Teppei
If you dare to, you can venture out to try Teppei. Alright, perhaps I am being vague here, but Teppei has gained popularity for their Omakase style dinners and amazingly value for money Japanese cuisine. It has become one of the most over-booked Japanese restaurants in Tanjong Pagar, possibly in Singapore.
My wife and I tried queuing for lunch once, and it was an experience in and of itself. My wife got so fed up with the inconsistent queuing system that she confronted the errant queue-cutters at the front of the store who arrived magically just minutes before the shop opened for business.
It seems Mr T himself is not really bothered by this – his policy it seems is, “if your members are all gathered by the time we are opened, we will serve you. For the rest of you in the queue, please wait your turn.”
Of course it all seemed unfair when 15 people magically appear in front of the 2 hour long queue just minutes before the petite restaurant opens its doors at noon. It also seems even more unfair when the servers do nothing but simply shrug their shoulders and point to the arbitrary service policy pasted on the glass door. I guess they get that everyday.
But unhappiness aside.
The food is amazing. My favourite being the Borachirashi (whatever that means), their signature dish. I haven’t really tried too much of their menu to be really honest. Every trip there is kind of hurried, so I don’t really get the opportunity to savour or take it all in.
I would like to do one of their dinners though, that famous Omakase – let the chef decide what goes into your mouth thing. The problem here is the rigid reservations for dinner for their tiny 20 seater restaurant is so over-booked that by the time I do get a chance to make a reservation, it might well be 4 to 5 months down the road. They seriously need to expand! Thankfully it seems, they managed to secure (or put the guy next door out of business) the unit next door. Woohoo!
So maybe I might have a chance to book for dinner between July to September 2014. That’s if I managed to get through their hotline on 29 March 2014. Alternatively I can like their Facebook page and watch out everyday for “no-shows” for dinner. I have a feeling an army of Teppei fans are already stalking their Facebook profile for these offers.
My review? 4 out of 5 thumbs-up!
Bento Set – $17.60 (thereabouts)
Borachirashi – signature dish