The Buzz If you are a fan of Japanese food and love a taste of seasonality, Keyaki at Pan Pacific Singapore has launched a limited time theme – ‘A Gastronomic Journey of Shikoku’ to showcase the culinary highlights from Shikoku, one of four main islands of Japan. Master Chef Hiroshi Ishii has specially sourced ingredients from the four Prefectures in Shikoku – Kagawa, Tokushima, Kochi and Ehime.

The Highlights The main highlight for me is the Sawachi, a beautiful and colourful display of seafood, meat and vegetables, which is one of the traditional cuisines of the Kochi Prefecture. It was hard not to love the wide array of dishes on this plate, which includes Grilled Lobster with Cod Roe Sauce, Deep-fried Puffer Fish, Mini Turban Shell, Bamboo Shoot, Tomato, Grated Radish with Baby Sardine, Tuna Roll Sushi, Sea Eel Sushi, Edamame, Fish Cake, Baked Sweet Potato and Seared Bonito. My favourite is the Grilled Lobster, which was enriched well with the richness of the Cod Roe Sauce.

It is an understatement to proclaim that I love my wagyu beef from Japan, which explains my excitement from seeing Awa Beef on this seasonal menu. Awa Beef is from the Tokushima Prefecture, well known for its rich flavour and well-marbled beef. The recommended way to have it is teppanyaki-style or in shabushabu, and we had the Awa Wagyu Beef Teppanyaki. This was easily one of the best teppanyaki-style beef I have had in a while. The succuluent cubes of beef was cooked to that perfect tenderness, where I could fully appreciate and taste the well-marbled texture of the beef.

If you are an udon fan, the udon for this season is the Sanuki Udon from Kagawa Prefecture, one of the most popular Udon from Japan. The Sanuki Udon is made from “Sanukino Yume” wheat and is well-known for its al dente texture. You know the restaurant is serious about its culinary theme when there will be a a “live” Udon making demonstration from 16 to 25 May 2016, by Udon master, Chef Kagawa.

The desserts are not taken lightly at keyaki either. There is a choice of some tea-flavoured ice cream such as Mugicha (Roasted Barley Tea), Sencha (Green Tea) or Hojicha (Roasted Tea), which were equally good. My favourite is surprisingly the Mugicha, also the first time I have encountered this flavour. The flavour is robust, with some hint of coffee instead of barley, but I have no complaints.

Overall Experience Don’t miss this seasonal menu in Keyaki if you are a true Japanese food lover. We are always in awe of the great lengths and efforts the team brings to our table at different times of the year, be ready to be surprised.

For more information, kindly refer to Pan Pacific Singapore’s website.

A Gastronomic Journey of Shikoku
Date: 12 May to 13 June 2016
Price: 3 set menus from SGD170, and ala carte menu available
Venue: Keyaki (Level 4), 7 Raffles Boulevard, Singapore 039595
Reservations: +65 6826 8240

Ranted by The Ranter