Could This Be Teppei’s Most Value-For-Money Meal Ever?

Shizuoka is also dubbed Japan’s riviera because of its location along the Pacific Ocean coast, and it has a rich bounty of some of the country’s yummiest seafood. In fact, this is the hometown of sakura ebi; the city of super-sweet tiny shrimp that supplies the rest of the land with a twice-a-year harvest.

​​​​​​​Which brings us to the February menu at Teppei. According to boyish head chef Jinta Yano, this month’s list is one of the most costly (for the restaurant, not customers), premium seafood-focused sets Teppei has ever offered. “It’s a lot of seafood!” the Nagasaki native exclaims when we ask him what he thinks stands out this month. “And usually we have 16 or 17 courses, this time it’s 18.”

One of our fave bites in this marathon meal is a sakura ebi kakiage appetiser. The puffy treat fried in tempura batter is petite, but packs a real flavour punch thanks to the sweet yet briny sakura ebi that it’s crammed with. Kinda like an atas vadai — we could polish off a dozen of these, easy.

Even the traditional chawanmushi gets a serious seafood upgrade this month — it’s cooked with delicate shijimi (basket clams) and milk. “Like clam chowder,” says Yano earnestly. Or even better. We love the soft, wobbly texture and the fact that hidden inside is a generous chunk of crabmeat and a fat mushroom.

You may or may not have come across Wasabeads, luminescent wasabi-filled pearls that have taken Japan by storm over the past couple of years. There, they’re made by wasabi product manufacturer Tamaruya in limited quantities that sell out (in minutes!) online and are available only within the country. Because you can’t get them here, Teppei makes its own version spooned over uni. Definitely not as pretty, but an interesting attempt nevertheless. Don’t be deceived by the fact that each serving is just two pearls — they’re poppingly potent and one alone delivers plenty of heat.

Another menu highlight is this super sweet scampi, which the restaurant douses in a richly savoury crab sauce and tops with crispy panko breadcrumbs fried in butter that add texture to every mouthful. It’s not much to look at, we know, but boy is it delicious.

According to chef Yano, this month’s menu is also special as it’s the first time ever that Teppei is serving lobster. The dish is listed as ise ebi sashimi, which sounds like a type of prawn (ebi) but is actually spiny lobster, sliced into small chunks and perched on a cooked shell. The translucent, gently gleaming flesh is delicately chewy, if a tad bland, but this is a dish the Japanese eat more for significance (the lobster’s long antennae symbolise longevity).

Near the end of your meal, you get one of these adorable Happiful tomatoes from Shizuoka’s Marutaka Farm. Each is the product of five years of research to develop a technique to mark the tomatoes with a signature smiley face. Why? Simply so they can “deliver happiness” to people, says a farm representative. The tomato itself is refreshingly tart and serves as a quick palate cleanser for the final few courses.

February’s omakase set may boast more premium seafood and be more extensive than Teppei’s usual menus. But price-wise, nothing has changed — it’s still $80 per person. Just what the doctor ordered to coax us out of our homes in these challenging times, perhaps...

$80 for an 18-course Shizuoka omakase dinner, available through February at Teppei restaurant. #01-18 Orchid Hotel, 1 Tras Link. Tel: 6222-7363. Open daily except Sun, 11.45am-2.30pm; 6.30pm-10.30pm. www.facebook.com/teppeigroup/

Photos: Alvin Teo