Omotenashi Dining Gosso is one of the secret treasures along Boat Quay that the ceaselessly laboring and perpetually overworked CBD crowd love and jealously guard. It's decently affordable ($12.90++ gets you a mini salad, a respectably sized rice bowl of your choice, an obligatory bowl of miso soup and a dessert) and it's pretty darn delicious too.

The Chicken Nanban bowl which I ordered was served piping hot, carefully constructed by the chef right before my very eyes (I took the counter seat). Colossal yet completely juicy and succulent chunks of fried chicken were breaded and seasoned with typical Japanese precision and perfection. As a result, they were absolutely, divinely delicious and undeniably umami. The rice was cooked to perfection, and the underlying teriyaki sauce was bang on target.

What really made this dish legendary was Omotenashi's very own house made tartar sauce. Pleasantly sharp on the tastebuds and chunky in texture thanks to the little chunks of hard boiled egg, it added another, completely welcome layer of umami to the already umami donburi and cut straight through the smidgen of grease on the chicken, leaving you with nothing short of flavor heaven. Couple this bowl of Japanese perfection with a pint of Kirin at just $9.80++ and you've got yourself one of the best working lunches in Singapore.

Although they do tend to get rather overstretched during lunchtime, you can still expect the fabled Japanese standard of service here in this little eatery. The staff (two of whom are actually Japanese and I suspect them to be the proprietors) are extremely polite and will attend to you patiently in short order. With great food and good service at reasonable prices, Omotenashi has secured itself a spot as one of my favorite lunch places.