This new Japanese restaurant is both a tapas bar and a spiffy sake izakaya
Dimly-lit and furnished with huge sake barrels from floor to ceiling, Boruto reminded us of Tokyo’s upper-class tachinomi (standing) bars, except there are seats here, of course. Founded by Patrick Tan, owner of one of the best robatayaki restaurants in Singapore, Tamashii Robataya, this new sake bar (located along South Bridge Road) has already garnered a steady following, most of whom are Japanese expats.
Taking a seat at the bar, we were immediately greeted by Boruto’s friendly in-house sake sommelier, who recommended us a few shots of sake to cleanse our palate before beginning our meal. Fun fact: Boruto has over 80 different sake brands, 50 of which are exclusively stocked here, including a woozy range of high-quality junmai daiginjo and daishiki. If you want, splurge and order the priciest bottle on the menu, the Juyondai Soko ($2,280 per 1.8-litre).
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As we flipped through the menu, it became apparent that Boruto’s dining concept is very different from that of Tamashii Robataya. Instead of following the traditional route of offering familiar Japanese creations, the menu boasts innovative, fusion Japanese dishes.
To start the night, we ordered a cold dish – a plate of beautifully marbled saga beef (saga gyu tataki; $28.80). Lightly seared on the outside, the tender wagyu beef was nicely seasoned with soy sauce and saffron and melted in our mouths immediately. The mu-rugai saka mushi (simmered mussels; $18.80) came next and was served in a light, buttery broth. The broth had a subtle hint of Japanese sake and was certainly the star of the dish – we were shamelessly slurping up the soup, true Japanese style.
What got us really excited though was the next dish, the zuwai gani sausage ($30.80). Instead of meat, the sausage casing is filled with sweet queen crab meat. Laid out on a reduced, smoky crab bisque, we were given a side of baked bread to, and we quote, “wipe the bowl clean”. Needless to say, we did. Despite all of these being small plates, we were stuffed by the time our last dish came: uni pasta topped with Hokkaido white wasabi ($35.80). Every bit of the angel hair pasta was covered in creamy sea urchin, so every bite was pure heaven.
We ended things on a sweet note and ordered a glass of homemade plum wine ($288 per 200ml jar; $28 per glass) and a truffle crème brulee ($6.80). The plum wine was well-balanced and had a cloyingly sweet aroma as well as taste. It complemented the savoury-sweet truffle crème brulee, which had a rich, earthy flavour. Intriguing, indeed.
Boruto, #01-01 Golden Castle Building, 80 South Bridge Road, Singapore 058710, p. 6532 0418. Open Mon-Sat 4.30pm-12am.