Bentoya - Hardware Lane

Gaz bought through Groupon, a voucher for a 9 course Japanese dinner for two at Bentoya Restaurant recently. The voucher cost $50.

When we redeemed the voucher, what we did not expect was a good quantity of good quality food. With these types of promotions, I had come to expect a big selection of fried foods (maybe because it is easier and quicker to prepare) and ordinary items such as rice and miso soup for example, contributing to the count.

At Bentoya, we were provided very prompt service. The dishes were served in quick succession,  which was good because we did not have to wait long in between courses.

The first dish was salmon carpaccio. Thin slices of salmon were topped with seaweed, finely sliced Spanish onions and surprisingly, finely grated cheese. With all the different ingredients in the dish, the taste of salmon was a little lost. It was more like salmon salad, which is not a bad thing.

Pork gyoza, which was deep fried to give a satisfying crunch to the gyoza skin.

The other entrees were takoyaki and endamame, which were not pictured. We were also provided rice and a beverage each.

One of the four mains were the fish pot, a dish I enjoyed very much. The broth was sweet, and the abundance of veges and tofu made it a very satisfying dish to eat with rice.

Wafu steak is the restaurant's specialty. It was served medium rare with a side salad of seaweed and cucumber and onion salad to add acid to the dish. It was a good combination.

Pork katsu which was liberally battered and fried to crispy heaven. The pork was still juicy inside.

The other main was chicken curry. Gaz thought it was not really special as we cook it often at home. Another dish was the vegetarian croquette.  Although it was listed on the menu, we did not receive the dish but we did not mind because by the time the third last dish arrived, we were already very full.

To end our dining experience,  we had green tea mochi which looked to be store bought, and green tea.

Overall it was a very good dinner experience.

Update: This restaurant is now closed.