I first surprised Madam Hisako Okugawa when we sort of barged into her tiny little, almost private, homely Japanese eatery in the west when we were filming an episode of our Makansutra Raw television show last year. I had been warned about her. We obtained numerous feedbacks from on and off the forum chats in our website and none primed us for that encounter. She was fiercely adamant about not wanting unnecessary publicity especially when she was unprepared for it. The place sits no more than 20 people and you get the off-menu works if you call and reserve ahead, otherwise, you are subject to what she has for the day. She likes to know who she is cooking for, whether our President (whom she has cooked for) or Wally the nobody. We called ahead, gave a fake identity and showed up with the crew to film the ensuing chaos, which was part of the show’s concept of catching chefs unaware.

The Captain Ibrahim and his Japanese soulmate -
still ribbing each other after all these years.

So after some serious apologizing and expression of sincerity, she relented and her stern demeanor slowly disintegrated and morphed into an extremely friendly Japanese auntie, as I discovered more of in my subsequent meals there. She set foot in Singapore over two decades ago, met and married her sailor husband Captain Haji Ibrahim Abdul Karim. He admitted that he would never have met her on board his ship had our current President S.R Nathan (then helming their seaman’s mission) not persuaded him to join the profession. As she giggled over the memory of their first encounter, the captain said it was “love at first sight”. But his true feelings for her was tested when he had to meet her Samurai class father whom Madam Hisako warned was “very old fashioned” and fierce. The captain promptly received a “no” when he asked for her hand in marriage as he wanted no foreign influence down his Samurai bloodline. So the captain executed the inevitable Plan B- he tugged on the mother’s heartstings. The rest, was a trip into the romantic sunset and today, three grown children later, they are like two sixty year old juveniles fumbling to make customers happy in their restaurant. Madam Hisako toiled as a chef back in Japan and so she continued her craft here after marriage. She was fastidious. “Every ingredient I buy for her is always wrong – too sweet, too sour, too soft, not fresh. I give up.”, laughed Haji Ibrahim. He thought he bought the correct type of mountain yam for our starter of Nagaimo Maguro- tuna sashimi in a gooey mountain yam sauce with wasabi, seaweed and soy sauce. The version he bought did not produce the slippery sauce when grated, although it was four times cheaper than the real Nagaimo yam (chinese yam or fresh wai sun). All that drama made that already refreshing starter more exciting. Even the radish for the other starter of Oden (Japanese style yong tau foo) had to be daikon, the grown in Japan version. It came soft and well stewed in the light soybean broth with pieces of tofu, fish cakes, boiled egg and savoury, springy konyaku cakes. The mustard dip was a fitting finishing touch.

Their no-frills signature Chako Bento set is well loved for a
simple reason- it’s well made.

Their signature Chako bento set was one of the better ones I’ve had. That slice of grilled saba (mackerel) was difficult to beat- I’ve never had it so crispy outside with such juiciness contained within and the breaded chicken and calamari had a kind of touch that small kitchens run by skilled owner chefs can give you, fresh, crispy and hot. The rice which had a barely noticeable hint of vinegar was soft and paired easily with the sides of steamed tofu, mushrooms with sliced lotus root and honey peas. I am a fan of their style of unagi don (grilled eel on rice). She grills then steams the eel over a layer of egg and rice with a pleasant sauce below and topped with spring onions. The whole dish was artfully done and finished in one consistent soft texture – very comforting, like the sort one gets from the home kitchens of your Japanese friends. She uses beef in place of pork for the Katsudon (breaded pork curry rice) and it came so soft that I thought she made a mistake. When you tire of the pathetic basic tempura you get at the fancy “lifestyle-style” Japanese eateries, then hers will restore your confidence in that wonderful prawn fritter- its just a huge fresh prawn fried in a damn good batter, so light, crunchy and crumbly.

To sweeten the meal, don’t miss their own made ice creams, which has so little cream that it comes closer to ice kachang and sorbets. The black sesame and the mango version stands out. Our seven course meal set us back by a very reasonable $55 per head and you can imagine how reasonable your two or three course mastication feat here can be.

She reminded me as I left “I have a halal kitchen but we still maintain a small sake fridge for our old time die hard Japanese regulars.”.