Arrived at restaurant on time for reservation. Two staff were bustling around the front alfresco dining area. Waited a while and tried getting their attention but was ignored. Finally decided to the back where the main restaurant was to find someone else who could show me to our table. One of the ladies from outside had entered as well and finally attended since I was standing in the way.
Food overall was good. Dishes came paced, single or two at time which was good. I personally liked the messy stack of maki rolls. 8.5/10
Charred ebi with burnt butter was fragrant and fresh. Garlic chips golden crisp. 8/10
Japanese squid done 2 ways. 7.5/10. It's good it wasn't over salted but batter was heavier with more crunch.
The rest was decent, good for drinks and catching up. Nothing notably unique.
Frédéric TU
Great restaurant. Chill, great atmosphere in the middle of crowded Chinatown. The skewers are good, one has also yuzu taste, very original !!
Service is super nice, smily and gentle. Will come back !!
Fiona Lee
This bar has casual, chilled vibes and the service staff - a masked lady and a man (who kept gently egging us to order alcohol haha) - provided attentive service even though it was a very busy Fri night. We ordered the izakaya set for 2, portions are good sized and we felt like we over-ate. Everything is done to perfection. My favourite is the charred ebi. I would come back next time with an additional friend so that the 3 of us can share and order the set of 2 again.😝
Marcus Tan
We came across Nomiya Izakaya while we were roaming around Chinatown in the late evening in search for dinner spots. We were certainly not expecting a small restaurant like Nomiya to be able to whip out such tasty Yakitori (Japanese skewers)! It’s even better than most of the Yakitori specialty shops we can find in Singapore that we have tried!
We ordered these few items:
* Deep fried baby shrimps
* Gold Dust Charcoal Chicken
* Skewers (meatballs, thighs, wings, pork belly, miso pork belly, breast)
* Mini Gyudon
* Mini Buta don
* Steamed Japanese rice
All these for $106, quite a decent deal!
Deep fried baby shrimps were actually very fragrant - we could smell the dish even before it was served. It was crispy, freshly fried and lightly salted. We just couldn’t have enough of this!
When you bite into the Gold dust charcoal chicken, you can feel how succulent the chicken bites is. Most important of all, it’s freshly prepared so it’s burning hot when served! The homemade egg-mayo complements extremely well with the charcoal chicken, but we find that the batter is slightly thicker than what we have imagined (albeit not as greasy as we thought).
Skewers were honestly the highlight of the dinner. When skewers are grilled over fire, it’s quite the norm that many parts of the meat will be charred. Not the case for Nomiya! Grilled chicken breast was tender, grilled pork belly was thin and flavourful. But the outstanding skewers were the chicken balls and chicken wings. Why? The taste of the chicken balls feels the most authentic to those we have eaten in Japan - it’s difficult to describe the taste in words or pictures but you have to try it to know! Chicken wings were also well grilled with minimal charring, grilled with a light crisp and dipped with the right amount of sauce that brought out the flavours of the chicken without it being too salty.
The gyudon and buta don was delicious as well, but what we appreciated is that they have the mini version of each of the dons - best for eaters like us who prefer smaller portions so that we can try out more dishes.
Towards the end of the meal, complimentary sorbet was also served to our delight! What a good way to end our meal.
Would we come back again? Definitely, to try out more dishes and the skewers! However, it would be even better if Nomiya can serve some hot soupy dishes (maybe they do, but we have missed it out).
T L
This place was really good. I was not expecting to get such good food from an Izakaya in Chinatown!!!
Everything we had was so good, my partner and I just kept nodding our heads as we ate. And everything was good. Not even kidding.
Our favourites and also must-orders!
- Foie Gras Coconut Toast: buttery & creamy, with a tart homemade berry jam to balance the flavours
- Charred Ebi with Burnt Butter: Succulent, snappy prawns with fragrant garlic chips & butter!! Addictive!
- Mini Cold Truffle Udon: al dente udon tossed in just the right amount of truffle oil topped with caviar for that umami burst of flavour
- Yuzu Glazed Chargrilled Pork Jowl: incredibly tender, with the right amount of fat and a sweet & tangy glaze
- Ikura Negitoro Pie Tee: rich, fatty tuna chunks with a wasabi cream cheese filling, yummy flavour combination!
Place is not big but the vibes were there. Good for gatherings & you can seat at the counter to watch the chefs in action too 👍🏻
They also accept CDC vouchers!!
