TOMO - Now I Know Why There is A Fan Club

After much hype on Kaisan, "disappointment beyond words" is probably the only decent expression I could muster after one Saturday lunch. Dragging the whole family was just icing on the big fat mistake. We were confused, how could there be a fan club? The only explanation we found, and that was an epiphany of a revelation, ladies and gentlemen, Chef Thomas Kok, has left the building.

Chef Kok had left Kaisan just shortly before our visit and started his own little cosy Japanese restaurant tucked along the stretch of newly opened restaurants at Marina Square. Over-shadowed by the much hyped "Center Stage" and other more publicized restaurants and cafes, one would most likely be ambivalent to his existence. But that doesn't faze Chef Kok one bit.


"Most of my diners are regulars, They will always look for me." shared this friendly and earnest chef. And this becomes more evident throughout the night as each patron that walks through it's glass doors, always greets Chef Thomas Kok with a respectful smile and each is returned with a "Ah Mr so-and-so... what would you like to?.... Yes we have scallops,... no problem...., "

There are 3 things you must do when you come to visit Chef Tomas.

1) You must go 'omasake'.

Japanese for "Chef's Table", it's literally entrusting yourselves in the wise and dedicated hands of this ever-popular chef. Once you've made your leap of faith, sit back on the tall counter seat and watch how Chef Thomas executes perfect cuts of sashimi and delivers firm and professional instructions to all four stations (raw, grill, fried and plating) of the kitchen; all while going around tables to interact with his regulars to ensure everything is, as usual, up to his standards.

2) You must always get a seat at the counter.
Nothing beats experiencing this dinner, upfront and personal. Sashimi is sliced right under your nose, the smells of grilled beefs and freshly fried tempura anticipates your palette. And I suppose it's fun to keep guess which dishes are going to be yours while being super envious when your guess is wrong!

3) Bring a decent camera - do the man some justice.
I must apologize to Chef Kok and all my readers who will faint at the quality of the pictures taken. I forgot my camera and had to make do with the crap excuse for a camera in my phone.
I promise I will do better for our next visit.

We started with a platter of sashimi. We had Hamachi (Yellowtail), Hotate (Scallop), Amaebi (Sweet Prawn), Tako (Octopus), Hon Maguro (Tuna), Sake (Salmon), Mekajiki (Swordfish) and Toro (Fatty Tuna).
Before today, I've never had any other raw fish other then Salmon. Of course, no one wants to offend the chef, and at the first course at that! So I took the plunge and went for the first piece that looked closest to salmon, that was the toro....

Yes, I was fortunate, I went for the best and most expensive piece on that plate. The toro at first bite, tasted a little like salmon but the fatty "shiok"-ness of the belly was unmistakable. I am officially hooked onto tuna belly!

*oh-wait... I am dolphin friendly....crap*

Our next dish was some grilled puffer-fish accompanied with ebiko-mayo. This kept me happily nibbling till our next few dishes arrived.

That was followed by an Alaskan King Crab to be shared between the 2 of us. The shell and pincers were already sliced open to make the meat easily accessible for my clumsy fingers. And the meat, invitingly fresh and sweet.
We were starting to get a little full but attentive Chef Kok, kept the dishes coming. We were barely half way through!

Our 4th dish was grilled beef which would probably have been considered ordinary if not for the irresistible garlic bits and addictive sauce that had us wiping the bowl clean.

This next dish is a bona fide testimony to the freshness and quality of the food Chef Kok would only allows on the tables. They look like your common prawns in a mayo dressing, but they looked really irresistible, I had to try them. Braving my allergy to prawns, I attacked a plump one drenched in the orange mayo. Crunchy to the first bite, but soft and almost to a melting texture, the prawns are amazingly fresh. What was more unbelievable, was the noticeable lack of my usual allergic reaction to this familiar crustacean! To push my luck a little further, I had another 2 pieces and enjoyed every minute of it.

When a Japanese restaurant serves sweet potato in their Yasai tempura, I have to have it. So, bordering on shamefully bursting at our seams, we ordered the tempura, of which Chef Kok nicely selected some prawns and honey pumpkin to go along.

Ironically, but probably no surprise to the Chef, the honey pumpkin was the star - hands down. One bite and it left me guessing if it was a sweet potato or a pumpkin. It was genuinely hard to tell! Sweet to taste and the creamy softness really put the normal sweet potato up for a serious fight. Needless to say, the Japanese sweet potatoes left on the plate fought very hard to win my favour after. But with any of my carbo addictions, I finished them all. =)

3 sedated and leisurely hours later, we exchanged name cards with Chef Kok and left smiling. This has truly got to be one of the best and enjoyable dinners I have had in the longest of time. We'll definitely be back Chef!

Tomo Fine Dining

6 Raffles Boulevard#02-03

Marina Square Singapore 039594

Tel: 6338-4486