Food Review: Tomidou At Nassim | Premium Japanese Omakase By Masterchef From Nishitama, Tokyo

Posted on July 21, 2023 by theRantingPanda in Food

The Place Located in 1 Nassim in Tanglin district, Tomidou is a new Japanese omakase restaurant in Singapore which opened last month and is helmed by Chef Akira Horikawa from Japan with close to three decades of culinary experience in sushi. Notably, Chef Akira spent 15 years honing his skills at Ginza Kyubey, one of the top omakase restaurants in Japan visited by world leaders including former US President, Barack Obama and Japan’s former Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe.

The space of Tomidou is contemporary and elegant, with a 13-seater sushi counter, two connected VIP rooms, one accommodating 8 seats and the other 4 seats, each with its own sushi counter. One of the main ethos at Tomidou is the concept of omotenashi which embodies whole-hearted care for guests, and I felt it throughout my meal. From the moment I was ushered to my seat, to the placing of my bag, refill of my tea, clearing of my plates, the staff was very attentive.

The Food There are only four omakase courses here, featuring an array of 10 to 19 dishes. The menu encompasses an assortment of nigiri, Tomidou specialty dishes, chawanmushi, egg, soup, and a delectable dessert, all starting from S$150. The two lunch menus are Sakura 桜 (S$150), Taiyo 太陽 (S$300); while dinner menus are Tsuki 月 (S$400) and Tomidou 富道 (S$500). The seasonal ingredients are sourced and flown in directly from Japanese fish markets like Toyosu.

In terms of Sake, it is also the first omakase restaurant to bring forth the highly coveted Nigo x Pharrell Sake Storm Cowboy series as well as the likes of Jyuyondai sake.

I had the Sakura 桜 (S$150) lunch menu which include 10 dishes – Nigiri, Chawanmushi, Soup, Egg and Dessert.

My first course is a silky Chawanmushi with scallop and topped with wasabi.

The lunch omakase is quite fast paced as the menu is quite concise, and I was told at the start that it will end in approximately 1 hour 15 minutes.

Next up is the series of Nigiris:

Chutoro (Medium Fatty Tuna)

Tai (Sea Bream)

Akami (Lean Tuna)
The tuna is quite dark as it is marinated in soy sauce topped with a tinge of mustard.

Nishin (Herring)
A very flavourful nigiri from the lunch set, one of my favourites other than the Chutoro.

Uni (Sea Urchin)
Sea Urchin lovers will rejoice at this luscious handroll of fresh Uni. It is also great that even the most basic menu here has an Uni course.

Unagi (Eel)
The last Nigiri course is a showcase of unagi. There are in fact two nigiris here showcasing two types of unagi brushed with their in-house special eel sauce.

Miso Soup is served next, following by a Tamago (egg) course and a Dessert of fresh Japanese fruits platter.

Rants I do find the spirit of omotenashi a little too excessive for me here at Tomidou, to the extent that I find it a fine line between being attentive and imposing.

Will I Return Again? We have seen quite a couple of new Japanese omakase restaurants this year from the likes of Ikkoten & Ikkagoyo, and the addition of Tomidou is another fine omakase restaurant to consider checking out. The lunch menu is relatively value for money, though I also couldn’t help thinking if our omakase scene is over-saturated in Singapore.

This was an invited tasting, though all opinions expressed are our own.

Make your reservations instantly at Tomidou here.

TheRantingPanda says:
Taste bud: 4/5
Hole in the pocket: 4/5
Ambience: 4/5
Overall Experience: 4/5