of mojitos and other madness: ootoya

having heard quite a bit about this new japanese joint at orchard central, this girl was really quite looking forward to having lunch there last saturday. we got that right smack during lunch hour and i was secretly worried that there'd be a queue and it would be like a half hour wait before we could eat. but as luck would have it, we managed to secure ourselves a spot on the tatami mat in less then ten minutes and i couldn't wait to have a look at the much raved about japanese fare.

the place was full and busy, but many of the diners were waiting on their orders. they were majority japanese which made me think the food here had to be good...but the singaporean duo next to us made me wonder whether the teething problems of this three month old place had been sorted as they sounded like they had waited a good forty-five minutes already! making a mental note of that, i decided to go with a simple bowl of rice, topped with raw blue fin tuna (raw fish shouldn't take that long to assemble!). at approximate 460 kcal, i was sure this would not only satisfy my taste buds and tummy but would be good for my diet as well! g had the classic katsu don set, and between us we shared a serving of the potato croquette and stewed black bean and olive. the mains were all pretty good....the blue fin tuna was fresh although i would preferred it to be a touch more chilled. simple but it did hit the spot i had that afternoon for some good old japanese rice and fish. g's katsu don was not bad, freshly fried pork cutlet in what i have to admit was cooked in quite a generous portion of egg!

but i guess what really blew me away was the potato croquette. fried in a special breadcrumb mix, the croquette was filled with like a potato mash, creamy and buttery but yet sweet at the same time. it also had bits of minced meat infused in the mash mix adding the slight texture and salty flavor to the croquette. very very yum and not in the least bit oily...drizzled with a touch of tonkatsu sauce, this is most definitely worth the additional 350 or so kcals!

ootoya did prove to be a hit for me from the perspective of hearty almost home cooked feel to its fare...however, it sorely missed in the service aspect with young staff eager to help but not focusing on the right things. i guess with time, ootoya would get into it own rhythm and given its current following, i'm sure it would be soon we might spot another ootoya outlet somewhere else on the island!