Keyaki @ Pan Pacific Hotel

 

Last week, we had a small celebration dinner with friends at Keyaki (4th flr Pan Pacific Hotel).

There are main dining areas but also 3 more exclusive spots .. one is the Garden Pavillion which is like a little stand alone hut (in the background of the pic above) which can hold a small function for like 40-50ppl. And 2 private rooms within the main restaurant (a 6 seater tatami type seating, and also an 8-10 pax room which has regular seating.. we booked this room)

This place is very nicely set up with a Japanese garden and Koi pond surrounding the restaurant. Very picturesque.

So do go early so you can spend some time in the garden and take nice pics.

Our room was nice and cosy (not as cosy as the tatami room though!), the staff was very attentive. the private rooms have a minimum spend, this one was $1k, but we ended up with a $1600 bill so yeah, quite pricey). Good for a special occasion.

This place is ok for kids too as they have high chairs, plastic cutlery and bibs for the small ones).

Food is nicely presented, as one would expect. We ordered quite a range of stuff but here are my favourites of that evening.

Hotategai Motoyaki Grilled Scallop with Egg Yolk Sauce $20

It's one scallop for that price (yikes!), but worth it cos it's huge and they slice the scallop into 3 (pretty thick still), the sauce is luxuriously tasty.

Seven Varieties of Seasonal Sashimi $110

We chose the platter above to share as it comes nicely presented, and has a good mix of everything for everyone at our table. Even if you do ala carte, each slice of salmon is like $7 and one small blob of sea urchin is like $19 (wtf). Taste wise, yes, definitely fresh and good... but I have to say you can get this quality for less $ elsewhere too.

Gyuniku Foie Gras Grilled US Beef with Foie Gras $50

OH MAI GAWD. So gooood. Sooo sooo good. It's a must have. One of the best (both in quality and preparation) foie gras I've had so far. Melts in your mofo mouth. The sauce was nice too, and the beef.. although not some high grade wagyu, it was prepared well and tasted very tender and flavourful. If I go back to Keyaki, I'd just like order this dish and be damn happy. Hahaaa. I didn't eat the snowpeas and tomato and the yellowy wasabe thingy though... yuck.

 
Desserts 

$9- $12 each

Desserts are quite affordably priced, kinda like mid range restaurant prices... but the standard (to me) was kinda meh. Maybe cos I tend to like more western desserts (they are more sinful and decadent lol). Here it's like soy stuff, black sesame, matcha ice cream and cubed fruits that kind. Me no likey at all.

But oh man... I can still recall vividly the satisfying taste of their foie gras.

Verdict: Overall very pricey (approx $200 per person with minimal alcohol.. not like we were breaking out some special bottle of sake or what)... but with some real gems in their menu. Great ambiance and service. For similar prices, I prefer the food at Fat Cow but Keyaki wins hands down in ambiance, space and set up.

We were there from 6.30 pm to 10pm... way past Myla's bedtime. (My mum was taking care of MJ for us at home). I have this new thing where if we are going to be out late, I bring the kids pajamas along lol. Then change them in the car before we drive home. (I started doing it cos of cranky MJ, but found that it works for Myla too lol)

Sure enough she fell into deep sleep on the way home (slept in some funny spread eagle position in her car seat some more). Had to pry her out of it lol.

Then gingerly carried her home and plopped her straight into her bed. Shower in the morning lor... I not gonna disturb their slumber.