Hosoi Teppanyaki is one of the newer eateries at the Suntec basement circling the Fountain of Wealth. The staff here all seem to be mainland Chinese, giving this so-called Japanese restaurant a "Made in China" feel. But at least the chef we got seemed to know what he was doing, most of the time.
Hubby went for an a la carte item to which he added $10 for set accompaniments (bread, soup, appetiser, salad, fruit and desserts). This is probably his appetiser, which the clueless wait staff served to me instead (perhaps I looked hungrier). The chef tried very hard to make the prawn balance on its back, but he gave up eventually. He does try with the presentation.
Nicely seared without overcooking. The flesh was still sweet and tender within. I love scallops. Too bad there was only one.
We also opted for a wagyu beef appetiser, instead of the S$90 wagyu tenderloin steak (too pricey a gamble as we really have no idea how well they handle wagyu). Ah, the slices were thin but not overcooked. Yes, you can taste the wagyu-ness but these tiny slices were probably not worth the S$18 price. I'd rather head to Aburiya for grilled wagyu CUBES.
My seafood and meat (typo on menu says "meal") combination, S$28.
Luckily they served "ti wang miao" (what is the English name of this vegetable, anyone knows?) instead of chye sim! But I was still horrified when I saw the chef pour the brown sauce all over the beef! How criminal!
It was a thick, garlicky, taucheo-like sauce which absolutely robbed all and any beefy fragrance that the meat had.
Hubby's tenderloin steak (120g, S$30) was all right. Fortunately, no sauce this time, and it tasted fine. The huge cubes of garlic look intimidating but they tasted really sweet, without any of the strong odours.
We asked the meats to be done medium.
We were still not full so we opted for a seafood garlic fried rice. The rice quality is not very good. But hubby still enjoyed it. Nothing like the real Japanese garlic fried rice though. I still remember the best one we had, in a little basement restaurant called Ten near Harajuku.
Seasonal fruits, part of the set. Mix of tart and sweet to cleanse the palate. We also had a salad, which the wait staff forgot to serve until we asked for it.
A sloppily presented creme caramel, also part of the set. I later saw lots of these waiting in the wings, all pre-prepared.
Service was atrocious. Yes, they try, but fail miserably. The poor waitstaff are total "deer in headlights" when asked things in English, but light up when you switch to Mandarin. But they aren't much more helpful either in their native tongue at answering questions. One chirpily remarked that my tea would be refilled whenever I finished it. An emp-tea promise. My cup sat alone, unattended. I put it under the spotlight to see how long it would be before someone saw it needed refilling. No one came.
So, highs and lows. Hubby thought it started horribly but ended OK. Personally I'd rather spend my money elsewhere for some real teppanyaki.
HOSOI TEPPANYAKI
3 Temasek Boulevard
#B1-058 Suntec City Mall
Knowing me, I would walk in the next time I'm in town just to try it but after your review, I would probably give the place a pass.
ReplyDeletethe pictures are real nice, i like thw wagyu beef and the steak picture. So a made-in-china Japanese restaurant eh? lol
ReplyDeleteHmm...they were rather empty when first started and lots of "marketing managers" hanging around outside to entice people to walk in. Price was a factor (at least it is for me). It was only 2 months back that they started having lunch sets in price range of about $10.
ReplyDeleteBentoist: yup, I wish I did the same!
ReplyDeleteLIC: thanks! :)
Momo: Yes, their prices kept me away too, initially. S$10 set lunch seems great but what do they serve?
I see a lot of people going for the half-lobster set deal (add $30-40 to main course) at dinner though.
Thank you for your generous review of our service and food. Your comments are much appreciated and important to us in making improvements to our menu and our service. We will continue to make improvements to our service provided in order to make your next experience with us a pleasant one. Once again, thank you for your review.
ReplyDeleteLance
Very bad experience with Hosoi @ Suntec. Food is ok, but service is real bad. The "best" is a Japanese restaurant that doesn't serve green tea... My hubby and myself went for dinner last Sat in Hosoi, and we order the set A (beef, fish, squid, bean sprout, green veg and fruits) and set B (Pork, fish, squid, bean sprout, green veg and fruits) meal. It started ok, we got our beef, pork and squid. While those customers who came much later than us have already finished their meal, we were still waiting for the rest of our dishes. So, we asked for the fish, and it came after a while, and waited again for 30mins or so, we asked for our bean sprout. Then, we have to ask for our green veg twice in the span of another 30mins! The veg still were not served 15mins after the 2nd request so we left. At the cashier, we asked to see the manager, but was told by the staff that manager was not around! We told her of our experience, and she said "Sorry, but we have to charge everything but can give you discount for your next trip". We told her don't bother, we will not fancy a next trip to this poor service restaurant!
ReplyDeleteHi SP! Looks like service is as atrocious as ever! I'm actually surprised they're still in operation.
ReplyDeleteThey should close down!
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, isnt this supposed to be a Japanese restaurant? Why are they playing chinese music? and there were so many china workers, they were speaking chinese to us when we asked them in english?
The chefs look damn inexperienced and the worst part is...THEY CANT COOK!
Served us last when we were the first to arrive, and the first dish that came was burnt beansprouts and a dish of dead veggie -.- what a turnoff...
By the way, Hosoi itself isnt a good name from the start?
細い means thin/narrow ...not a good name for a japanese restaurant...
I am sick of in name Japanese restaurants...what a letdown!
By the way, my 2cents worth of advise...
ReplyDeleteif you are running a Japanese restaurant, i would suggest you take a trip down to Japan, learn from their way of doing things..eg. ethics, customs and the greetings ect ect...
I am disappointed at how the japanese restaurants run in Singapore.
if you are expecting to charge such a high price, i believe the customers ought to expect something much better.
You have a panel of chefs who cant even cook, they look like we owe them few millions, their face were terribly black...(pun intended)
The worst thing that turns people off, you are playing CHINESE music in a japanese restaurant. Open a chinese restaurant instead...