On a weekend trip to Johor Bahru with my girlfriends (plus husbands), one of them was super keen to try out Binchotan as her colleague highly recommended it. This restaurant offers a modern Japanese omakase experience but they do have an a la carte menu available during lunch service, albeit a very limited one. They seem to cater to Halal customers as well, given that they don’t use pork or lard in their dishes, but they do sell alcohol. As dinner prices were a little over the top for us, we decided to have lunch here instead.
This was actually my first ever omakase experience as I typically avoid the uncertainty of not knowing what’s going to appear on my plate. Plus the fact that I’m a rather picky eater, I worry about offending the chef if I don’t eat what is served. Thankfully, I got a free pass this time as my friend enquired what would be on the menu beforehand to check for allergy ingredients, so I sort of knew what to expect 😛
- Our order:
- Umi omakase (MYR188++) x2
- Wagyu beef don (MYR150++) x3
- Green tea (MYR8++) x5
- Spent: MYR1004.50
The entrance to the restaurant is sleek and discreet, standing in stark contrast to the rest of the shops along that stretch. Inside, the ambience is hushed and brooding. Upon entering, our attention was instantly drawn to the lit-up centrepiece dining area while the rest of the space was shrouded in dim lighting. With only 12 seats in total, it is best to make a prior reservation before visiting. That day, we happened to be the only customers there and had the entire restaurant to ourselves, which was a nice coincidence since we were celebrating my friend’s birthday (:
On a side note, I highly recommend making a trip the impressive bathroom too, deftly concealed behind one of the wall panels. It comes fitted with automated Toto bidets and warm seats, as well as hand soap from Aesop. Talk about fancy!
Once we were ushered to our seats, the staff offered us a choice of still water, sparkling water, green tea or coke – we all opted for hot green tea. It was cool to be able to watch the chefs prepare the dishes right up close!
My friend and I went for the Umi Omakase set that comprised tempura moriawase, two hand rolls, soup and dessert.
First up, the tempura moriawase of prawn, beef and onion. My friend didn’t want onions so hers was changed out to fish and shiitake mushroom as the beef also had onions mixed in already. I liked how light and crispy the batter was without being too oily, and the ingredients themselves were cooked perfectly.
Next up, the hand rolls of raw yellow tail and unagi served one after the other. We watched as the chef meticulously toasted the seaweed by swiping it back and forth over a hot grill before wrapping the rolls with it, interesting method! As I was taking a while to photograph the hand roll, the chef chided me that the seaweed would lose its crispness by the time I was done (oops).
Taste-wise, the yellow tail was light and fresh without any fishy smell. The unagi was warm and succulent with a slight char (but I personally don’t fancy the texture of unagi in general).
We were then brought a pretty, petite bowl of soup each. Mine was onion soup while my friend’s was fish soup since she doesn’t take onions. The onion soup had a thinner consistency compared to the fish soup. It was amazing how there was such rich flavour packed into them that I had to sip mine slowly to properly savour each mouthful. After trying both soups, I somehow preferred the fish soup as it had less sweetness to it.
To conclude the meal, we had a scoop of yuzu sorbet atop a bed of almond crumble, drizzled with passionfruit sauce and sprinkled with strawberry bits. It was very refreshing – the passionfruit was surprisingly mild in its sourness and complemented the overall flavours nicely.
As for my husband and two other friends, they opted for the wagyu beef don from the a la carte menu. Its presentation looked highly visually appealing but it was unfortunately a tad underwhelming in terms of taste. The beef was a bit tough and chewy, and the rice wasn’t particularly fragrant. Its sole redeeming grace was the wonderfully creamy and very well-caramelized foie gras chunks.
My overall rating of the experience: 4 out of 5 stars. I appreciated the extreme minimalist concept and aesthetic of the restaurant, both inside and outside. It almost acts to strip away all other superfluous distractions and invites you to focus your attention on what’s most important – the food. My friend and I really enjoyed the dishes from the omakase menu while the wagyu beef don from the a la carte menu was a bit of a hit and miss. Alas, portion sizes were on the small side and I don’t think it would’ve been sufficient if I hadn’t had a late breakfast. What was commendable was the stellar service from all the staff here! They were so good at anticipating our needs before we even asked for anything, like replacing the napkin my friend dropped on the floor and offering me a fresh spoon when they noticed that I wanted to try the birthday cake. Their presence and movements were exceedingly discrete, and even when they did step into the foreground to set up for the next dish or clear our tableware, they did so in such a remarkably smooth and silent manner. Very impressive!
If this post helped you in some way and you’d like to buy me a coffee, I’d be incredibly grateful (:
Dania Experiences 