A massively LARGE special occasion, so let’s go LARGE for this birthday dinner. Ollie’s 18th Birthday Meal – Omakase @ Puri-Puri was just that. Holy cow… and fish, and pig, and more cow and fish… Ollie and I were debating and debating what to do for this special, special day dinner. A lightbulb moment happened literally by both of is in synch. Let’s get our Chef Greg face on, but let’s have him go creative on us. Hence the Omakase. If you don’t know what that is, have a little read below.
Firstly a MASSIVE Happy 18th Birthday to Ollie. AMAZING how fast that went. Hope you had a wonderful day matey. My #1.
Very Happy Families – thank Ollie for choosing this venue as we ALL benefit from that choice ha ha. Happy Happy Birthday #1. Suitably Chelsea’s up with all the new gear he got for his Birthday. Chef Greg at the back there. Great work matey! Great work. That was insanely good food. Everything was a work-of-art. Stunning. Let’s get to it…
Daddy-Pedia time (well actually Michelin Food Guide); Few formal dining experiences are as revered or as intimidating as omakase, a form of Japanese dining in which guests leave themselves in the hands of a chef and receive a meal which is seasonal, elegant, artistic and uses the finest ingredients available.
In many ways, omakase is a spiritual companion and counterpoint to Kaiseki, the elaborate multi-course Japanese meal built around seasonality, quality ingredients and simple preparations. There is one key difference though. While kaiseki is a highly ritualized meal with a specific ebb and flow, omakase changes with each occasion, with the chef making decisions about what to cook mid-course. The truth of omakase lies in the word itself—directly translated, it means “I leave it up to you.”
We chose our great mate Chef Greg’s new restaurant location, which became Ollie’s 18th Birthday Meal – Omakase @ Puri-Puri. You may remember Chef Greg from his days in the Siglap hawker scene, putting on a World 1st with Japanese Wagyu and the Thai BBQ style of Khun Mookata. That was incredible by the way, and we were there 1-2 times a week, easily. Now he has gone full-on Japanese after a stint at Mikawa @ Changi Business Park. His new gig is a co-share with a lighting company, called Puri-Puri and it is genius. He describes himself as a hole-in-a-wall cafe that offers Japanese rice bowls ranging from Kaisen Bowls to Japanese Wagyu Bowls. All that, at an affordable price for the community. Chef Greg is also the guy I have been buying that Grade A4 Japanese Wagyu from – that comes in a minute to our table too. Weeeeeee!!!
Over to you then Chef Greg. Make it happen fella. And fuck me, did he do himself proud. Ollie’s 18th Birthday Meal – Omakase @ Puri-Puri. Let’s get into it, shall we?
I cannot believe I did not get a picture of the Sashimi platter that Chef Greg did for us. Freshly flown in from Japan too. Here is Ollie with a piece of that Sashimi, probably the best Sashimi I have ever eaten in my life. This is tuna belly, or Toro to give it it’s Japanese name. This was incredible, like fatty butter. So tender, so delicious. Goodness me, amaze-balls.So to show that amazing dish, I will steal a photo from Chef Greg’s collection ha ha. Check out that variety. Fresh Hokkaido Scallops, that off-the-charts Toro, stunning Ebi Prawns and the list goes on and on. WOW!!! Chef smile!!! The food was amaze-balls!!! Whilst on this photo. Look at all the food photos, the variety, the plating, the food-porn – all that was done in this tiny, wee little kitchen. Double AMAZING. Very Japanese corner of street restaurant style… Loving it!!!Yeah, #1 thinks so too. WOW!!!Answers on a postcard for what this is? Any guesses folks? Looks a little like a brisket right, maybe even bone marrow? Nope, this is Bluefin Tuna Collar that Chef Greg has roasted, with his soy radish. Believe me, this was off-the-charts. Actually it was indeed very brisket like, so very tender, and meaty. A little squeeze of lemon on this and you’re in a heavenly place. I am raving about fish, OMG. Great work Chef Greg – this was stellar!!!Here’s a first. Soft-shelled prawns in a very light batter served with a California spicy sauce. This is brand new to his menu, so we were first kids on the block for this. Absolutely delicious it was. And looks stunning plated up. A cracker of a dish, and perfect bed-fellow for the icy cold Asahi’s.Wifey nearly fainted when this arrived. Freshly shipped from Japan in Japanese seawater. This is Uni at its best, with some fish roe and a shrimp pate stype thing (if I remember rightly – please correct me, Chef Greg). What an absolutely stunning dish.Then comes the sushi platters. Holy cow!!! It is literally never-ending ha ha. Seared tuna with raw Toro and Black Truffle ios one of these, the one on the end at the right – holy Shit! Blue snapper with Yuzukosho, which is a paste made from fermented chili peppers, yuzu peel, and sea salt. Even a Uni and Scallops version. WTF!!! Chef amazed us today. Amazed us.And then in comes this one. Minced Toro, with raw egg and sushi rice. Mix this together to create this savoury, simply splendid, almost tartare-like dish. This really was just so very delicious. Food coma is just starting to creep up on us now. Wow, that has been a lot of food so far. Hold one a minute…Wagyu Cap Fingers – I think Chef called these. Home-made Terriyaki sauce dropping from the perfectly charred and medium-rare Wagyu. Best skewers ever. Just incredible little finger foods, and yes the bottle opener was close to me as gain these are amazing bed-fellows with another icy cold Asahi. I thank you!!!Someone is not really with us. Drifting away, not even looking at what he is eating. I could have even given him a mushroom.Up next was Kurobuta Pork with Kimchi and a spicy oil dressing. Best pork on the planet, prepared uniquely by Chef Greg this day. An absolute cracker of a dish. Super tender pork that was literally melt-in-the-mouth, with a pickled twang to the Kimchi that was almost fizzy. Delicious. Great work Chef.A rather special gift all the way from the UK. Ollie’s first piece of jewellery and it is a cracker too – Thomas Sabo’s Tree of Love. Thanks to Mum, Uncle Darren and Auntie Nikki – yep he loves it!!!Meat platter up next and another “be still my aching heart” moment. 3 types of Japanese Wagyu. The big bad boy at the top was also smoked. I mean come on, how stunning is that plate. The meat was literally to die for, as we finished this and slipped slowly into a food coma. The smoked steak was seriously up there with the very best ever eaten. Chef, be very proud of that steak Sir, absolute quality my friend. I’d come back again and again just for that. And the creamed mashed sweet potato was also stellar. Now to cll out two of the accompaniments; 1; Thinly sliced garlic cooked in milk to remove any bitterness and then fried to golden crispiness – WOW!!! and 2; The green blob is a sauce made from the entire Wasabi plant. Absolutely incredible partner for the meat. This platter was die die must try, and absolutely Death-Row cuisine. If I was on my way out I would not look much further than this for the last meal. Just so very good.And then we had a home-made Yuzu cheesecake with fresh berries. Chef Greg has used the rind of the Yuzu so it was not overly sweet. What a cracking dessert. Goodness me. And how beautiful does that look to boot? Wow!!!Right about now we are all shutting down with food coma kicked in. That was so so much delicious and varied food. Textures and flavours all over the place, what a stunner of an Omakase. But literally we do need to all lie-down now. Thanks Chef. That was seriously up there my friend!And we make it home. Ollie had just enough energy to pop some memorabilia up that he got for his birthday. I can’t believe I was still standing to take this photo. Coma kicked in right after this, and we were all in bed by 2130 – work tomorrow, boo hoo.
And that was that. #1 became a man. Party to come in November for his mates’ gathering. Another surprise or two for him to come for that event ha ha. Watch this space on 23/11/2019. If you watch the video you will see that he even has his own personalised beer label (well cider). He’s a lucky lad, and so are we for this amazing dinner. Puri-Puri rocked us tonight and made Ollie’s 18th Birthday Dinner very special indeed. Happy Birthday, #1, hope you liked the pressies and the dinner. We sure did. Bring on the party. This was Ollie’s 18th Birthday Meal – Omakase @ Puri-Puri. Get yourself to Puri-Puri @ 367 Beach Road, say ho to Chef Greg from us, and you surely will – ENJOY!!!
