Ootoya Japanese Restaurant (The Clementi Mall)

Crispy breaded pork cutlet that was thick and meaty. Pork was tender and not too dry which allowed me to finish the whole thing without feeling too jelat. This was worth the price.

Tender and juicy grilled beef steak topped with steak sauce. The sauce was slightly sour which makes it extremely appetising. The marinated with shio-koji and grilled to perfection. However the fats do get jelat halfway through. Overall, the beef stands out.

Had wanted to try the Ootoya Gozen but they ran out of one ingredient (which they didn’t specify) so I ordered the Fish & Chicken Combo Set which was essentially charcoal grilled saba and deep fried chicken and vegetables in black vinegar sauce. It came with two pieces of the deep fried chicken and one piece each of carrot, baby potato, pumpkin, lotus root, eggplant. I really enjoyed the lotus root which was deep fried first. It was really crunchy and would like to suggest they include this as an appetiser on the menu. The chicken was as usual thoroughly enjoyable and I can’t get enough of its crispy batter haha. The saba had much fewer bones than the hokke so it was a relief. The former was also well marinated and the skin was grilled to a slight crisp albeit rather oily though it was expected. Let’s hope they have all the ingredients available for the Ootoya Gozen next time.

Was craving for grilled fish after watching a K-drama where the character always had a craving for the dish. Thus decided to order the Hokke Set (charcoal grilled atka mackerel) at Ootoya near my place to satisfy my craving. Not quite Korean grilled fish but this will do haha. Also ordered the Tori Kurozu (vegetable medley and fried chicken in black vinegar sauce) as an appetiser. I selected the Gokoku rice (5 grain rice) for the Hokke Set. I kinda regretted ordering Hokke after my first bite cos man, I found myself picking out bones throughout my meal. There were just way toooo many bones. The fish also became rather salty towards the end. The Tori Kurozu was also a slight disappointment as the picture in the menu showed there were lotus root, eggplant, long beans, baby potatoes, carrots. But my order only had baby potatoes and broccoli. At least the fried chicken came in big chunky juicy pieces and retained its crispy coat despite being slathered in the black vinegar sauce. This sauce would not taste out of place on any decent Korean fried chicken.

Basil chicken was well-marinated, I enjoyed every bite of it! So was the tarakurozu-- very tasty 😋 . This is one of my favourite Japanese food restaurants in Singapore 👍👍👍

Haven't been to Ootoya for ages (years) and they have changed their menu! Love their homestyle japanese meals. This cod fish soup was warm and comforting on a rainy evening. The cod fish chunks were generous, tasted fresh and tender (I'm not a fan of frozen cod so this tasted really good!). The mixed seasonal vegetables were sweet and
delicious!