better executed.

  • How much did you spend?
    $700/pp
  • Food 4
  • Service 5
  • Ambiance 7
  • Price 5