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Food review: JINzakaya

SINGAPORE — Now that small-plate restaurants are deeply woven into the fabric of our dining culture, it was only a matter time before sharp-nosed restaurateurs revived the izakaya concept. No surprise then that the Les Amis Group has led the way with Jinzakaya, which inhabits the space vacated by Nam Nam at Owen Link.

SINGAPORE — Now that small-plate restaurants are deeply woven into the fabric of our dining culture, it was only a matter time before sharp-nosed restaurateurs revived the izakaya concept. No surprise then that the Les Amis Group has led the way with Jinzakaya, which inhabits the space vacated by Nam Nam at Owen Link.

By day, JINzakaya serves an affordable S$12.80 set lunch comprising a one-bowl dish and a cup of tea. For that price, the options are simple and satisfying — pork belly katsu curry rice topped with chargrilled chicken skewers and onsen egg, cold ramen dressed in a light peanut sauce with crabsticks and salmon roe, or sandwiches like Wagyu sliders and fish katsu tucked between a crisp baguette.

These all offer good quality and value, but they do not an izakaya make.

JINzakaya lives up to its name in the evenings, when the menu offers a selection of beer, shochu and fruit-based sakes picked from niche suppliers that focus on quality. “You’re definitely not going to see Kubota Manju here,” said a Les Amis spokesperson, referring to the commonly available brand of sake.

Much of the food is yakimono (grilled), many of which are threaded through bamboo skewers.

We figured we could make an entire meal out of these morsels of meats and vegetables: Fat, creamy oysters wrapped in bacon (S$5.50), like orh luak with a smoky, salty edge; spears of tender asparagus (S$2.50) also wrapped in a paper-thin (and, thus, easy to eat) rashers of bacon; and petite slivers of ox tongue (S$9.50) that had been left a few seconds too long over the grill so they required extensive chewing.

Naturally, there is chicken on sticks: Mid-wing joint, thigh and skin (S$2.50 each), and minced chicken patties flecked with bits of cartilage (S$3.50).

Yet, by the end of the veritable procession of skewered food that came to our table, we still hadn’t hit our sweet spot. No wonder it’s customary to finish an izakaya meal with a rice or noodle dish.

Both the kimchi ramen (S$12.80) and Jin tori ramen (ramen in a white chicken broth, S$12.80), however, were deeply over-salted. In the former, the kimchi broth only made us thirsty, while the char-grilled chicken thigh that crowned the latter was practically saturated with salt.

Certainly, JINzakaya is not an izakaya in its truest sense — and it doesn’t pretend to be. Les Amis said the point was to create a cosmopolitan space where diners can enjoy Japanese grilled food and tipple in cool comfortable surrounds. In that respect, it doesn’t disappoint. ANNETTE TAN

JINzakaya

Where:

#01-08/10 Owen Link

1 Farrer Park Station Road

Telephone:

6443 1173

Opening hours:

Daily noon to 3pm, 7pm to 2am

Click to eat

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