Botan Japanese Restaurant &#8211; Specialising in Sushi, Sashimi and Omakase at Far East Square

Located at Far East Square, BOTAN is a traditional Japanese restaurant specialising in sushi, sashimi and Omakase prepared using premium ingredients. Held by executive chef, Thomas Kok, a pioneer of the Japanese culinary scene in Singapore with over four decades of experience. With an avid passion in Japanese cooking, every dish by Chef Thomas is executed with creativity and passion. He believes in using only the finest ingredients, a testament to his dedication, professionalism and love for his craft.

We started with a very interesting Pitan Tofu (SDG6++) toufu in sesame and century egg sauce, garnished with fish role, spring onion and bits of chopped century egg. The sauce was thick and the fragrance of the sesame was balanced and mellowed out by the fine mixed in century egg. For those who are not aware, Century Eggs are a Chinese preserved food product and delicacy made by preserving duck, chicken or quail eggs in a mixture of clay, ash, salt, quicklime, and rice hulls for several weeks to several months. The process turns the whole egg into a dark color.

Botan-Japanese-Restaurant-darrenbloggie — Pitan Tofu (SDG6++)

Fugu Mirin Boshi (SGD15++) – which is actually PUFFER FISH! but turns out this is a great beer snack that has a texture of BA KWA, each piece has a light umami flavor that lingers after chewing it slowly. We love the pairing with mayo and the salmon role which gave it a layered flavor profile.

We continued with a fatty Monk fish liver (SGD18++), the liver was mild and complemented the tart and sourish dashi sauce. The wakame(seaweed) and Cucumber brought a touch of freshness, our first time having fish liver and it was certainly a pleasant experience.

Ikura Onsen(SGD15++) We love the egg on egg concept, the onsen egg was mellow and mildly sweet. The saltiness came from the Ikura with a fairly mild fishy flavor. One of the pleasures of eating ikura is the feeling of the eggs as they burst in your mouth.

The assorted sashimi 3 kinds(SGD48++) here are melt in your mouth tender and fresh. We love how the rich fats from the Otoro(Tuna Belly) coated our mouth and the mellow flavors of the maguro. The Nama Hotate (Scallop) was amzingly sweet. Each bite was a treasure from the sea.

Ebi Mentaiyaki(SGD18) was our favorite of the night, the frilled Fresh King Prawn was thick and cooked perfectly. The Mentaiko Sauce was creamy while the salty and umami of the role complimented the Kuruma Ebi perfectly. We had no issues peeling the whole prawn out from the self.

A5 Miyazaki Wagyu Beef (SGD80++ for 100g) and Hokkaido Pork Honey Black Pepper Yaki (SGD18++). The A5 wagyu was cooked perfectly and the classic pairing with salt to taste the natural flavors was a traditional Japanese method. The fried garlic also gave a nice touch to each bite with the slightly bitter flavor from the garlic. The pork belly was so tender that it broke apart when I tried to pick it up with my chopsticks. We loved the deep honey and black pepper that developed into a deep umami flavor. The fat coated our mouths and the ratio was perfect to the meat.

Premium Sushi (SDG24++) consisted of the Botan Ebi, Hirame (flounder)and Kanpachi (amberjack). We felt that the flavors of the seafood was muted and the ebi was a tad slimy. The Nagasaki Sara Udon (SDG16++) was an interesting dish with deep-fried thin noodles topped with seafood, pork, mixed vegetables and gravy. The gravy was mellow in flavor and was comforting with each spoon of slightly chewy noodles. A good dish for a rainy day and we would positively say that it would fit into the comfort food category.

We ended our meal with a very refreshing and tart Yuzu Sorbet (SGD7++). The sorbet is a perfect summer dessert to not only cool you down but also refresh the platte after a heavy meal.

In summary

Botan is an unassuming Japanese restaurant that serves delicious dishes with premium ingredients from Japan. Chef Thomas prides himself on using fresh, premium ingredients executed with innovative flair using contemporary cooking methods. The quality dishes will leave your belly happy and satisfied.