Tomoe Japanese Cuisine (Upper Thomson)

I met my sister for lunch today after school ended. As always we couldn't agree on a place to eat at - she wanted something light, I was in the mood for more flavour. Eventually we decided to meet at Upper Thomson, a place close to our home. There was a mix up and slight confusion over where we were eating at - I thought we were going to La Petit Cuisine, she assumed we were eating at this Japanese restaurant we've been to before. Since she reached first, she went ahead and got us a seat, and thats how we ended up eating at Tomoe Japanese Cuisine.

There surprisingly isn't much Japanese options in Upper Thomson, while there are tons of Ice-cream shops around there. Off the top of my head, Tomoe is the only place which serves Japanese cuisine in that area. While the food isn't anything spectacular, it serves relatively cheap and 'bang-for-your-buck' set lunches.

My sister ordered her usual - the Tempura Udon ($10). She requested for the tempura to be served separately from the soup and noodles, which I thought was a good idea. The udon was served in a briny, clear but tasty soup, and the noodles were fat, chewy and slipped past the lips easily. The tempura came with 1 brinjal, 1 capsicum, 1 lotus root, 1 carrot and 2 prawns. The batter was just right, and while a little oily, the vegetables and prawns were fresh and sweet. This went perfectly with the tempura dipping sauce.

I ordered the Yakiniku Set ($9), which came with miso soup, pickles, rice, pan-fried beef slices beside a bed of shredded vegetables, and a piece of honeydew melon. I noticed that the rice they gave was 'normal' rice, not of the Japanese variety, but I didn't mind so much because of the price tag. The miso soup, looking deceptively clear, was tasty enough and a good start to the meal. The yakinku beef was extremely salty, such that every bite of it warranted a spoonful of rice or salad to balance out the saltiness. That said, the beef was nicely cooked, not too overdone and a generous portion of it was provided. The honeydew melon was thoughtfully cut near it's skin for easy eating. It was fresh, sweet and crunchy, and provided a good end to the meal.

We ordered a side of Gyoza ($7) to share. 8 pieces of gyozas were provided, which was a good value for the price and nicely fried, though the taste was just average. I would have much preferred the filling to be of a meat variety, but instead it looked (and tasted) like it came out of a supermarket packet.

Service was good, the staff and owners were polite and smiley, and they provided free warm green tea (not scalding hot, which is a plus) which they regularly refilled.

In all, I would only come back to Tomoe because of it's cheap set lunches, as the food isn't anything spectacular. Maybe the items from their normal menu are better, but I don't think I'll be patronizing them for anything other than their set lunches, because there are other better options I'd rather go to out there in Upper Thomson.