of mojitos and other madness: kaiseki by goto

it was my turn to spring on a surprise for g for his birthday and i figured that this was truly the opportunity to spoil ourselves silly and indulge in a kaiseki dinner. we both do truly enjoy the japanese cuisine but i remember after being spoiled rotten by the awesome variety and fresh sashimi in vancouver, no japanese restaurant to date, in singapore that is, has truly hit the spot for me again....that was until we had our spectacular dinner at goto!

this place is truly a gem. tucked away in a little corner on ann siang, one would really miss it as its subtle zen shop front is somewhat overwhelmed by the louder pubs and clubs around it. stepping in though, you will immediately feel transported to japan, with the outside noise suddenly driven out and replaced by the serenity of the clean decor lines. g and i were the first in the restaurant and were immediately greeted with an 'irashaimsu' by a kimono-clad lady and shown to our seats. dinner at goto is simple...its either then $180 kaiseki menu or the $280 kaiseki menu and since seats had to be reserved in advance, we were only shown the drinks menu....leaving g slightly puzzled as to what exactly we were going to have for dinner *grin*

the anticipation i guess, added to the extreme gastronomical experience. the moment we were served our first course, we both knew that dinner was going to be simply put...oishii! serving up the freshest greens and seafoods flown in from japan, every single dish of the ten course dinner was prepared with tremondous care, arranged exquisitely, and tasted phenomanal. from fresh melt-in-your-mouth tofu with grated wasabi and red pepper tofu topped with gold foil to first grade sashimi (we had lumberjack, pacific dory, scallops and toro!), chestnut tempura, grilled japanese barracuda, ikura on glutinous rice and oh-so creamy apple custard and muscato grapes, this girl wished dinner didn't have to end!

to quote chubby hubby, goto is defintely 'worth saving up for and splurging on. ..and it is the closest dining experience to that in japan without flying there!' so fyi...this girl's goto fund is open and any donations to the fund are truly truly appreciated *wink*