Kato’s Fusion

Not too long ago, I joined Yan and Augustine for dinner at Cuppage Plaza. After a week of heavy carbs I was craving for some meat. Yan wanted to try Kato’s Fusion, a contemporary Yakitori eatery that was reputed for its Japanese master. On impulse, we decided to head for Dhoby Ghaut.

Augustine made last minute reservations but it wasn’t crowded when we reached there. We sat by the counter where we could have direct access to the food and ere immediately disappointed that the only two cooks were from China, the chef’s disciples perhaps (Edit: Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have anything against people from China and I fully agree with Mr Lee that they are probably more intellectual than most Singaporeans. They just weren’t the master chef we were expecting).

Bacon Asparagus, Bacon Enoki.

Closeup.

Augustine and I Omakase-d Yan so we ended up trying a little bit of everything.

At first the sticks came quickly but started to slow down as more customers arrived. The cooks would consolidate and cook similar orders, even though it mattered little since each stick came prepared already.

As the time between sticks lengthened, we grew impatient as we saw others being served their orders that were placed later. It was also incredibly foolish that while we were seated at the counter right next to the grill, the cooks would often pass the sticks to the waiters, who then in turn pass them to us.

Liver.

More.

Mochi Bacon.

Augustine was particularly irritated by the inefficient waiters. I couldn’t blame him. Though there were less than 10 tables, there were at least 4 staff on duty. Two stood beside us at all times chatting, yet when we asked for some water we received none. We had to ask twice more before one of the waitresses finally gave us some water near the end of the meal.

It was clearly in their best interest to serve us water so we could actually eat more. Trying to down the salty barbecued sticks of meat without water was quite a task.

Takoyaki.

Apple Pork and Beef Balls.

We ordered most of our sticks at one short, so it was up to the cooks to serve them in any order. Unfortunately, they made the mistake of serving us the richest sticks all at once late into the meal. After a sequence of Takoyaki, fatty pig and Foie Gras my gag reflex was at its limit.

Apart from the usual grilled meats, Kato’s Fusion carries some original creations such as mochi wrapped in bacon and fatty pork with apples. We tried a variety of sticks both traditional and modern. We didn’t manage to take photos of all of the different ones as we were stopped by a waitress halfway into the meal.

The Shop.

The damage.

In the end though, most of the sticks were awful and I found only a quarter of the dozen sticks we ordered palatable. The only decent ones were the chicken dishes. Even though I’ve never been fond of chicken meat I found these the highlights of the meal. Everything else was too overwhelming for my tastes.

We were kind of depressed after the meal so we headed for dessert. The Yami Yogurt store was closing so the friendly woman there gave us pretty much all the remaining toppings.

Awesome.

Made everything better.