Nomiku Shochu & Sumiyaki Izakaya

June 2011

It can be more than a little disconcerting to enter an ostensibly innocuous Japanese eatery only to find yourself in what appears to be someone’s living room, albeit someone with an insatiable appetite for drinks and karaoke. One of several Japanese bistro-bars to have emerged in the area thanks to burgeoning Korean and Japanese populations and their proclivity for drinking and singing, Nomiku also happens to be decked out with cosy lounge chairs for customers who prefer to linger longer.

Obviously the warbling starts after supper ends, because my request for a mike was gently rebuffed by the manager. That, or he had heard about my singing. Thus thwarted, I turned to the outlet’s other USP – the food. Essentially a Japanese tapas menu, Nomiku’s food is ideal for the drinker/singer who has no desire to get his mike (or glass) greasy. Ergo, dishes like grilled stingray fins (tastes uncannily like the satay fish that is sold by the mobile bread man), crunchy chicken gizzards, turnip pickles, minced crabs with spinach, and fried softbone chicken (chicken bits replete with chewy bones as opposed to mutant chickens with pliable bones) are some of the most popular choices.

Although you would be pushing it to describe the food as exciting, Nomiku’s dishes are nonetheless cheerleader-earnest and at the very least competently prepared. The daikon sprouts with crunchy mizuna salad was surprisingly zesty and worked marvels as a palate cleaner while hand rolls with inexplicably bizarre names tasted a lot more inspiring than their names augured.

If ever you find yourself looking for a place to take a thirsty client with a penchant for something off the beaten track, Nomiku could well prove to be a winner for you. Just remember that the shochu is no way near as innocent as it purports to be! Fay Khoo