Besides seats at the counter, it also offers a full array of other seating arrangements catering to different needs.
Upon arrival, we were greeted by a friendly waitress who later seated us at a traditional sitting table, with ample leg room underneath.
お刺身盛り合わせ２名様 - $80.00
Sashimi is always one of the few items that deters interested customers due to its hefty price tag. For this special occasion, we decided to give them the green light. This platter for 2 pax has a range of $60 to $80, depending on the choice of fish. We decided to go with a more expensive option so that we could try new things. Here were what you see on the platter: 鯛(Tai, seabeam), はまち(Hamachi, yellowtail), 鮪 赤身(Maguro Akimi, normal tuna), 鮭(Sake, salmon), 章魚(Tako, octopus) and 鮪 中とろ (Maguro Chuutoro, tuna belly meat). With ingredients flown in from Japan weekly, the sashimi was pretty fresh, and carefully sliced to generous thickness.
おでん - $18.00
Besides sashimi, oden is my favourite dish of all time. It might look like a normal chinese steamboat but don't let its simple appearance fool you. These ingredients have been soaked in the broth for no less than 10 hours before being brought to our table. Among all the ingredients, I enjoyed 大根 (radish) and 白滝 (Konjak noodles) the most. Having been to other eateries that served oden, I must say the serving here was indeed generous.
ソフトシェルクラブ唐揚 - $16.00
I'm not a fan of oily deep fried food, but it didn't stop me from taking a deep bite into this crispy soft shell crab.
お茶漬け(鮭) - $7.00
This was the dish I always wanted to try. The light taste was refreshing and served to cleanse the palate after the soft shell crab I had earlier.
Our final bill was $173.85 after DBS Amex Card's 15% off discount which I do agree with some reviews that the food was a little over-priced. There was some sorta discount for Stardard Chartered credit cards which I didn't manage to find out.
Tomo Izakaya may have scored well on ambiance to a great extent. However, it lacks the authenticity of a traditional Japanese Izakaya that I am searching for. At some point of time we could even hear English song being played, which really turned me off. If you are someone not so particular about this, Tomo Izakaya might just be the place for your next Japanese food outing.
Tomo Izakaya @ Clarke Quay
3A River Valley Road
#01-04 Clarke Quay
Business Hours: Sun-Thu: 12pm-2.30pm, 6pm-1am
Fri-Sat-PH Eve: 12pm-2.30pm, 6pm-3am
Tel: 6336 0100